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billy79's avatar
billy79
Explorer
Aug 29, 2014

Second Vehicle Fee

My wife and I plan on full-timing starting next spring. We will be getting a TH as I will need to continue to work (telecommute) and I want a separate work space so the garage will become my office.

It of course also gives us the added benefit of hauling toys, we are currently thinking about wether we want to pick up a touring bike and if we want to take our ATV with us so we could potentially be hauling one or the other or both.

So this brings me to two questions:

1.) We see in some campgrounds, especially Forrest Service campgrounds, national forrests, state parks, etc. that many charge a second vehicle fee. I don't want to unload the toys (bike, atv or both) each day, set up the garage as my office then tear down my office and re-load the toys each day.....so I would probably unload and leave them out.

Do you know if I would be charged a second vehicle fee for a vehicle I hauled in via the TH if I leave it out? I am just wondering if I unload a bike if they are going to want me to pay an extra $5 - $10 a day for the bike that is sitting there....that could get expensive really quick.

2.) Still up in the air on if we will take the ATV. We have seen there are a lot of places that say no ORV use in the campground. How strict are most CG's on this? Would they have a problem with me unloading it from the TH and then just leaving it parked next to the TH? What if I unloaded from the TH and then loaded it via ramps into my TV so that I can take it to a trailhead? Seems like since I am not driving it around the CG that would be something I could do, but I would hate to take the ATV with me assuming that to find I get in a pissing match with someone whenever I try to unload it from the TH so I can use the garage as an office, or load it into the TV so I can take it to a trailhead where I can use the ATV.

Thanks in advance for any help. We have decided on a TH no matter what as I really want to use the garage as an office, but this research will greatly help us in figuring out what else we may bring with us on our journey.
  • We took a 7 week trip last year with two motorcycles in the back of our toy hauler. Some of the state parks we stayed at posted additional fees for extra vehicles. We never volunteered to pay the fees and we not required to pay them. Several times the park rangers saw us on the bikes and nothing was said. However, I would not be surprized to be required to pay these fees in the future.
  • Roadpilot wrote:
    I had a motorcycle in the bed of my truck and was charged a second vehicle fee even though I explained I had no intention of unloading it.


    I would never pay for cargo. That's a horrible fee policy.
  • I had a motorcycle in the bed of my truck and was charged a second vehicle fee even though I explained I had no intention of unloading it.
  • We have in the past run into campgrounds that will not allow you to unload an ATV.
    We were in Marienville for the Tour de Dust and booked a campground away from the trails. We had an enclosed trailer that we also used as a camper back then and needed to unload to be able to sleep. We had to scramble to find another place as all of the campgrounds in the area were booked. Definitely call ahead when possible. There may be some places that won't even let you unload the touring bike.