I'm a new comer & as my wife tells me, am addicted to these forums since joining. I have my concerns because I have been reading a lot about how the sites for Rv's or TT's are very tight. Is this true? Or has it been exaggerated some what? E.G. "So small you can't open the slide out". At what % would you say this is the case?My wife & I cycle toured the West coast from Vancouver to Mexico back in '99 & the camping was outstanding for 95% of it, mostly state parks. Didn't bother to check out the RV sites at the time as we hadn't planned on this 15 years later.We are planning our trip at the moment to cover the entire country & of course invision those fabulous sites we experienced with of course great weather where ever we go. :)

I'm a new comer & as my wife tells me, am addicted to these forums since joining. I have my concerns because I have been reading a lot about how the sites for Rv's or TT's are very tight. Is this true? Or has it been exaggerated some what? E.G. "So small you can't open the slide out". At what % would you say this is the case? My wife & I cycle toured the West coast from Vancouver to Mexico back in '99 & the camping was outstanding for 95% of it, mostly state parks. Didn't bother to check out the RV sites at the time as we hadn't planned on this 15 years later. We are planning our trip at the moment to cover the entire country & of course invision those fabulous sites we experienced with of course great weather where ever we go.

I've been nearly full time for several years staying entirely at COE, State, County and City parks and I've never encounter anything like you describe. The "tight" sites I've encountered were due to inconveniently placed trees not site boundaries

Mik68 wrote:I'm a new comer & as my wife tells me, am addicted to these forums since joining. I have my concerns because I have been reading a lot about how the sites for Rv's or TT's are very tight. Is this true? Or has it been exaggerated some what? E.G. "So small you can't open the slide out". At what % would you say this is the case?My wife & I cycle toured the West coast from Vancouver to Mexico back in '99 & the camping was outstanding for 95% of it, mostly state parks. Didn't bother to check out the RV sites at the time as we hadn't planned on this 15 years later.We are planning our trip at the moment to cover the entire country & of course invision those fabulous sites we experienced with of course great weather where ever we go. :)If you saw it on the internet it must be factual. After all, you can't put anything on the internet that isn't true. Since the average slide is a little less than 3 feet deep, for it to be impossible to open a slide rigs would have to be less than 6 feet apart. Additionally, wide body RVs are 8.5 feet wide, so the sites would have to be less than 14 feet wide for a rig to be unable to extend their slides. And the drivers of each rig would need to be capable of manuevering into those extremely narrow sites. This is just not the normal situation.What happens most often, not counting the just plain exaggerated hubris, is there is a tree, bush or other impediment that needs to be manuevered around, or people "confuse" their 12 foot awning with their slides. Yes, there are many RV parks where sites are close together since it is a matter of economics, but very few are actually so tight that slides cannot be extended.

Those issues are limited to certain CG's and geographic areas. In Florida the state park reservation system provides accurate information on site size and pics in most cases. In addition I have found this site to be excellent providing high quality pics of each site of the CG's they have documented.http://www.campsitephotos.com/

What some would call "Tight" others would say "perfect". Just one's opinion and how comfortable they are with their rig. Generally, as others have stated, there is usually a tree or bush in a bad location that creates a backing issue or a fully open slide issue. 25-30 ft in most parks is normal. Now I have seen some beachside campgrounds in Flordia where, if you put your slide out, you only have about 6 inches from you to your neighbor!! :) Packed in there like it was a camper show!! :)And forget putting out your awning...

Concerned about the camping sites in the U.S.

jmtandem
Explorer II
Apr 25, 2013
I'm a new comer & as my wife tells me, am addicted to these forums since joining. I have my concerns because I have been reading a lot about how the sites for Rv's or TT's are very tight. Is this true? Or has it been exaggerated some what? E.G. "So small you can't open the slide out". At what % would you say this is the case?
My wife & I cycle toured the West coast from Vancouver to Mexico back in '99 & the camping was outstanding for 95% of it, mostly state parks. Didn't bother to check out the RV sites at the time as we hadn't planned on this 15 years later.
We are planning our trip at the moment to cover the entire country & of course invision those fabulous sites we experienced with of course great weather where ever we go.
ljr
Nomad
Apr 25, 2013
I've been nearly full time for several years staying entirely at COE, State, County and City parks and I've never encounter anything like you describe. The "tight" sites I've encountered were due to inconveniently placed trees not site boundaries
westernrvparkow
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
Mik68 wrote:
I'm a new comer & as my wife tells me, am addicted to these forums since joining. I have my concerns because I have been reading a lot about how the sites for Rv's or TT's are very tight. Is this true? Or has it been exaggerated some what? E.G. "So small you can't open the slide out". At what % would you say this is the case?
My wife & I cycle toured the West coast from Vancouver to Mexico back in '99 & the camping was outstanding for 95% of it, mostly state parks. Didn't bother to check out the RV sites at the time as we hadn't planned on this 15 years later.
We are planning our trip at the moment to cover the entire country & of course invision those fabulous sites we experienced with of course great weather where ever we go. :)
If you saw it on the internet it must be factual. After all, you can't put anything on the internet that isn't true. Since the average slide is a little less than 3 feet deep, for it to be impossible to open a slide rigs would have to be less than 6 feet apart. Additionally, wide body RVs are 8.5 feet wide, so the sites would have to be less than 14 feet wide for a rig to be unable to extend their slides. And the drivers of each rig would need to be capable of manuevering into those extremely narrow sites. This is just not the normal situation.
What happens most often, not counting the just plain exaggerated hubris, is there is a tree, bush or other impediment that needs to be manuevered around, or people "confuse" their 12 foot awning with their slides. Yes, there are many RV parks where sites are close together since it is a matter of economics, but very few are actually so tight that slides cannot be extended.
fla-gypsy
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
Those issues are limited to certain CG's and geographic areas. In Florida the state park reservation system provides accurate information on site size and pics in most cases. In addition I have found this site to be excellent providing high quality pics of each site of the CG's they have documented.

http://www.campsitephotos.com/
Steve_Martin
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
What some would call "Tight" others would say "perfect". Just one's opinion and how comfortable they are with their rig. Generally, as others have stated, there is usually a tree or bush in a bad location that creates a backing issue or a fully open slide issue. 25-30 ft in most parks is normal. Now I have seen some beachside campgrounds in Flordia where, if you put your slide out, you only have about 6 inches from you to your neighbor!! :) Packed in there like it was a camper show!! :)And forget putting out your awning...
korbe
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
One consideration is that many of these forum members prefer to stay in RV parks with full hookups. When discussions come up regarding "campgrounds", many comments are meant for "RV Parks" instead.

Most of the rural(forest Service)campgrounds in our neck of the world can handle our 5er but we can't fit in all of the nice sites - length of space is the major reason.
phenrichs
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
I have seen so many that look like a parking lot. The local KOA for example. There is a yogi bear CG here that is not bad. Problem is that they are trying to pack in as many as they can. The SD state parks are awesome, huge sites. I always look at the map and the photos to see how much space there is.
Jayco-noslide
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
The variation is huge. Many states are slowly remodeling state park campgrounds so they range from (made for tents to small RV's) up to 1st class with large sites, full hook-ups, etc. National Park campgrounds usually have sites on the small side; sometimes hard to back into but that varies a lot also. You didn't say the size of your unit? We have a 26 ft. 5th wheel so most sites are adequate but can't take it for granted. It's best to research the campground. Most will describe the sites, state the sizes etc. and some may recommend a limit. For example, was just looking at a national park site and it recommended; no units with a total length more than 42 ft. For us, 80% of campgrounds are fine, probably almost 100% of private campgrounds.
Jloucks
Explorer
Apr 25, 2013
It varies from campground to campground. Goto google maps, and look at some aerial shot of different campgrounds. You will see the variation. State parks are typically more spacious.
Mik68
Explorer
Apr 26, 2013
ljr wrote:
I've been nearly full time for several years staying entirely at COE, State, County and City parks and I've never encounter anything like you describe. The "tight" sites I've encountered were due to inconveniently placed trees not site boundaries

Thanks for feedback everybody, I am less concerned now, my slide out E.G. was obviously exaggerated. We haven't purchased the TT yet but want to keep it under 28 foot as that is plenty big enough when we bring it back to Aus. What is COE? Do COE, State, County and City & National parks have dump stations?