Campground Maximum Length

Reading all this, I'm glad I have small rigs. I don't have to question whether I'll fit or not, or get in or not. I just go and enjoy! :)

As others have said, published length means from rear of the site out to the road. Does not take into account what type of rig you are using.

With a trailer, I always try to choose a site longer than our trailer. Because if it isn't large enough for the trailer and our truck after unhitching, I could be stuck parking out at a remote lot. And that is completely out of the question for us. If the site isn't long enough or wide enough for my truck to be near, I won't use that site.

Google Earth is your friend.

There are a number of things working against you. First of all at 37' you have lost an awful lot of options at many state parks. Remember, most of these parks were created when a 30' trailer was really big & slideouts was not even a word. Next you have those who book a site way longer than they actually need. I can't count the number of times I have seen a class C or a B in a pick your own site park occupying one of the few long sites or pull throughs. It would be nice if maximum lengths were set for the long sites. Worst case of site abuse seen was in Alaska where a VW bus was occupying a site I later paced out at 75' deep.

Size does matter. The bigger you are the more skill you need to get into those sites that are marginal for your size & the more important it is to have a good director to get you in.

If it's a park we haven't been at or a area of the park we haven't been in, I look on Google Earth. There is a ruler icon on the top of the page and you can measure the site. I've found it to be very accurate

Tyler0215 wrote:
If it says max TRAILER length, that's what it means!

That would be my thought. The language seems clear... except if you are dealing with a government entity. They speak their own language!

bucky wrote:
State park systems are hit or miss on lengths. Some will say all sites are 30 feet, other states actually go measure the sites. What a concept! If in doubt about accuracy I call them. The rangers know which ones are 60 feet when the web says that they are 30 feet,

Rangers are usually helpful and will give you an appropriate site that considers your voiced out challenge specially if the campground is not full.

When I was new RVing, a ranger saw that I got a new rig. Right there in there at the entrance seeing me as a newbie, he cancelled my previous reservations and told me that he is giving me a straight up backing site with room to maneuver. He even apologized that he doesn't have a pull through.

State park systems are hit or miss on lengths. Some will say all sites are 30 feet, other states actually go measure the sites. What a concept! If in doubt about accuracy I call them. The rangers know which ones are 60 feet when the web says that they are 30 feet,

DrewE wrote:

drsteve wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
“If you are at all competent backing your rig, you can generally fudge it by a few feet without problem”

But I’ll be the RVer waiting and waiting while you try to horse an oversized rig into a site. JUST FOLLOW THE RULES! Do doctors recommend other doctors “fudge?”

LOL... no you won't. An extra five feet is always easily doable... unless you're one of those noobs who spend ten minutes hollering back and forth with his DW, who stands in his blind spot waving her arms and yelling... and still runs over the firepit.

That depends on the campground (and possibly the site). In many campgrounds, five feet extra is no big deal at all. Occasionally, though, that's not the case at all, and five feet over the stated site length means you'll stick out four and a half feet, and likely have to use a different site or a different campground.

I'm sure there must be such places, but I have yet to find them.
Virtually every CG leaves a margin for error to accommodate those with less experience, or long bed crew cab duallies, or cargo racks sticking off their rear bumper, or who go by the model number rather than the ball to bumper length. The difference between model and actual can sometimes be 5 feet.

The reason they do this is simple: they don't want frustrated customers showing up at the office complaining that they can't get parked on their sites, because then they have to move them somewhere else, and on crowded weekends this is a major PITA.

37' is getting close to the "Big Brute" class & with it goes the unavailability of CG sites. The private CGs will usually cram you in one way or another but the SPs & more so the NPs can be a challenge sometimes.

Ours is just under 36' LOA but the model number is 34. That is what I use. I have not found a so-called 30' site yet that I have not been able to get the thing into. Most SP operators are very easy to deal with. The attitude is, if you can get it in & are happy, we are happy. Every once in awhile you will run into Sgt Bythebook. If the site is 35 & you are 36, nope, you can't have it. Grrrrr!

drsteve wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
“If you are at all competent backing your rig, you can generally fudge it by a few feet without problem”

But I’ll be the RVer waiting and waiting while you try to horse an oversized rig into a site. JUST FOLLOW THE RULES! Do doctors recommend other doctors “fudge?”

LOL... no you won't. An extra five feet is always easily doable... unless you're one of those noobs who spend ten minutes hollering back and forth with his DW, who stands in his blind spot waving her arms and yelling... and still runs over the firepit.

That depends on the campground (and possibly the site). In many campgrounds, five feet extra is no big deal at all. Occasionally, though, that's not the case at all, and five feet over the stated site length means you'll stick out four and a half feet, and likely have to use a different site or a different campground.