Campsite Lengths

Campgrounds that TT's are towed by a veshile, and MH's usually tow a car, so most likely there will be room for both. You could always call and ask though.

In Texas, (especially State Parks) it is best to use the total length unless specifically asked to do otherwise. For years we used a tent or small trailer so it never mattered but since graduating to larger trailers I've found that reserving a 30 foot site is often just that 30 feet long by 8 foot wide with no room for the TV. So now I reserve a 55-60 foot spot whenever possible and unless someone squats on the site without permission, we always have room for the pickup.

In the rocky mountain west area where I take my 240 RKS I've found it really varies on how big a spot you need. In the mountain areas of Utah, I've found that most of the forest service campgrounds don't have the room to fit side by side with the truck and TT, and many don't have the room to park the truck parallel to the road. Head to the desert areas and things tend to get wider so you only need to get a spot long enough for the TT. Most of the campgrounds I use require you to park the TT and tow vehicle in your spot, and don't have any other places to park the tow vehicle. Most of the full hookup sorts of places I've been to have areas you can park the truck other than your campsite, so again, no hard fast rules.

When you make reservations, they usually ask you the length of your RV to make sure it will fit.

HGL wrote:
This is my first post as we are in the process of ordering our first TT - a Timber Ridge 270DBHS. We have only tent camped in the past so knowing how long the pad was didn't really matter at the point. What I am wondering is when checking for length of the pad, should I always calculate the length when hitched together or can I reduce the length because we can unhitch?

Thank you for your help!

yes, you usually can fit in a spot shorter than the overall length. In my case, I'm 60ft overall, and generally can fit into a 40ft site, often even shorter. First, truck can go is diagonally and overlapping the tongue. Second, in many cases (but not all!), there is open space behind the pad, so I can back the trailer till the wheels are at the end of the pad, trailer overlaps, probably 15'. In that case I can fit into a 35' spot.

But, unless you have a site picture It's hard to figure exactly how short a pad you can fit into.

In Florida the state park system usually gives a maximum RV length and a driveway length separate. There may be a few exceptions

We always tell the campground that our trailer is 30 feet long which may be exaggerating a couple of feet but that's OK because they usually put is in too small a site anyway.

In the NC state parks, they list the total length. I would not take it granted and check with each place.

Thank you both for your answers. This is helping a lot when trying to plan for our long road trip next May.

From my experience RV'ing for the past fifteen years, they list them by length of the trailer, and normally there is space next to or in front of the trailer for your tow vehicle.
There is always the exception, so if you are making reservations at a particular camp ground just ask them.

For what it is worth: about 75 percent of the camp grounds don't have pads

Jack L