Length of TT's for State parks

Many state parks are older built at a time when large RVs were 25 feet long. Add in lots of trees crowding the roads and you get restrictions.

Here is California’s limits....https://www.parks.ca.gov/RVlength

We have a 32' Motor home and always trail our toad. It is true, many state parks have shorter sites, and often they contain roads that are more narrow and thus make it harder to maneuver. Having said that, we generally are able to find a site large enough for us to use throughout the East Coast, from Maine to Florida. ONe good way to check is to use either Reserve America or go to the state park's site directly. Most have sites' sizes listed and max RV size allowed per site. Don't be fooled with a pull thru site. Some of them are actually 1/2 circles and are actually less useful for a longer rig than one that goes straight through. I think if you stick to something our size or less you should usually be able to fit. They fill up very quickly in the busy times, however - so be aware that reservations during those times can be really hard to come by if you don't do it well in advance. In our experience, privately owned campgrounds generally are built to accommodate most sized rigs. The restrictions sometimes come from type of rig (some are Class A only), by age (seniors only), age of RV (some do not allow any more than 10 years old) or by breed of dog a camper may have. Size restrictions usually come only from the size of the sites that are available.

Every park in which I've ever stayed, whether private or public, has different limits as befits their varied topography. They don't stamp out camp sites using a mold or die, they carve them out as fits the location, and what's more, it's perfectly legal to do that. Thus there is no answer to the question. Whatever rig you get will be too long for some sites and some campgrounds.

My TT is 21 feet, a length most here would classify as a shortie. And I recall staying one night in a KOA that squeezed me into the only available site, which was officially listed as 20 feet or shorter. I had to park my TV out in the parking lot after backing in to where my trailer was up against this fence at the back, and my hitch was right at the edge of the access road. Well, ok, it hung out about 6 inches.

I volunteer at an NFS campground most of which was built in the 1930s. One section is limited to a max of 28 feet, due to the access roads. In that section, there are sites that could accommodate 65 footers easily, if you could get one in there. There are also sites that can accommodate only a car-length, call it 15 feet.

YMMV.

We went from an 18 foot travel trailer, to a 31 foot, to a 35 foot, and am still camping at the same State Parks we tent camped in. The only difference is, we have to select our sites by length when we make reservations.

In private parks, we've NEVER had a problem getting a spot, at any KOA, any GoodSam, or any Mom-and-pop campground, anywhere.

Check the reservation sites for the state park you are considering. The length of the sites should be indicated. When selecting a site, use the true length of your camper, bumper to hitch, or bumper to bumper. Now, you may not get that spot that's covered with a 100 percent canopy of trees right along the water's edge, but that's the trade off for a larger RV. But, we've never been to a campground anywhere that had too short of sites. We've been turned away because there was no room and no reservations possible, but not because of trailer size.

Wisconsin has some really nice campsites, but sometimes navigating through the park can be an interesting experience though. And we were at a couple State Parks in South Carolina that had really nice campsites, but navigating the turns to get there was ... well ... "interesting"! But I chocked that up to experience, and it gave me an opportunity to increase my towing skills! :E Which it did!

My problem has always been national parks, not state parks. Texas parks, for example, most of them, will accommodate anything you can drive or pull in with. Full hookups, some even have cable tv. :)

I have just downsized from a big fifth wheel to a 28 foot travel trailer. I hope to get into more national parks.

Additionally, almost every state has Corps of Engineers parks. Most of those will take any size that comes. :)

It varies on what state and where you want to camp. A lot of older public parks were built many years ago and a lot only accommodate 25' or so RV'S some with a few sites for larger rigs. Private campgrounds there should not be a issue.

Like others have said sometimes it's not the site that restrict the size but the access road getting to the site.

State parks in the eastern part of the country tend to be older and have smaller campsites than ones here in the west but it depends. If you look up the web sites for the parks that interest you, you can usually find out what size restrictions exist.

My late husband and I traveled most of the country in a 36' MH and toad and only found one state park we couldn't get into and it was in Missouri. There were some others with 90 degree angle sites that were impossible to get into without driving on the grass. By and large you won't have trouble finding camping opportunities if you do your research.

Some states, like TX and OR, have many RV-friendly state parks and most are accessible to just about any size RV.

Note: National Parks and USFS campgrounds are another story.

naturist wrote:
Every park in which I've ever stayed, whether private or public, has different limits as befits their varied topography. They don't stamp out camp sites using a mold or die, they carve them out as fits the location, and what's more, it's perfectly legal to do that. Thus there is no answer to the question. Whatever rig you get will be too long for some sites and some campgrounds..........

Look at an Alabama State Park sometime, and you'd think they used a rubber stamp to print those sites on the map. Same perfect angle to the road, same length, same position of the picnic table........

I haven't stayed in one yet, but my co-worker has and he commented he didn't like Alabama Parks because in many cases they graded the area perfect, put in a road, did the cookie cutter sites, and then replanted trees to fit that layout. Its just too sanitary for him.

Charles

checkout campsitephotos.com , you can view videos of sites which has helped me choose a site.

While I have found some sites are long enough , sometimes I pass on certain sites that have steep inclines as you enter the site, with trees too close to the road where it inhibits pivoting the TV in order to back in.
I have found that many older state and national parks are more tent oriented where the roads are narrow and the sites have dips or hilly terrain making it stressful on the hitch when trying to back in.

In the past upon arriving at a campground, I have tried to relocate a reserved site because I was afraid to damage my hitch. In mid season, that can be difficult to do with site availability at a minimum .
Now, when I roam around the country, I pick and choose my seasons when kids are back in school. July and August I'm hooked up on a privately owned lakefront site .