Trailer length concerns

Whatever length your rig is, there will be sites you can't use.

Our TT is 21 feet, hardly "big" by anybody's standards, and on a couple occasions, we've been excluded because they didn't have any sites big enough. Rather, it was because all their sites that would work for us are already taken.

Most of the time, that's no problem, but if you really want to NEVER be unable to "stay there," . . . well, it can't be done. There are even campgrounds that do not allow tents, as well as ones that are tents-only.

34 feet is a big rig in almost everybody's book. But if that's what you need, then that's what you need. Yes, there will be times when you won't fit in anything that is available, and you'll have to camp somewhere else. But I wouldn't expect it to be a big issue.

Here are some actual experiences we've had with trying to get into campsites in N California. We have a 22' overall (tongue to bumper) trailer and a short tow vehicle.

Kirk Creek - Road narrow and boulder on both sides of the site with probably 75-degree angle required us to back the outer front wheel of the TV over a kerb into the bushes.
Gualala - Road narrow and Redwood on the inside corner of the site driveway and cars parked across from it caused us to have to drop the front wheel of the TV off the pavement into the bushes. Site short so had to park TV sideways across driveway.
Bear Creek Reservoir , Sierras - Uphill, direct back-in with a huge pothole on the inside required very creative backing. Dropping into the pothole was not an option. Low branches just cleared the roof.
Fremont Peak - Only way into the site was to make a complete 180 turn. Barely had room. Narrow scary access road before you even get to the CG.
Pismo Beach North - Driveway very short with about 2-3' to spare after unhooking TT.

These are some of the situations we've encountered, so if we ever get a bigger TT I don't want to go above 25' overall. Yes, you can totally avoid these problems by staying at places that can handle longer rigs, but we don't want to be forced away from interesting places. We also have a shorter rear overhang which helps with boondocking off-road. With our compact setup I am confident in choosing just about any CG.

One other thing.

Practice, practice, practice in an open lot with plenty of room.

I was barely able to get my 30' trailer into a state park site which was 90 degrees from the road early in my towing days.

Then watched some guy come in with a 42' toy hauler and put it next to me without any trouble.

Moving to a 35' trailer was actually harder than starting out because I was so used to how the 30' trailer turned. All my, and my DW, assumptions were wrong about how to back it into a spot.

In some heavily wooded campgrounds (we camp mainly in GA and FL), the campground road is narrow and curvy, and it can be a problem backing into a site, due to the narrowness of the road, even if the site is long enough. Been there, done that when we had a 31 ft. TT. So much easier and less stressful with a smaller camper (30 ft. or under, total length of trailer).

Your location is listed as Redwood, CA - so I'm basing this on California information.

Commercial RV Parks won't be a problem. You just need to watch for them wanting to put you into a small spot.

COE parks won't be a problem - except as noted above - don't show up on Friday evening during the busy season and expect to have a site available - no matter what your length.

Some California State Parks won't take trailers that long - check the ones you want to visit. Only 22 of 91 parks are listed for trailers 35 ft and longer - only 24% of the parks. Dropping to 30 ft add another 25 parks - total of 47 - which is about 1/2 of the state parks.

CA SP Max Length

Some campgrounds at National Parks in California won't take that trailer, or have very few sites available. You have to check each park/ campground - and want to make reservations for your site as early as possible. Mt Rainier NP won't take rigs that long at either of their campgrounds. But you can get into Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier.

Many of the most scenic US Forest Service parks won't take a rig that long, especially in the mountains. Some of the roads are simply too narrow and twisted to tow to the CG.

A lot of older federal government and state parks simply were not designed for today's RV. There were designed with popups or 15' trailers as the biggest 'RVs' in mind.

Besides the size of the camping spots - another issue to be concerned about is entry to the spot and the campground roads. I've seen 100' long camping spots which could not take a 30' trailer because there just wasn't room to get it turned and into the spot.

That said - I wouldn't worry about that size trailer.

Yes, it will limit you at a specific CG on occasion - but you can almost always find a nearby alternative. It just takes a little better information and planning.

If the 34 footer is the rig you want I wouldn't worry about site size. There are plenty of campgrounds around that will accommodate your size rig.

Haven't had any problem with restrictions but we are certainly more limited in site selection and availability.

Big long trailers would not be my cup of tea. We camp back off the trails alot here on the East side of the USA.

My OFF-ROAD POPUP setup has all the comforts of home just not alot of inside move around room. This makes us live more outside which is what we like to do anyway...

The one post above mentioned the Smoky Mtns Natl Park - I was driving thru there with just my truck on one trip and came up on a fridge cover laying on the side of the road just after going around a low overhang rock on a blind curve. Throwed it in the back of my truck... Alittle bit farther down the road I came up on a mangled up BAT WING antenna. throwed that in the back of the truck as well. Then I came up on a big 5th wheel trailer sitting in a pull out with the owner walking around it. I stopped and said you looking for these haha... Sure enough they belonged to him... We had some good ole fresh made bean coffee and went on our way...

I have always thought the 24-26 foot length would be the perfect maximun length I would like to play with. Low cost maintenance, better gas mileage, ease of travel are a few things I would think about...

Its all about what you want to do and put up with I reckon... We are off trail tent campers since the early 60s... never really grew out of that..

For us bigger is not necessarily better...

Roy Ken

I will be towing with an expedition el so turning radius isn't the best. I was just concerned about not being able to find a campground that would take something that long.

Can't speak to parks on the west coast but there are plenty on the east coast that can handle that routinely.