Larger 5th wheels in/on state and federal parks

[philh]

We're kind of settling in on Cedar Creek 38EFK or it's Riverstone twin. We both love to cook and these units really fit for that.

I keep hearing things like, anything larger than 25' won't fit in most parks, tough to tow, etc etc etc.

We're going to sell the B&M and live in our park model for 6-8 months in MI and travel the rest of the time in the 5th. After spending 3 weeks in our little TT, it was an awesome trip, but with a significant amount of rain, it's a little bit much.

how bad are the big trailers to find places to stop? I know at one campground we were at, we were surrounded by what I called NY skyscrapers 🙂 I do want to do some travel and see new things. We took one route this Christmas, where it was posted no trailers over 30'... and I believe it. 15mph switchbacks, but what a beautiful drive.

[Lantley]

As you get longer in length there will be more limitations. However I have always found sites to accomodate my rig. I have always had 40' trailers and have always found places to camp. Sure there were sites I could not fit into but there were always others available that I could fit into.

[Veebyes]

This is a frequent topic & yes, size does matter. The bigger you are the fewer the sites that will be available. It is as simple as that.

It is tough enough in CGs with only a few sites long enough for a big rig but the problem is made worse where a CG lets you pick your own site & you drive around the loops only to find TCs, class Bs, small TTs & class Cs occupying the few sites suitable for large rigs while smaller sites sit empty.

That is the way it is. Bryce Canyon NP is the only one where I have seen size designated sites. Even there I drove through looking for a site suitable for our 34' 5er only to find a class B in a site clearly marked "Over 30'". Another time found a Volkswagon Westfalia parked in a 60' backin site in Teklaneka CG, Denali NP, AK.

We did our RV search knowing that our trips would be multi month & knowing the size issues with SPs & NPs. We had set our size limit at 32' because of this but eventually bought the 34. Glad we made the effort to stay in the mid sized 5er range. More than 1800 nights on the road & hundreds of SPs & NP nights later there have been few size issues, even in CGs where they say 30' max.

We have however, seen many instances where only a couple feet longer would have made the difference between fit & no fit in site. In many cases the DW spotter has made the difference between getting into a tight site or not at all.

[JIMNLIN]

It all depends on where you want to travel or camp as you found out.
Many places where we travel or camp anything over 30' will not physically fit period.

Plan your travels and places you want to travel and camp with the big boy.

[agesilaus]

One sort of federal park to look out for is Corp of Engineer (COE) parks, always found on a waterway. Their campgrounds are huge for the most part. Lots of sites take 75 ft units if you have one...heh. But unless you are a boater the parks themselves don't have a lot to offer. Don't think I've ever seen a hiking trail for example. But they make great layover spots on the road for a day or three. They often have water and electric no sewer.

The small size of the other park campgrounds is historical, many were built during the CCC era, the 1930's, when campers mainly were tenters or car campers. And the parks refuse to enlarge the campgrounds or modernize them because of radical environmentalists who control the NPS and the USFS. The idea that a park larger than some eastern states cannot add campsites or modernize the ones they have is idiotic. Tho in YNP they have slightly modernized a few cg that are privately managed.

[ScottG]

You will absolutley run into limitations with a longer rig. We're at 35' now and find we simply wont fit into some sites now, especially older federal and state CG's that have not been updated.
We had no such problem with our last rig which was 26'.

[BB_TX]

Our 5er is 34’. We have been in some state parks where we have had more than enough room. And we have been in some where even a foot longer and we probably could not have fit. Varies a lot park to park. Some parks have sites ranging from short to long with the long ones typically grabbed up first. And some have very narrow access roads limiting what you can get thru.

[azdryheat]

My trailer is 41' long and maxes at 19,000. It's been all over the country in the past 6 years with no problems. We've never been anywhere we've had to turn around. Some places have been rather tight but navigable through superior driving skills.

We've never camped in a national park because that's not our thing. As far as state parks we've found that AZ parks are huge and have more than enuf room for the largest of rigs.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Yes, anything above 25 ft will be an issue in finding camping spots in state and national parks.

We had a 21 ft before and we have to plan out to get into a campsite that will fit our TT. And even if it says it can fit 25 ft, maneuvering between trees, rocks and very tight park roads is an obstacle.

Commercial RV parks almost always can accommodate you. But you have to compromise as it will be just a tad better than a parking lot.

[agesilaus]

Not tough to tow assuming you have a good truck, we pulled a 34 ft fiver all over the west up and down mountains with no trouble. 30 ft is the cut off point for when you'll have trouble in a lot, but not all parks. There may only be a few spots for longer rvs or none. A few parks, Chiricahua is one, that will only allow 25 footers or less. That being said there are always , or almost always commercial parks and they usually take any length RV but navigating park roads can be difficult some times. Once again Chiricahua is one that had no commercial parks near. But on that other hand how many people have been to that park. Darned few possibly because of the restrictions and because of it's isolation.

So yes it will be more difficult, but workable. You'll just have to be very aware of the length of your unit.

[Lwiddis]

Easy to look up

California State Parks https://www.parks.ca.gov/rvlength
National Parks https://outdoorsrvmfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/National-Park-Trailer-Length-Chart.pdf