Newbie question about touring with 5th wheel

[Lexidoodle]

found a 42' Forest River 5th wheel we love but wondering if its too long for touring America & visiting National Parks. Appreciate your input. Thanks in advance

[ChuckV1]

We have a 40ft 5th wheel an find camp grounds outside national parks, to us the KOA's, Good Sam Camp grounds rated at over 8 plus are far better than national camp grounds with 30amp service, water an no sewers ...

We Glamp not Camp so the DW want it all, sewer, cable, 50amp, for us it's just as easy to drive into the parks for the day an return home to a nice large living area were we are not cramped an can stretch out 🙂

We also have a dually an have never had a problem parking, yes it takes a mile sometime to turn around but we are retired an not in a hurry so turning around an taking our time is just what it is, sorry if we get in your way because your in a hurry were not LOL 🙂

Safe Travels

[Veebyes]

Size matters. Go over 30' & it begins matter but not much. Go over 35 & you are starting to limit yourself to private parks. Go over 40 & life really gets restrictive.

[TXiceman]

40+ is way too much for the NPs'. You can stay outside the park in commercial campgrounds.

We have been on the road full time for 6 years in our 40 ft. 5er and finding and getting sites in the peak season is getting harder unless you plan 6 months out in popular destination areas. We usually wind up staying in the lower rated parks simply because we can get a site for a week or two.

Ken

[laknox]

Lexidoodle wrote:
found a 42' Forest River 5th wheel we love but wondering if its too long for touring America & visiting National Parks. Appreciate your input. Thanks in advance

As the others have said, +/- 30' is about the most convenient length for NPs, overall. Some do have space for larger rigs, but they're few and far between. Also, be aware that some ROADS may have length restrictions, so be aware of that. One that comes immediately to mind is the Mt. Lemmon Rd. near Tucson. Rare, but there are a few.

Lyle

[kennethwooster]

Just traded a 31 ft. Cameo for a 39 ft. Beacon. “I would not try to camp in. National park.The Beacon is not designed for national park.

[agesilaus]

We camped in Fishing Bridge, Yosemite Valley, N. Pines CG, and easily in Lassen Volcanic which has a lot of pull thrus and in a few other National Park CG. That was in our 34 ft fiver but those sites are few and hard to get. We downsized to our current Arctic Fox 25 which is actually 30 ft to the end of the tongue and expect to find it easier to get sites.

[TxGearhead]

You might find a few sites a 35ft would fit in. Our 5th is about that and we have never stayed inside a Nat Park. We have cruised Smokey Mtn Nat Park looking at sites and there are a few. You may as well resolve yourself to camping outside the parks. That ain't a really bad thing, you will have hookups which the NP won't have. I bought the Bigfoot cabover mostly for this reason. I like to be camped in the park. I don't need no stinkin hookups. The wife...that is a different thing altogether. So me and the Bigfoot always travel alone.

[Dtank]

Lwiddis wrote:
“Dealer said it was no problem...”

You have two choices IMO...find another dealer who is knowledgeable or don’t believe anything your current dealer says about 42 footers in NPs.

No need to find a different dealer........

*IF* a salesperson's lips are moving - don't believe him/her..:(

Do *YOUR OWN* research - as you are now, on this forum..:W

BTW - Did the "dealer" tell you your F-150 (or - fill in the blank)
would do just fine as a tow vehicle for that trailer?..:@

.

[Nv_Guy]

I have a 35 as well, and while it can be inconvenient, it sure beats the 20' we previously had.

[stew47]

I have a 35 and it’s pretty inconvenient sometimes. When kids aren’t camping with us I’d probably go no more than 32ft fiver.

[Lexidoodle]

Good advice...thanks for breaking down to simple terms

[Lwiddis]

“Dealer said it was no problem...”

You have two choices IMO...find another dealer who is knowledgeable or don’t believe anything your current dealer says about 42 footers in NPs.

[agesilaus]

You need to understand that most CG in major older parks were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 1930's and sites are based on what they expected from that era, small in other words and no services for many parks. 30 to 35 ft is the max in many but not all park campgrounds and there are quite a few that have shorter length limits.

We had a fiver before getting our new unit and after looking at some park campgrounds we decided on a 34 ft unit. You should do the same look at the campgrounds on Reserve America (where you make national park reservations) website and make your own determination.

Just my personal thoughts: it would be a cold day in Hades before I'd drag that behemoth around.

Oh one very important point: DEALERS LIE. Don't trust a thing they tell you, all they care about is your money in their pocket. Once you are off the lot they do not care what happens to you. I doubt many of them actually are RVers and probably have never camped in a park.

[topjimmy]

Yep I have been a fulltimer for 8 years and been to alot of parks mine is a 40fter and you can forget about National parks like was said before but you will have no Problems 90% percent of the time in Private parks KOA's etc... just outside most National Parks And MAKE Reservations as early as you can or you are in a world of hurt and you will be spending many nights in Walmarts and Truck stops NOT GOOD Plan out your trip and have Fun:B