30 foot limit

[alamo47]

I have read/been told that I should not get a motor home over 30 feet because some places, like national parks,have length limits. How often is this an issue?
Thanks, Alamo47.

[Scottiemom]

ItsyRV said it best.

We fulltimed for 15 years in a 40' motorhome. Never had any trouble finding spots. Yes, there are some campgrounds that cannot accommodate the larger rigs. Be glad they tell you that up front. Too many times I've heard, "We just had a 40-er in here last week" only to find out we couldn't fit.

Typically older campgrounds and state parks cannot always accommodate, but you just have to do your research. Once you find a potential park, look it up on Google Maps and look at the satellite view. That will help.

Dale

[ItsyRV]

alamo47 wrote:
I have read/been told that I should not get a motor home over 30 feet because some places, like national parks,have length limits. How often is this an issue?
Thanks, Alamo47.

Here's the issue. Not all campsites can accommodate "large" size RVs in all their spots. Some can fit small RVs, other spot will hold medium size RVs and other spots large RV's. Additionally, although there may be "long spots", the roads to that site may limit size. Since spots usually are limited to max size, the more longer spots that are taken means the less long spot availability. Nothing says a long spot can't be occupied by a dinky RV like mine, but a mondo toy hauler probably won't be allowed to occupy a vacant 24 footer spot.

So, it's just a matter of sensible travel planning. Usually there are spots where or near a location, but maybe not in particular campground or in a particular area of the campground during a particular period of time. To be honest, most campgrounds can accommodate various sizes (a few may have size limits but they are the exception) just the vacancy of certain spots could be the bigger issue.

[jdc1]

You'll have quite a few forest areas in Califonia where you will not fit. Older National Parks have issues with anything over 22-27'.

[DrewE]

It's simple physics--the longer/larger the RV, the fewer sites it can fit in. However, it's not as though there's one "magical" length where suddenly you can't fit into lots more sites; a 32' RV is only incrementally harder to find a site for than a 28' RV.

My motorhome is pretty much exactly 32' long bumper to bumper. There are a fair few sites in some parks that I cannot fit in (particularly in some of the state campgrounds here in Vermont, many of which were built by the CCC and have small but private sites); however, I only need to find one site that can accommodate me, and thus far it has not really been a problem provided I'm willing to be a tiny bit flexible in planning. I would be a a fair bit more constrained here with a 40' motorhome. In many other areas, it's less of a difficulty.

The best suggestion I can give is to find out what the actual limits are at places you're hoping to go. In some cases the published length limits are rather arbitrary and have little bearing on the size of the site or the tightness of the access roads. In other cases, they're very much precise and a 31' motorhome just won't work in a 30' max site. In Texas and the surrounding states, I would not expect to find too many very tight sites; there's a lot of wide open, flat land, generally speaking.

[Chum_lee]

alamo47 wrote:
I have read/been told that I should not get a motor home over 30 feet because some places, like national parks,have length limits. How often is this an issue?
Thanks, Alamo47.

IMO, DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU READ OR WHAT YOU ARE TOLD. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!

I currently full time in a 31' Class A motor home and I have for last 9 years. Only once in the last 9 years (at least 100 RV parks) was I refused because of my length. It was busy and I arrived late without a reservation. Their last space would only accommodate a 28' motor home. Other reasons, . . . yes, BUT not because of the (my) length. It's true that the longer/older your RV is, the more limited your options, BUT, you really have to do your homework.

Chum lee

[Lwiddis]

Cruise America’s list...

https://www.cruiseamerica.com/rv-adventures/rv-lifestyle/national-park-rv-size-limit

[Lwiddis]

Rather than being told, have you reviewed this chart?

https://outdoorsrvmfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/National-Park-Trailer-Length-Chart.pdf

[bgum]

The longer the rig the more times it's an issue.

[bukhrn]

Some do have shorter limits, many don't, just call the park before reserving, I've seen many RV's well over 30 ft in sites listed for 30.
What restricts many campgrounds more than site length is the interior roads, narrow & sharp turns.