Florida state parks B class in tent sites

[Arvie_1]

Hi all! Although I don't post very much, I do visit this site often and have learned so much in the time I've had my Roadtrek. Finally we are able to spend some longer time time enjoying "Arvie" and are heading to Florida for a couple of months this winter.

I notice, in particular in Long Key State Park there are a few sites designated as tent, but it does say van allowed, with a maximum length of 15 ft. With a car or truck you are allowed 2 tents. In looking at the photos posted on the park web site it does not look like there would be any problem in parking the van there.

My question is this. The Roadtrek is 19 ft long. Does anyone have experience with booking one of these tents sites with a van that is slightly longer than the 15ft max listed on the booking site?

Thanks very much!

[Arvie_1]

That's great, Arvie - it's a special place. How big is your B?




Our B is technically a 19 Ft. We actually fit much better on the tent/van site than many with one vehicle and a tent! ( I say technically because by the time you had on the continental tire kit and the bike rack , It's a few ft longer.) Wish we could have booked for next year but of course all the sites in the Keys are already booked. Heard some interesting stories from fellow campers on how they get their bookings for the next year!

[Arvie_1]

jjson775 wrote:
Glad you enjoyed it! We love Florida. We don't go there to escape the winter because we live on the Texas coast but it is a beautiful state and there is lots to do. We are leaving the week after next to catch the end of Houston Astros spring training.

We too love Florida. Have been coming here for many decades, but it's only the second time in our little RV. Could easily stay another month but are heading home in a couple of weeks.

We are actually thinking of Texas next year. How's the weather in Jan/Feb/March?

Thanks for the post!

[NCWriter]

Arvie 1 wrote:
Just wanted to provide an update.
Our wonderful B was perfect for the tent site at Long Key state park.

Thoroughly enjoyed this park. The staff is just excellent!!!
Took some wonderful photos but haven't taken the time to download them so far.

That's great, Arvie - it's a special place. How big is your B?

By the way, tent sites have been taken out of service for the future. Also seems as though many more sites are listed as 25’ maximum now. Good for class Bers.

[jjson775]

Glad you enjoyed it! We love Florida. We don't go there to escape the winter because we live on the Texas coast but it is a beautiful state and there is lots to do. We are leaving the week after next to catch the end of Houston Astros spring training.

[Arvie_1]

Just wanted to provide an update.
Our wonderful B was perfect for the tent site at Long Key state park.

Thoroughly enjoyed this park. The staff is just excellent!!!
Took some wonderful photos but haven't taken the time to download them so far.

[Arvie_1]

Fabulous view!!!! Thanks so much for posting the photo!

[jjson775]

Here is a view out the back of our Pleasure Way Excel when we camped at Long Key:

I don't know if this was a van/tent site, don't think so.

[Arvie_1]

Thank you for sharing your camping experiences at Long Key State Park.

After speaking to a very pleasant and helpful park ranger, we are looking forward to our confirmed reservation in a TENT/VAN site. 🙂

[coolmom42]

My guess is that it varies hugely according to park and specific sites. MOST tent sites in TN state parks have driveways in front of the tent pad, and they are all long enough to accommodate a full-zize pickup or van. But there a few tent sites in almost every campground where parking is not really close to the tent pad. And there are some where the driveway is so sloped you could never level up a van.

Best thing to do is look for a photo of the site, or call the specific park. TN state parks have photos of all sites on the reservation website, that show the driveway/tent pad/hookups etc. Maybe Florida has the same.

[tatest]

mockturtle wrote:
How many 'vans' are under 15'? Sounds like an unreasonable criterion, to me.

First three generations of the VW Transporter, which dominated the camper-van market for many years, were under 15 feet long. The third generation made it by a hair with original bumpers, first two were short enough to be under 15 with a front-mount spare.

[tatest]

I've been tenting in a number of tent sites, including Florida state parks, where the parking space for my car was not at the tent site, rather I parked in a grouped parking area, a short walk from the campsite. Parking sites were not necessarily level.

I've also been in other tent sites that would handle a full-size car (not that I ever had one, until recently buying a mid-length van) but would not have had any RV hookups. I've seen people back small campers (like VWs and A-frames) into the parking spaces; this in Oklahoma, not Florida.

If I were planning to use tent sites in public campgrounds, I would come prepared to do tent camping. In some parks tent camping is a general area without bounded individual sites.

[jjson775]

Long Key is a beautiful park, we camped there in our Pleasure Way Excel, 10 feet from the crystal clear water. I waded out from our site and fished the flats (no success but I have no idea how to catch bonefish). We stayed there during the busy season and could not get an advance reservation. The weather for the previous few days had been very bad and most people had left so we got a spot. The weather improved to perfection and we had a great time. A fond memory of our RV travels.

[mockturtle]

OK....one! 😄

[Davydd]

mockturtle wrote:
How many 'vans' are under 15'? Sounds like an unreasonable criterion, to me.

🙂