California trailer length

[rhartman911]

My wife and are buying looking to buy are first trailer (5th wheel) 27'-30'. What length do we need to keep it in order to get into most california parks.I have looked up a few parks and they only say 40'max,30'max so are they talking about Trailer and tow rig? or just trailer?
I have read the average length is 27'now is that a Travel Trailer from back of the tow rig to end of trailer? or just what the trailer length is I am so confused!!! What size would you recomend/or have.

Tow rig
1997 F-350 XLT, Crew cab,7.3 powerstroke
4x4,8'bed, 152,000 miles

[wintersun]

Anything longer than 28' and you will have a lot more difficulty not only finding a space that is long enough but also in having enough room to back in with the trailer. Often the room to back into a space is more of a problem than the overall depth as the "tent area" is not included in the length and some trailers can overhang the end of the parking area.

There is a fantastic book, "California Camping" by Tom Steinstra that anyone traveling around CA should buy. It provides information by geographic area and has excellent maps and is kept current. Much easier to use than the Woodall's directory and much better information include an inventory of spaces by length at different campgrounds.

I extrapolated the information in Tom's book to come up with an idea of how RV length would restrict where we could stay and came up with the following for the area around Yosemite.

16' RV - 211 campgrounds 100% of RV campground
21' RV - 180 campgrounds 85%
25' RV - 150 campgrounds 71%
30' RV - 138 campgrounds 65%
35' RV - 88 campgrounds 42%
40' RV - 64 campgrounds 30%
45' RV - 32 campgrounds 15%

[drae0814]

I Have seen the site that showes camp site sizes i mainly camp in private parks just my thing when you find a place you like and get to know the people. But i have never had a problem in State parks with my 32ft TT one time i did have to move my truck bcause it was on the grass a little bit but over all there are lots of places to camp i live in California and there are more camp grounds then i can get to parks fees are a bigger problem then length of my TT

[deleted-2]

Hi there Norcal neighbor. 🙂

I say a 30 foot total length is about the same as a 35 foot as far as parks in the golden state.

In the regional sense I think most popular RV locations will accommodate most 29 to 36 foot trailers somewhere in that locale.

For instance:
Rocky Point at Lake Almanor has campsites ranging from "no way" to "no sweat"
A place like Jackson Meadows (above Truckee off 89) doesn't look like it would be an easy campground for 27 and above.
Yet it is often loaded with 30-36 foot rigs.

Seems to me if a state\NFS camp has under 25 sites or the initial access is tight it's usually best left for tenting anyway.

IMO the large issue with a big one is short stays.
Once you have the room to enjoy the visit, you may find yourselves hanging around longer.

*btw
We have a number of neighbors here that RV and tent camp.
It's always nice to get a scouting report from them.

It's way more fun to run with the big dawgs than to sit on the porch ... 🙂

[sky_free]

This was an excellent post showing some research that someone did that should help you out. Note that 65% of campgrounds researched can accommodate 30' or less. Our trailer is only 22' overall which gives us lots of options. Even so we have run into some REALLY tight campground loop roads even if the individual sites can accommodate us. The problem is usually backing in when the angles are bad.

[kalynzoo]

If your heading to private parks you will have no problem. If your into State parks you need to consider length. The older CCC (Calif Conservation Corp) parks from the depression have very short max lengths. Up in Angeles Crest 24ft and 26ft max are common. That represents the depth of the site, so park your trailer and move the car elsewhere. Although many State parks now accept larger rigs the number of spots available for larger RVs can be greatly limited. We like private campgrounds, just our thing. In 30+ years of camping up and down the State we have never been denied a spot based on length. We travel 39ft plus a tow car.
Hope this helps. Happy Trails.