There's an RV for everyone, but each definitely has its pluses and limitations. I think that's why it's a good thing when people do spend a lot of time and research before buying.
People with big rigs enjoy great amenities, comfort, storage space, big holding tanks, space for extra people, etc. But it won't fit everywhere ...and it guzzles fuel. Understandable that a large family might want one versus camping with a bunch of tents or trying to squeeze everyone into something smaller.
RVers like us with a Class B or small C for two or three travelers get better mileage and have many more options for camping locations, like scenic Squaw Flat in Canyonlands NP, Utah which has a 28' maximum length and was my favorite last summer. Sounds like CA would be a good destination for a B.
But our 22' class B does not have the big, comfy, condo-like living spaces, so we can't envision using it for long term snow birding. We can't invite friends to travel with us. Maybe someday we will get something bigger. But for now while we are traveling long distances at 23 mpg, parking it in our driveway and fitting into most campsites, we're really happy with our choice and don't mind sacrificing the comforts.
Nothing's perfect and it's great there's a size out there that works for your gameplan.
* This post was
edited 04/24/12 06:50am by NCWriter *
One state park we recently discovered has a couple of sites listed with a maximum length of 30'. Well we first camped there on one listed as 35' in our 32' fiver. We scouted the rest of the place and found some pull through sites on the inside of curves that are listed as 25' and 30'. My daughter and I have camped on the 30' twice. The 25' is even longer than the 30'. Part of the issue is levelness. If longer than what is listed, you need to be able to raise or lower the front a good bit. If it was a trailer with low ground clearance, it would be impossible.
Then there are the sites that are actually physically short. We did just get a new TT. Length and weight were a consideration. Stem to stern it is 29' 3", but is listed as a "26 foot travel trailer". This opens up a lot more spaces if I have to make reservations and know the site will actually handle the trailer and the crew cab long bed truck.
Funny thing about a state forest . . . the office didn't want me putting the 32' fiver on this one particular space. I told them it would fit fine . . . the restriction was probably put in place by someone who thinks you can't back a 32' trailer down a straight one lane road for about 200 feet. I've backed the fiver down a slightly curvy road about 120 feet into a tight space where the brush along the road was touching both sides of the trailer in that particular state forest (I also cleared the brush back for them 3 feet on each side of the road before I left -- they regularly do this in that forest but had not done that road in a while -- they did the rest of that road the next spring).
One of the reasons we stayed short, see sig, was because we like state parks. (when you can get a reservation). We do have to watch the height and width also. We camp in Kings Canyon every spring and have to be careful of the narrow roads inside the campground.
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So heres a stupid question. When they say a 28 foot max or whatever, are they refering to total length with a tow vehicle, or just length of trailer/ fiver? Reason i ask is because i have a 26' fiver towed by a dodge long bed. My total length i have never measured yet but I guess its around 35' when hitched.
Browntrout73 wrote: So heres a stupid question. When they say a 28 foot max or whatever, are they refering to total length with a tow vehicle, or just length of trailer/ fiver? Reason i ask is because i have a 26' fiver towed by a dodge long bed. My total length i have never measured yet but I guess its around 35' when hitched.
They normally mean the length of the trailer alone. Sometimes they will then list a maximum number of vehicles on the site. One of my favorite state parks here in Maryland does that. They will list 30' as the maximum length and no more than two vehicles. What they mean is I can have a 30' fiver, the truck that hauled it, and my wife can arrive later in the car. Said site would be big enough for that, but the part that is level enough to set up the fiver will really only accomodate something 30' in length. But with a fiver I discovered, you can discount the portion forward of the landing gear jacks. That part could hang over a cliff and you could still get it level. It is basically an issue of the length from the back stabilizer jacks to whatever touches the ground furtherest forward -- unless the restriction has something to do with narrow roads and tight turns on the way to the site (this is sometimes true of the older parks out west).
According to your chart, our 37 foot 5er will only fit in from 30% to 42% of the campgrounds. We’ve been camping since 2004 and have never found a single campground that did not have a site available for us. We’ve done overnight stays with reservations made a few hours before and reservation made weeks before. We’ve camped in 3 state parks in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Never a problem! Admittedly, we can’t fit in every site in every campground, but every campground has had sites that we did fit in well.
Where did those number come from?
Maybe you should move to the east coast where we are RV friendly!
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i think that chart has a majority of sites from public campgrounds and not private ones.
out here, people prefer our national, state, county campgrounds to be more natural and privat, in its setting and less like a parking lot.
so, there's not as much room for larger RVs.
there are plenty of private no-privacy parking lot-style campgrounds for bigger RVs.
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