State and national park list of maximum RV length

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PattyRN

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Joined
Sep 30, 2017
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17
Is there some kind of comprehensive collection of all state and national parks and what their maximum allowable RV length is?
 
Are you talking about the parks in general, or their campgrounds? I'm not aware of a list of either, but a Google search turns up some answers.
 
Campground areas in state and national parks.  I'm in another group and someone (who I think is paid) keeps telling people to buy some RV magazine that comes out yearly)  I don't know if that has the information I'm looking for in it or if you just have to check out each place. 
 
Some state parks, such as California, don't have sites longer than 30 feet, whereas Oregon state parks have sites that are 80 feet long.
 
I suppose an "up to" list of the longest sites in parks would help narrow the choices down some, but that still won't tell you that a specific site that's available will only fit a 24' or shorter RV.
 
I don't think such a list/book exists. Here in NY, for example, some state parks can handle the biggest of big rigs while others have a 25' - 30' maximum throughout the park.
 
Dutch is right about that restriction. We stopped by a California park near Lake Tahoe once. The website and AllStays said it had sites for our 28.5' (tongue to bumper) trailer. Luckily they had gate attendants who told us there was exactly one site where we would fit, and only one path through the park we wouldn't rub trees! No, we didn't stay there. We are right now in a county park in Iowa with 60' pads. Two days ago we were in a state park in Utah with 90' pads, though there are other parks with 30' max sites. There is no rhyme or reason for sizes.
 
... an "up to" list of the longest sites in parks ... won't tell you that a specific site that's available will only fit a 24' or shorter RV.
Click to expand...

True, and I wasn't suggesting it would. But it would give us a clue that our 38 foot coach wouldn't fit (or be allowed) in a park with a 30 foot max limit.

Meanwhile, we've had CA park rangers suggest/allow our prior rig to 'overhang' several feet beyond the site pad, i.e. the rear wheels of the coach stayed on the gravel/blacktop pad, but the overhang behind the rear wheels was over the grass area. As a result, our "too long" coach was allowed into a "too small" site.

OTOH one time I did that with an SUV towing a boat that overhung the grass, a ranger wrote up an EIR. I wasn't asked to move or remove the boat, nor was anything said to me.

One time we were day-touring Oregon in our toad with some friends (RV travel companions) along for the ride. They'd insisted that we stay at a private campground because, based on their California experience, Oregon state parks wouldn't have sites long enough for their 44 foot coach or our 38 foot coach and our SUV toads. I drove into the first OR state park we came to, wound the window down and asked "how big are your sites?' The answer was "80 feet", and I heard no more about it from our friends.
 
Some times it is not the length of the site that matters but the road getting to the site may have tight turns that would make it nearly impossible for a longer RV to navigate.
 
UTTransplant said:
We are right now in a county park in Iowa with 60' pads. Two days ago we were in a state park in Utah with 90' pads, though there are other parks with 30' max sites. There is no rhyme or reason for sizes.
Click to expand...

I think age is one reason for the shorter sites.  As time has gone on the length of RVs has increased but the number of older parks has not been able to increase their pad sizes accordingly.  It pays to check first because even in some private campgrounds it can be a major problem.

Bill
 
PattyRN said:
I'm in another group and someone (who I think is paid) keeps telling people to buy some RV magazine that comes out yearly
Click to expand...

Hmm, you might get that at "other" RV groups.  ;)

With a few exceptions as mentioned above, it really is best to adopt a case-by-case (or call by call) basis for any part where you plan to stay... whether state/national park or private.  Even print books can be wrong, if a campground has upgraded or changed some of their sites since the last printing.  Or, just because a site of a certain length exists in a park doesn't mean it will still be available when you need it.  You'd have to call ahead or check online reservations to be sure.
 
I agree a listing of the max permissible size for an entire park would be useful in narrowing down the choices. And I'll also admit that we have "squeezed" into sites where our coach was longer than the posted site length limit, although we've never been called on it. Sometimes the posted limit is due to the difficulty that a TT or 5'ver over that size plus the TV would have navigating the roads to and/or backing into the site, but our "non-bendy" shorter overall Class A made it with no problem.
 
I looked at the information regarding that RV guide or whatever it was that was touted but it didn't appear to have the information the person claimed it did.  Sounds like a project for me, to compile such a list.  A very long project.
 
PattyRN said:
I looked at the information regarding that RV guide or whatever it was that was touted but it didn't appear to have the information the person claimed it did.  Sounds like a project for me, to compile such a list.  A very long project.
Click to expand...
What size is your RV? 

If you are 40' there are a lot fewer public parks you can get into than if you are 33'. 

Keep in mind, many public campgrounds don't measure your rig as you come in AND a lot of the published campsite lengths are the length of the gravel or paved parking pad.  Many times you can extend your rear bumper several feet past the end of the gravel or pavement.  Many times you can back up till your tires are on the parking pad and your bumper could be 10' back.

Any list really needs to list 3 things:
--  Measured length of the parking pad
--  Measure the space past the end of the parking pad and if there are obstacles to extending past the end, the height of the obstacles so we know if we have enough clearance to back over the obstacles.
--  Each site number listed separately.

An additional nice thing would be the ability to maneuver through the campground roads.

All in all a pretty daunting problem, compiling the list.  Which is probably why there isn't a list.

Many campground websites do list some of the campsite lengths.

I use Google Earth or Google Maps to view campgrounds from the satellite view.  Many times you can see the individual campsites to get a very good estimate to see if your RV will fit. 

 

 
That person may be talking about the Good Sam campground directory which includes thousands of both public and private campgrounds.  Each campground listing has a maximum site length so if no site can handle more than 30 feet then that's the length given.  But I don't know of any publication that lists "only" public campgrounds.  The campgrounds with smaller maximum lengths often are older and the sites were put in before our larger modern RVs.

Length limitations might not have anything at all to do with the actual site length but with the access road that might have a lot of trees with trunks so close to the road that maneuvering anything larger than 20- or 30-feet is quite difficult and liable to damage either the RV or the trees.  Another length limitation may be caused by something on the site such as a large tree right at the back middle of the site where you want to put your RV.  One campground we've used has cyclone fences between each site and that back fence severely limits how far back you can go!  We were put in a 40-foot site but the front end hung out into the road by almost a foot because our 40-foot motorhome really is 41 feet!

ArdraF
 
We were in a state park campground in SC when looking at their online registration we found a lot of 20' sites but nothing big enough to handle our motor home so I called the number listed and found they did have some sites that would handle my coach. We really enjoyed our stay and the sight seeing was fantastic.
 
And remember.....a lot of places including state parks....the listed length is the pad itself. So many people think that their 35' trailer or 5th wheel will fit into a site that says 40' .......then  they complain that their truck will not fit on the pad also so they have to park in an "extra vehicle" parking area. which they do not like to do.
 
It seems to me that this entire topic is much ado about a very minor concern. Most parks have room for most RVs, at least on some of their sites. Few campgrounds have any overall restriction, i.e. will not admit any rigs over a certain overall length, and those are usually well-noted in campground guides, their internet websites, and campground review websites. We've traveled all over the USA and Canada for 20+ years with Rvs from 25 to 40 ft and rarely encountered a size problem. Granted "rarely" is not zero and some were a tighter fit that we would prefer, but it was never a surprise. Campground guides do a decent job of describing site sizes and any restrictions, but RV owners do have to do some "due diligence" when they plan to travel into heavily wooded areas or mountain terrain. Contact the campground if in doubt.
 
Right now we're in a Rhode Island state park on a site listed as 25 foot maximum. Somehow our motorhome shrinks to 25 feet when we cross the state line, then magically expands again on the ride home.  :)
 
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