Website says: "Max Vehicle Length 30" Is that apt to be exact?

[jymbee]

A number of sites we're looking at in Florida State Parks (for next year) are listed as a max length of 30 feet. Our Bounder is 34. Three questions:

1. My thoughts from reading similar posts here is that we might get away with most if not all "30 foot" sites. (?)
2. Enforcement: I assume they don't run out with a tape measure to make sure we're not over?
3. Has anyone here ever been challenged with respect to the length of their RV?

 

[Ex-Calif]

3 days ago I visited 3 state parks in my area in anticipation of DonTom maybe wanting to stick around a couple extra days but move locations.

I saw many sites that were bounded by 4X4 beams on 3 sides (thinking parking bays) that looked quite short and abutted directly to the access road circle. I personally would take the park's advice unless I had visited before and knew for sure.

This, of course, is north Florida and all the parks I was looking at were heavily wooded with pines so the RV slots "fit where they fit"

Some of the websites may show a RV parking layout map that might be of some use if you were gonna fudge it.

If you were sticking out 3 feet into the road it would be really obvious. The other thing is maneuvering - one of the parks the ring road was pretty tight with trees on each side. Probably not a difference in collision hazard between a 30 and your 34 but it is another factor to consider.

OTOH my coach is a model 3150 and pretty sure it was advertised as a 32 foot coach. I measured it tip to tail and it's 31 feet. My HOA only allowed parking up to 30 foot coaches. I fudged it as Georgie Boy also made a 29. I probably would fudge a 30 foot park rule too. But again I am only 12 inches off.

When I first parked my coach at my house the HOA "Parking Barney" came byt and asked, "How big is your RV." Unblinkingly I said, "30 feet." He didn't ask to measure, thankfully...

 

[DonTom]

Our Bounder is 34.

It depends on what they have available. For an example, at Lone Pine Key in the Everglades, IIRC, they too had a 30' limit. This RV is 29' 11" But my motorcycle rack on the end adds 34". That puts me at 32.5 feet in total length. I told them that when I checked in and they said they gave me the longest spot they had available at the time. Your 34' would have been fine at my spot. I even parked my electric motorcycle behind the RV and ramp, so add a few more feet. And I still had more room after that, before getting to the road. So that makes me about the same length as you, and I still had a little room left over. But since I was already there, they could say they do not have a spot for you. The other RV spots were smaller. Some I would not fit in over 30' or my tail would be blocking a few inches of the road.

IMO, they only enforce it if they have to. So, it really depends on your luck. Talk to them in advance, that is the ONLY way you will know for sure.

-Don- Alabama Welcome Center, I-10

 

[Isaac-1]

The nice thing about ramps, cargo carriers, hitch mount spare tire carriers, is that in a worst case situation they can be removed if you really need that extra few inches.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I've found in general that site length limits are often a bit conservative. That said, I typically only book a site listed as shorter than our motorhome in parks where I've had a chance to check out the sites and see for myself how conservative they are. I've also found in some cases, the sites have been remodeled/upgraded in the past few years, but the length limits have not been updated on the reservation system. One example is a pull-through at Crooked River State Park in Georgia that's listed at 30 feet, but since a complete campground wide rebuild a few years ago, even 40 footers now fit. I had no guilt feelings at all when I booked that site for our 34 foot motorhome for January 2023 by misstating the length.

 

[John From Detroit]

I've put a 38' Class A Gasser on a 24' site many times.. one site listed as like 25 feet I could have put two of 'em end to end and still had room left over.... You don't know till you visit the park.

I'd not count on that however... I'v also been in parks where to be honest I felt tight with just my car. no trailer, no Motor home.

 

[Joezeppy]

We've stayed in several different sites in one NY State Park with a 30' limit with our 35' rig - sites were no problem but the roads were a bit tight here and there. It's really hit-and-miss. We're trying tow others this summer so we'll see.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Joe brings up a good point that hasn't been mentioned yet. The site size limits are sometimes based on the accessibility on narrow tree lined roads. Where a motorhome a few feet longer may be able to maneuver the road and into the site ok, a similar size towable may not be able to do it.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The wood beam boundaries on a site are rarely a problem because the rig can usually hang over them if needed. As long as there isn't a tree right there, of course.
The more serious but even rarer risk is that the reason for the limit is curvy park access roads. I've encountered a few where driving in with a larger rig was like planning a carom shot on a billiard table.

 

[JudyJB]

You might give the campground a call and ask them how accurate the length estimates are. I had one camphost tell me that they left room for a tow vehicle, but you really cannot count on that.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I've seen a lot of sites listed for a given length of equipment but when I got there I paced it off and it was much larger than that. Can only surmise that either someone just assigned a very conservative limit, guessed, or there's some unknown fudge factor they apply. There's one site I've stayed at a few times in a state park here that's listed at 25' and it's a pretty accurate limit, but if I angle just right and let the back end hang over I can get my 30 footer to fit. The only comment from the camp host was "good job getting that in there". Based on what I've seen over the years the only thing I've seen the hosts get excited about is if you park vehicles in spots not designated for them, and I think as long as you're not sticking out too far where you obviously don't fit you won't get a second glance.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Old_Crow]

A lot of the sites at the campground I'm currently working in are limited, not by the length of the parking area, but by the tightness of the approach. There are several sites that could take a 30' or 35' RV, but there's no way to get it in there. Not sure who designed the roads with bollards 36" from the pavement spaced every 15', but he sure never tried to back an RV trailer pulled by a crew cab pickup into any of those spots.

 

[Henry J Fate]

Most of the time you can get a 34ft mh into a 30ft rated space. Mine is mh is 32ft. I have been in many rated at 30ft and never have I had a problem. Usually, the limits leave lots of wiggle room especially in state run parks. Some private parks may push those ratings some so I could see a problem there, but we like to venture out in Florida during the Winter months and finding State Park openings is not easy during those months. I have always got into a 30 ft space without issue.

 

[Tom]

A number of sites we're looking at in Florida State Parks (for next year) are listed as a max length of 30 feet. Our Bounder is 34. Three questions:

1. My thoughts from reading similar posts here is that we might get away with most if not all "30 foot" sites. (?)
2. Enforcement: I assume they don't run out with a tape measure to make sure we're not over?
3. Has anyone here ever been challenged with respect to the length of their RV?

At one park, our coach didn't fit on a site that I'd checked on ahead of time (call to the office). When I got out a tape measure, I realized the site was a parallelogram and they measured the tips of the 'long' sides. The usable area was significantly less.

 

[Larry N.]

I ran into a park near Williams, AZ that had a lot of sites long enough for my 45' Beaver with toad, but they'd placed a tree at each side of the entrance and exit of the site that made the turn into it just a bit too narrow, and I had stop before I completed the turn in to keep from scraping the side of the coach, forcing me to back out, get a refund, and find another RV park on down the road.

 

[Isaac-1]

Larry that sounds like a place we stayed at in Flagstaff, except we were in a 28 ft coach without a TOAD

 

[Larry N.]

Maybe it was Flag, Ike- it's been a few years since we tried that.