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Old 10-11-2010, 06:41 PM   #1
Clwpaddler
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Default Max Vehicle Length for Campgrounds

I have noticed that many campground (Fl State Parks in particular) have a maximum vehicle length listed for many of the sites. I have never noticed this or paid any attention to this since we have camped for 20+ years with a Coleman tent camper which was only 18 feet when fully extended. Can anyone give me some guidance as to what the max length is referring to. I'm now the proud owner of a 2001 3023 using a 2000 Dodge 1500 Ram Van as a tow vehicle.


Thanks

Woody
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Old 10-11-2010, 07:14 PM   #2
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Funny I just called one of the FL parks last week to ask the same exact question. Park ranger told me that it is the total length of your camper and does not include the TV. The thinking is that you are going to unhook your TV and can park it elsewhere in the site.
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Old 10-11-2010, 07:33 PM   #3
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Default Max Length

Thanks BeerCan, that's what I was thinking, I guess you can assume that the length of the TM is the opened length. It seems that there is a lot more sites available that have a max of 24' rather than 30'.

Woody
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Old 10-11-2010, 08:34 PM   #4
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RV site lengths are normally listed for opened trailers or motor homes with toads or trailers. Only difference I have found is when a site states that all vehicles and trailers must fit in the site length. These are sometimes crowded campgrounds with limited parking. Having towed a large toyhauler for a while I usually call and ask what will fit in any available spaces.
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Old 10-11-2010, 10:53 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clwpaddler View Post
Thanks BeerCan, that's what I was thinking, I guess you can assume that the length of the TM is the opened length. It seems that there is a lot more sites available that have a max of 24' rather than 30'.

Woody
There is no consistent rule for how any CG determines camper length. My personal experience has been that many CGs measure the distance from the wheel stop to the road. We fit quite comfortably a few weeks ago (at Doheny State Beach) in an a spot that was listed as 18' maximum length.

We camp at Point Mugu quite often. The sites are designated as 31' but they are all over 55' and some are 65'.......go figure.

BTW, I think if you measure your 3023, I think that you may find that it is 27' fully extended.
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Old 10-12-2010, 06:37 AM   #6
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In Florida...you can also have the rear bed extend out over the palmettos...with no damage to the TM.
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Old 10-12-2010, 10:42 AM   #7
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A lot depends on where you want to go.

California State Parks documents 30 feet as the maximum. When I have been to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park it looks like the depth is about 30 feet, but it is wide enough to park the TV alongside.

I also have backed the TM until the wheels hit the barrier at the back of the parking pad. But one time there was a tree so I would not have been able to open the rear shell. I had to park forward about 5 feet.

At Pinecrest Lake in California, a forest service campground, the twisty road to the campsites is so tight and the trees are so close to the road that with my 20 foot TV and the 20 foot TM 2720 I almost could not make it. A longer TM or a longer TV would have made it very difficult.

Remember, California's state parks are old. According to Wikipedia:

In 1902, California's oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, was founded, followed by several others in the next couple decades. For a time, each park was managed by an independent commission or agency, until 1921.

Back in those days, everyone was a tent camper, so the parking pad did not have to be level or very long. Just long enough for the station wagon.

Castle Crags State Park lists max camper length of 27 feet and maximum trailer length of 21 feet. There are two loops with my 1500HD (20 feet) and TM 2720 I can only use one of the two loops, mostly because each loop is a two direction road that has a turn around at the end. Big rigs have too large of a turning radius.

This year I was boon docking. I was towing behind the 22 foot 2500HD long bed. The sorta dirt road I went down ran out. It was after 9 PM and I had to make a U-turn amongst the trees. I did not count, but it must have been at least an 18 point turn.

An Elkmont would have been too tall. I was scraping the roof on the truck on tree limbs and the truck is only a bit over 7 feet tall. I think the top of the a/c on the Elkmont is higher than that.

Like I tease my brother with his Montana 5th wheel, I don't like to go where he can go and he can not go where I like to go. We rarely camp together.
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Old 10-13-2010, 11:03 AM   #8
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I have also seen length restrictions by certain parks based on the roads in and out. Some have steep narrow winding roads with sharp turns. One of the Arkansas State Parks come to mind...I think it was Mount Nebo, warns of this in their info. Petit Jean SP also had such a road.
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Old 10-13-2010, 01:39 PM   #9
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Thanks Ed and Kelly, that could be a real problem. Drove Semi's during college and there were times when things got kind of dicey when the road ran out or got tight.

Woody
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Old 11-13-2010, 06:39 PM   #10
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National Parks are the pits when it comes to the camp site. That is one reason we choose the 2720SL after using a pop-up for years. You can shoe horn a 19 to 20 foot trailer into almost any site and still keep all on the pavement and off the grass. While at yellowstone this year I got the camper in the site and then it would only take ten minutes and one of them 18 point turns to park the TV. But all wheels were off the grass and on pavement. Can't wait to get back next year.
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