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Old 05-14-2019, 12:54 PM   #1
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National parks vs length of travel trailer

Hello everyone, just exploring regarding length of travel trailers allowed in national parks or other parks.
Planning to buy a travel trailer with33-35 total length with box length of 28 to 30.
First question is what length , box or overall length. Specially at national parks.
Second question how strict they are, I have a trailer i like but it is 36’ long.
Any chance may get stopped at the gate.
Thanks
Mo
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:15 PM   #2
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The total length is what counts, ball to bumper. Secondly, unless you are grossly over length, I doubt anyone at the gate will stop you. You do however need to fit in whatever space they give you. Some campgrounds are very tight that an extra foot may or may not be an issue. If you can't fit, you may be asked to leave.
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:20 PM   #3
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Maximum lengths for trailers, campers and motor homes vary from park to park. The average maximum length permitted is 27 ft, but some parks can accommodate up to 40 feet in length. Some parks may have electrical hookups and dump stations. You should check with your favorite parks for their specific maximum lengths and available facilities so you won't be disappointed when you arrive.
You will absolutely be stopped at the gate if you show up with a 36-foot trailer and the limit is 27-feet.

Also, I don't know of any ranger that is going to whip out a tape measure and check that you're within length, if they're unsure then at most they will look at the model number of your trailer and assume it pertains to length, so if you have a model number that has "27" or "270" or "275" then they will assume it's a 27-foot trailer. Similarly, if the model is "34", "340", "345", etc they will assume it's a 34-foot trailer. It's not exact length that matters, just ballpark. If they think you're over on length and the trailer model "confirms" it then they could very well turn you away.
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:28 PM   #4
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Just remember, many of the older parks don't have spots for large trailers and if they do, they are very limited. We stayed under 30 ft for that reason
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:31 PM   #5
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Thanks for your advise, I was just curious about just the difference of from 35’ to 36’ make at the park.
One model is 29 fls with total length of 34.5 and the other is 30 rls with 36’ total length. I like both but having hard time finding 29rls so was wondering should I get 30 rls and get away with taking it to a park with 35 ‘ limit.
May be go for 36 footer which more available
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:39 PM   #6
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I have camped at Glacier and Rocky Mountain and both sites were very tight. At both parks, the pull through gravel pad was curved and lined with boulders on the outside of the curve. Even though the sites were listed for 30’ trailers it took some creative maneuvering to get in. It didn’t help that I have a double cab truck.
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:50 PM   #7
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I am aware of going from 30’ to 35’ with lower my percentage of parks I can go. Also talking about backing into tight spots, have any body used the thing I saw on internet called motorized dolly supposed to move up to 10000lbs trailers and weighs 55lbs. Video makes it look pretty simple, around 1000$.
It won’t work on the gravel though
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Old 05-14-2019, 01:55 PM   #8
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Our old TT was 35' 11". When we were looking for a new TT I wanted just a bit shorter. Our current TT is 34' 7". That 16 inches is noticeable when backing. As for parks and CG, many are the length from the parking stop to the end of the pad. I find even if I call our TT 34' we usually more than fit. I have found private CG are usually tighter to what they list as available length.
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:22 PM   #9
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Why let the national parks determine trailer length?

Boy, you hit on a pet peeve of mine.

I'm assuming you are buying a trailer for enjoying the great outdoors, including our national parks. Despite them being overcrowded, with crumbling infrastructure, overwhelmingly ignorant visitors, their RV facilities - like the rest of what exists - were built decades ago. Ergo, outdated and outmoded. Designed for much smaller trailers than we buy today.

So, yeah, you will run into many national parks where you cannot camp with a longer trailer. We were turned back in Glacier on the Road to the Sun in our 24' Airstream Interstate because we were a foot too long for the road. This despite having exactly the same length as the shuttle buses passing by while the rangers measured our motorhome and turned us around at Logan's Pass. So, like all government bureaucracies, rules do not have to make sense. But the length for campsites does, because you can get into a peck of trouble if you get in there and you are too long. Not just being told to leave, but you can get jammed into some tough spots difficult to extract from.

The Park Service, other than the complete politicization of the organization, does the best they can with limited resources, inability to address their $30 billion maintenance backlog, way too many visitors and too little staff.

Those are some of the reasons we gave up camping inside the national parks with rare exception. Ain't worth the hassle. Plenty of RV parks outside the national parks with space, hook-ups, and equally nice RVers. We stayed at a campground 12 miles from the Yellowstone west entrance for $500 for the month. The crowds sucked, as always, but at least we were comfortable in our RV site.

Canada is different. Their national parks - at least the ones in Alberta, BC, and New Brunswick - have huge spaces, easy in/easy out, full hookups - for the same price as you would pay in a U.S. national park. And the parks are less crowded.....
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:47 PM   #10
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Our fifth wheel is a 32rl model, and measures 35' nose to tail. We haven't had any problems going where we want to go. But we do try to travel to popular places in the off seasons.
True, some state and national parks have limited parking for larger rigs, so it takes planning far ahead to get into those. And of course, there are some size restricted parks where we don't even attempt. Not going to try and cram 35' into a 24' max park.
But overall, we haven't found 35' to restrict our travels. If we won't fit somewhere, there is always another option close by.
We love our National Parks, but find we usually don't enjoy camping inside them, mainly due to the crush of people and antiquated services. So we stay outside the actual park and either drive in, or use other transportation options.
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:48 PM   #11
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Best to contact each National Park directly. Past experiences and poorly updated info on web can lead to a destination disappointment with no other available reservations nearby. Length does vary by park... mainly due to the fact when the sites were last updated that it the length and widths they designed. Some parks and private places do a poor job of planning for backing in and leave trees too close to the road path across from your site. 33' may be tight at some sites, prohibited at some and really big in others.
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:48 PM   #12
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Generally anything over 30', will have more limited choices, in state and national park campgrounds.
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:57 PM   #13
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You are not likely to get stopped by anyone, but you are likely not to fit the spaces that are available. The NPS is way behind the times. They are under funded and need to convert a lot of their campgrounds from tent sites to accomodate modern RVs. It won't happen any time soon.
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Old 05-15-2019, 02:50 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by robsshots View Post
We were turned back in Glacier on the Road to the Sun in our 24' Airstream Interstate because we were a foot too long for the road.

The size restriction of 21 ft is clearly called out on the website and on the Going to Sun Road. While you are complaining, you could have been given a sizable fine instead of just being turned back.
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Old 05-15-2019, 04:37 PM   #15
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We chose a 24'11" trailer for the very reason that there are many spots in the parks we like to go to that have 25' spots. We recently went to Joshua Tree and the only spots available were 25' spots. Even with our 25' trailer the ball coupler was almost in the road.
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Old 05-15-2019, 05:57 PM   #16
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Burney Falls in Burney California. Beautiful state park but they will turn you down if you are over 32" and I have seen them pull out a tape measure. They know the model # is not really the footage of your coach
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Old 05-15-2019, 07:26 PM   #17
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For most parks, they ask you your length. If you feel a need to lie about it than go someplace else. This will enable those who do fit the length restrictions a place to camp.
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Old 05-15-2019, 07:33 PM   #18
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We had a 21' trailer pulled by a 19' Tundra double cab and we had do to a lot of manuvering to fit into an assigned spot at Yellowstone. It's also the turning radius on some of the campsite roads that causes problems. We've seen people have to back down roads because they couldn't make the turn.

You're going to have to learn by experience where that 35-36' trailer will fit. Many national parks don't do assigned campsites. They are first come-first served, so you might get through the front gate, but that doesn't guarantee you'll find a space long enough to fit your trailer. The front gate will tell you if there are campsites available based on reports from the campground hosts, but they're pretty used to people driving in, not finding a space that will fit their rig and driving out again.

On the other hand, most national parks in the west were built later than the ones in the east and have longer campsites.
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Old 05-16-2019, 06:00 AM   #19
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A few years ago we went to Acadia National Park in Maine. I called ahead and reserved a site, explaining we had a 35' 5th Wheel with one slide. They gave us a site that would be OK. When we arrived at gate, DH walked up to the window and made sure she understood how big we were and would be still be ok, yes was the answer. When we got to our site DH says to me "you have one choice, it's either the slide-out or the awning, you are not getting both" - IT'S THE TREES ALL OVER THE PLACE Of course we chose the slide out. And the way he had to level it put the nose way high, so when it rained, we sat under the nose, lots of room!
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Old 05-16-2019, 10:01 AM   #20
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I know I’ve seen other threads ask this question, but it’s relevant to the topic...

What do you use as your length when making reservations online where you can’t actually see them?

My model number is 200rd, my box “footprint” is close to that but is 22’ at it’s longest where it curves out, and ball to spare tire is 26’. So 20’ to 26’. That’s a big span.
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