Consider where you will camp when choosing size of an RV

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RV Buying Advice : Strategies

Consider where you will camp when choosing size of an RV

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By Chuck Woodbury

Before you buy your next RV, consider how and where you will use it the most.

If you'll stay mostly in public campgrounds -- those operated by the forest service, state parks, or national parks, then you should not buy a long motorhome or trailer. Most forest service and national park campgrounds will not take an RV longer than 30 feet, and even then many choice sites may not be roomy enough.

I have never owned an RV longer than 24 feet and so have had no problems fitting into campsites just about any place I wanted to stay. In many of those campgrounds, however, I would not have squeezed into some of the sites if my RV were much longer.

The other day, camping in a Washington State Park (see video below), I fit easily into a campsite that was both scenic and level. Many of the other sites were on sloped ground and it would have been difficult to level up. In my 24-foot motorhome, however, I was able to choose from several nice campsites that were only suitable for short RVs.

A long fifth wheel trailer showed up the evening I arrived and its owners pulled into one of only two or three pull-through campsites (ones where you drive in and out going the same direction). The rig was about 30 feet long and was pulled by a pickup truck. It barely squeezed into the space, which was far from level. The RVers took at least 30 minutes to level their rig: Frankly, I don't know how they did it, as the site was on the slope of a hill. If they had not managed to get into that campsite, I doubt they would have fit into any other in the park; they were lucky on this day that few sites were occupied and so they could find one of the few that was long enough to accommodate them.

RVers who plan to stay in commercial RV parks and luxury RV resorts will probably have no problem with rigs longer than 35 or 40 feet even when they have a tow vehicle or dinghy. But they will almost never be able to enjoy camping in most public campgrounds other than at some state parks which can sometimes take larger units.

So be careful when choosing your RV. Don't buy a monster rig and then plan to use it for a family vacation in national parks.

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