Several years ago, we ran into a person who seemed to have a short 5th wheeler when compared to what we usually see in campgrounds. When I asked him why, he indicated that he spent a lot of time in National Forest campgrounds. He indicated that the short trailer allowed him a better choice of sites.

My question to you:

If you were advising a person on what length RV would be good for camping in National Forest campgrounds, what size would you recommend? Why? Any particular NF campsites help drive that decision?

I have found that I can comfortably get my 24' trailer into many older NF campsites that are designated as a maximum 19' or 21' capacity. Any longer and my choices would be restricted. In addition to that, I have found that in a 24' unit I can get a sofa, an eating area and a separate bedroom...anything shorter than that means a choice of sleeping on a fold down sofa-bed, sitting on the sofa to eat or having no sofa. None of those appeals to me and I don't want to haul around more than I need, so 24' meets my needs perfectly.

We struggled with that. Bigger is better when parked. Smaller is better towing and finding a spot. We ended up with a 30' single slide fiver. That gives us a separate bedroom, walk in shower and toilet, roomy living area. I could easily do with a couple feet less in the living area. We have good friends that love their 26 foot single slide travel trailer. We would not care for it. We can usually find a place but sometimes we are just too big. We do most of our camping in the NF and spend the summers in them. Life is full of compromises. Bill

My wife thought so and so we have a 36ft. fifth wheel. Its ok for hosting but to big for just camping in the State and National forrests. When we had a 29ft. trailer it worked great in most places. After 9 years I have her thinking about something smaller. If I could only get her back to the basics, there are so many oppertunities out there.

The problem isn't only length, it's also access. Our fifth wheel is only 32' long, so there are many FS campgrounds that have spots long enough for us. The problem we often run into is that the roads inside the campground are often narrow with sharp turns and trees that are close enough to the road that branches scrape the sides or overhanging branches scrape the roof...and we're only 11'10" in height compared to 12'8" or more of a lot of larger RVs.

And that's exactly why I choose a popup tent trailer for camping. Short, low, and easy to tow. Nice and spacious when set up. Often can be turned 90 degrees in a campsite with a short (but wide enough) driveway to save space. Cook, sleep, and eat up off the ground and out of the bugs, but we don't sacrifice a 360 degree view.

Old Granddad

We have a truck camper, which allows us to get into almost any space a car can get into, while still having all the amenities (except maybe floor space ).

Our 25' 5'er has trouble with some of the spots, but not all.

We fell in love with NFS campgrounds in our 22' KZ, never had a problem. Since then we have upgraded? to a 32' 5th wheel. the overall length of the truck & 5'r is only 18 inches longer than the total of the way smaller trailer and the same truck. There are a few spots we don't fit, but as previously said it is usually the roads or branches that keep us out of a campground.
Tom and Georgia