About Those Maximum Lengths

I've only ever car camped until now. Soon I will be pulling a 560 behind me. I know the trailer measures 14' and my car is appx 15'. Recently I was looking at campsites on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I noticed many different maximum lengths, some almost but not quite my 29'. (27' seeming to be a popular max length there.)

When I look at the campsite photos I see some are curved and some are straight. But regardless, it seems to me if you unhitch and angle the car and trailer differently, you should be able to easily overlap a few feet of distance and fit within the listed max length.

I understand any site can have it's own unique circumstance or situation. But in general, is my logic sound and reasonable or am I asking for trouble to think that way?

Thanks for an light you can shed on the subject.

 

As short as Camp Inn is, you should not have problems finding sights where the length of the camper is a problem. If you can put a camper on the site, you should fit. The limit should be the camper. If it only gives you the total dimensions, you need to consider you total length. A lot of reservation sites ask for a length of trailer which should help filter out sites you wouldn’t fit, but they are asking for trailer length. Make sure you are booking a tent only sight. Places that are first come first serve may have listing of sites and their sizes. That can be a problem sometimes. When we camped at Tower Falls campground in Yellowstone there were sites we wouldn’t fit. It is one of those places people line up early hoping to get a site. Fortunately, when it was our turn the site that opened worked. Tight turns sometimes eliminate big campers like 5th Wheel, but not a problem for us usually.

My guess is the curved lines you are seeing are for pull through sites & the straight lines are for back-in sites. Pull throughs are easier to get in & out of course. You often have less privacy because you can be right next to road so you are hear more road noise & with bigger campers you’ll often get louder Diesel engines passing by. As people are walking by they are more likely to ask questions. And you’ll get lots of questions anyway. Back-ins you off to be able to navigate the turn of the camper without hitting anything or Jack knifing the trailer (we’ve done it & the Subaru has the scar to prove it).

When went to the North Rim, we couldn’t get reservations in the park and stayed at the commercial one out at Jacob’s Lake. Sandwiched between two massive campers & one of the had their awning cover us too. They offered to pull it in, but it was hurting anything, so we told them not to worry about it.

The campground reviews here a good source & I use the website to help CampsitePhotos.com - Campsite Photos and Camping Information
Good luck!

 

Thank you.

I do use that site for photos, along with rec.gov. And if I really get interested in a site, I will google the specific campsite number to see if somebody has posted personal photos or even just talks about the site. I've been doing that when looking for sites to car camp, but of course for different reasons.

You cannot always go by tent only sites though, as some of them actually require you to set up away from the parking pad and can't really accommodate a car and trailer. I beleive that is true of the north rim. It appears that if you are in any RV/trailer sites (which can usually also be booked by car campers), then you do need to be mindful of fitting the full length of your car and trailer since most seem to be only a single lane wide. At least that's what I'm finding so far in my current search.

 

I've stopped for the night many times without reservation. The majority of the time, the campground office takes one look at my 560 and says "yes, we can accommodate you."

Now for a funny story, I have taken 3 ferry rides over the years (all using my 1st tow vehicle, a Toyota FJ Cruiser: (1) Port Angeles. WA to Victoria, BC, Canada; (2) Nanaimo, BC, to Vancouver, BC; and (3) Digby, Nova Scotia to Saint John, New Brunswick. Each time the ferry company measured the overall length (tow vehicle plus trailer) and got (1) 28 feet, (2) 29 feet, and (3) 30 feet. I never did measure the length myself, but it's a nice conversation piece to tell folks my rig has grown in stature.

 

If they ever open the border I'm going to hunt you down to be my tour guide into BC. ;-)

 

Clearly that's the effect of global warming! Pretty soon my feet will fit under the cabinet when I lie on my back.