Planning trip out West, need advice

[JohnWedell]

We are in the planning stages of a trip out west to go national park hopping. The trailer I have is almost 40 feet long and I'm wondering if that would be a problem out there. Has anyone done this with a large trailer, or have any advice.

[Dustdevil]

There will be places you won't be able to take a 40 footer. Just pick your RV campgrounds carefully, and avoid winding mountain roads that are tight.

[JEFF1963]

Nat. Park hopping, especially here in the west - covers a lot of ground. I couldn't help you personally, but I'll bet many folks can advise, BUT - I'm sure if those aforementioned helpful travelers had just some idea of your desired route or parks you wish to see (camp at), you'd be overwhelmed with advice. A time frame would also be instructive. You might even get some good pointers on where in Mid-west en route to overnight.

[ChristopherW]

Hello, here is a link to an interactive website that shows a 14,000 mile adventure through 47 National Parks including many in the West. I've started to use it to plan a swing through Utah next year. I liked being able to zoom in and out to see more or less detail down to the cities and roads traveled. Hopefully it will be of help to you.
http://rhiever.github.io/optimal-roadtrip-usa/optimized-us-national-parks-trip-47-parks.html

[wags999]

Originally Posted by JohnWedell

We are in the planning stages of a trip out west to go national park hopping. The trailer I have is almost 40 feet long and I'm wondering if that would be a problem out there. Has anyone done this with a large trailer, or have any advice.

If your traveling from Mid June to Mid August or Memorial day weekend and labor day weekend I would suggest reservations. Many of the parks have very limited sites that can handle a 40 footer, even the private campgrounds. If you have a tentative route it would help.

The national parks are very crowded when the kids are off of school. Even this early you will find many places totally booked.

I would take the northern route one way and a southern route the other way. IE Take 90 west, to black hills, Yellowstone, Teton, then drop down to Colorado and Estes park, Pikes Peak etc, then take 80 back east. Depends on your time frame and amount of time your planning for your trip. You have about 2,000 miles to get to the first park, LOTS of corn and soy beans ! LOL

If you have time, I would drop down and take in Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Arches, canyon land, Mesa Verde, Durango/Silverton/Ouray, also..

Good Luck and give us some more information.

[Travelwithkids]

Originally Posted by JohnWedell

We are in the planning stages of a trip out west to go national park hopping. The trailer I have is almost 40 feet long and I'm wondering if that would be a problem out there. Has anyone done this with a large trailer, or have any advice.

We visited the Tetons, YNP, Glacier and Badlands/SD this past summer.

Make your reservations now for next summer especially for Tetons and YNP. If you choose to stay in those two parks (this I recommend) you are limited.

Glacier and Badlands and SD area have private campgrounds adjacent to the parks and you will have more options for sites in those two areas.

We haven't been to Utah/Colorado yet but is on our bucket list for 2019.

Enjoy your trip!



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[clubhouse]

Not sure how far West you are coming; but 40' trailer can't be accommodated in Yosemite NP and very few spots in Sequoia NP.

As others have said, start making reservations as soon as you can. Some private parks allow 12 mths in advance. I think that most NP are 6-7 mths in advance.

[Seann45]

You wont fit in Joshua Tree NP but just S of the S gate there is a Boondocking area

[bigmeaux12]

Hello, I don't have lots of advice for your trip. But I have been to a few of the mid-west parks, ( Yellowstone, Badlands, and Custer ). I have a 35'er it was tight in the Yellowstone rv park. But for the Badlands, Custer we stayed in Wall, SD. I am not a KOA member so now I try to plan all my trips to stay in the KOA's. There is a KOA in the Badlands and West Yellowstone. I hope this helps and have a great trip.

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[bigmeaux12]

I'm sorry I ment I am now a KOA member lol.

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[koko]

It's best to camp outside the national parks and drive in with such a big camper. Roads are narrow, sometimes very curvy, lots of traffic. Some roads have length limits, such as Sequoia. Sometimes it's so crowded that it's hard to find a parking place even in a car or truck where the sights are located. We were in Zion this summer - it took us an hour just to find a parking place so that we could walk a half hour to the shuttle pick-up, and we were in a Jeep Wrangler! There are plenty of campgrounds along the fringe of all the national parks that will accommodate your 40 ft trailer. We usually stay at KOAs, but don't make the mistake of staying too far from the park. Example: When we went to Bryce and Zion this summer with relatives from NC, we stayed at KOA Bryce/Cannonville (which we love) as our base camp for both. Bryce NP was only 10 miles, but we had to drive 70 miles to the entrance to Zion when there were dozens of really nice campgrounds between the two that would have been a much better choice. The western national parks are so spectacular that the hassle is well worth it. You'll find a way! Don't overlook Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado - everyone does (they all go to Grand Canyon). It's awesome and never crowded.

[Dustdevil]

That's a good point. Often, the campgrounds within the NP system won't accept 40 footers. But campgrounds just outside will. West Yellowstone has some campgrounds just outside the park for that reason (among others). Yosemite will only allow so many vehicles inside Yosemite Valley in a single day. And I doubt they will accept a 40 footer. But there are campgrounds on both the east and west sides of Yosemite that will likely. And you may be better off anyway. As koko said, the parks and their campgrounds can sometimes get very crowded.

[bigmeaux12]

The thing to remember when wanting to stay inside a NP is that the campgrounds were built before 40fters so their usually very tight once u get past about 25-30fters

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[wags999]

Originally Posted by JohnWedell

We are in the planning stages of a trip out west to go national park hopping. The trailer I have is almost 40 feet long and I'm wondering if that would be a problem out there. Has anyone done this with a large trailer, or have any advice.

Again, if you give some parameters of your trip, length of trip, timing of trip etc we can give you more advice.

[bansai]

If by 'almost 40 feet' you mean closer to 35' you'll get in a lot more places. Also, which states in particular? I know which ones you can fit at in Colorado. You'll also have to be in 'boondocking' mode at some of them if that isn't a problem... like at the great sand dunes park here, you can fill your water tank at the campground, but probably not at your site, no electric, enforced generator hours, etc.. I was just making some reservations for yellowstone for next year and it looks like their max length is 35 feet.

If I were you, I'd make a list of parks and phone numbers and call each of them. I know more than one park that says 30 ft or smaller but they have a couple of sites that can accommodate more, they just don't advertise that fact because it's a very small number of sites.

[MPH9]

If it's the southwest I've been doing it for 15 yrs now have a Jayco 24 w 2 slides towed by 1500 Ram. And a super sway bar set up. Any info you need will be glad to advise


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[SloPoke]

After being to all of Utah's National Parks... I found it to be frustrating to find a campsite inside of most of these parks - the exception is Capitol Reef NP at the Fruita Campground. We like to park the Motorhome and explore in our Toyota FJ. Fruita can take a 40 ft Rig.

The other National Parks we take a different approach. We find a place outside of the NP and then take Day-Trips and drive the FJ into the park and explore. I would dread driving a large RV inside Arches, Zion or Bryce. Parking is non-existent at most stops.

You will find that you can see Zion and Bryce and stay in the same general area. Arches and Canyonlands have lots of good campgrounds in Moab.

One place to find more ideas??? try this site: https://www.visitutah.com/places-to-...s/the-mighty-5

[robert9999]

My trip of recent recommendations.
S Dakota: Stayed in Custer at the Roost resort. I have a 30 ft TT & did see a couple of 38' Fiver's. One tight turn past a tree near entrance otherwise a great place to stay but limited by small # of sites.

Wyoming: Wapiti, Wy, east of YSNP, stayed at Green Creek Inn & RV park, GREAT place & will fit anything. Also Wapiti CG run by state really nice.

Utah: Moab KOA looked good. Zion area: stayed at Leeds RV, excellent place.
Arizona: Page AZ Wahweap RV & CG's excellent place &/or Page lake Powell CG can accommodate anything. Mountain park state park in Tucson excellent sights both pull through & back in. Cochise RV in Benson was a great spot close to Tombstone & Bisbee.
Colorado: SW Co area, I stayed at Delores river RV & CG, what a great place!
Nevada: Valley of Fire in Nevada is an excellent camping experience & can accommodates 40 ft TT easily. Oasis RV resort in Vegas was an awesome spot for visiting the strip.
New Mexico; North of Deming was the City of Rocks State CG, well worth the trip. I can go on & on.

[Vaquero]

Originally Posted by MPH9

If it's the southwest I've been doing it for 15 yrs now have a Jayco 24 w 2 slides towed by 1500 Ram. And a super sway bar set up. Any info you need will be glad to advise


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Yep. "out west" is large.
Midwest?
Northwest?
Southwest?

I can help a little on the SW.
Not so much elsewhere.

[MPH9]

40 footers are great (I had one). It does limit parks


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