Site length vs TT length

Sumerbrez

Advanced Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Posts
37
Funny question. When booking a site do you use the length of the box of your TT or the hitch to bumper length? TIA
 
I learned the hard way to use the entire length - we were really squeezed the first couple of trips because I told them it was 26'... After that, I used 29' - better to have a little extra room than be tight!
 
It may also depend [1] if you are in a RV or towing a trailer with the various turning radius you require, AND/OR [2] the access road into/out of the campground, AND/OR [3] the proximity of trees and structures.

In California many state and national parks have extremely stringent restrictions. For example, an 'open' site at Yosemite's Lower Pines restricted TT length to 24' and we have a 25' TT ~ you'd think, how does a foot matter? So when booking, I entered "24" into the registration form knowing full well that the reservation clearly stated (red ink is theirs) "The maximum allowable trailer length is always shorter than the allowable RV length (due to maneuverability). You are responsible for reading the site alerts and booking a site that will accommodate your equipment. If you arrive to the campground with different equipment than what you booked for, you will likely not fit, and will be turned away.". Daily I checked the booking site and sure enough, a deeper (31') site became available so I snapped it up and released our original booking. After we arrived in the campground, we scouted-out the initially booked site and DH confirmed that it would have been a VERY tight spot to navigate in to; we saw many other campground visitors struggling getting their rigs properly placed even in larger (deeper or wider) sites.
 
Oh I say mine is 35' when booking and it's barely over 29'. When I book online most places book the same sites either way.
 
I use the Jayco's advertised length, they built it so they should know its length.


The problem i have found is not the true length. It's campgrounds saying a bigger trailer will fit in to spot's that are to small. I want the biggest spot I can book so I can spread out lol,...
 
Actual measured length starting at the hitch to the rear of the queen rear slide out. I go shorter only if I have personally seen the site and know it will work. Now by doing that, we typically find that we can still park the truck in front of the camper, because we back the trailer wheels to the back edge of the pavement. But we have had sites with trees at the back edge of the pad. When we had our pop up, it was a 12' box with queen beds on both ends. We would check in as 24 feet online. We figured out that the pop up setting (at least on the Ohio State Parks) must have been based on a 8' box with double beds.
 
. I go shorter only if I have personally seen the site and know it will work.
One of my personal favorite sites in a small out of the way state park is listed at 24ft max on the reservation site. It has been redone to 50ft+ Because the booking shows 25 I find it open pretty regular. :campfire:
 
Use from the end of the tongue to the back bumper including the spare tire if it's mounted to the bumper, mine as example 27 box - 3 foot tongue - 1 foot back bumper including the spare tire. 31 feet overall.
 
Google maps has a distance measuring feature. If your site isn't covered in trees you can measure the site very accurately before arrival.
 
I use the total length of the unit..including the A frame. Then I pad it a little more by about 3 ft just in case. But you have to be careful. An additional foot added could be the difference between "Sure...we have a site for you" and "Sorry..nothing for that length".
 
I once booked a 24' site for my 24' RV. The site was 24' from the road to the tree trunks and the rear of my RV was in the foliage while the hitch was out in the road. For a RV cover measure from the front cap to the furthest rear point (spare tire, bumper, ladder). For a site I include the hitch and a couple extra feet at least.
 

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