I rarely choose a campground during our travels without first consulting campgroundreviews.com. One thing I have noticed is that some reviewers claim "big rig friendly" and others claim that it is not for the same campground. Something that would be very helpful would be a place on the review form for the length of the rv to be put in. That way instead of "I camped here in a motorhome," it would be "I camped here in a 40' motorhome." We have a 40' motorhome and some sites/interior roads are much more difficult for us than for someone in a 25' motorhome. Also, if a person is in a 20' travel trailer and their review says "big rig friendly", then it may/may not be. However, if a person in a 45' motorhome or 40' 5th wheel writes "big rig friendly," I might pay a little more attention. Is this something that could be done? Thanks!
QUOTE(John Blue @ Mar 26 2010, 05:03 PM) [snapback]21455[/snapback] Please note that to check big rig friendly RV unit should be at 40 feet. I'm not quite sure what you are saying The person doing the review should have an RV that is at least 40 feet? My point is that it would be helpful to know what the person doing the review is driving. Is it a 45' motorhome, 25' motorhome, 40' 5th wheel, 17' travel trailer?
To have a check box for everything we drive or pull would be a problem. All RV people can look at a site and tell if this will work for a 40 foot unit. A person in a small unit could care less if the site will hold his unit. The people who drive large 40 foot units change the information to yes or no on the reviews. We have been in COE parks that had a 35 foot limit and some sites were 100 feet long. If you see the 40 foot box checked yes, you will be OK.
Iradi8, No, you do not have to own a big rig in order to check the box, but owning one does give you some insight into whether or not in should be checked it. Basically the "big rig" check box means the campground can accommodate big rigs. Generally the cg should have sites that can hold a 40' rig with the tow vehicle attached (either a vehicle that pulls the rig or a vehicle that is being pulled, ie toad). To accommodate this a site must be at least about 60' long. (Even that is a bit on the short side; longer is better.) Roads should be wide; there should be no tight turns; there should not be any low hanging branches or electrical wires; and there should be enough room to maneuver easily into the site. Sites should be wide enough to accommodate multiple slides on both sides of the unit. Utilities should be well placed, and many big rig owners consider 50amp power a must. If a reviewer is unsure about these features, then it is better to check "Don't know." Eventually someone will change it to yes or no. People with shorter RV units do not always understand what is needed for big rigs nor do they really look for these features in a park, so I understand your point that knowing what someone else drives will be helpful to you. However, I agree with John that because of the numerous types and lengths of rigs it might be difficult to include this as a check off box, but we will pass this suggestion on to our webmaster. Thank you for your suggestion and interest in RVparkreviews.
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Mar 28 2010, 10:49 AM) [snapback]21470[/snapback] Basically the "big rig" check box means the campground can accommodate big rigs. Generally the cg should have sites that can hold a 40' rig with the tow vehicle attached (either a vehicle that pulls the rig or a vehicle that is being pulled, ie toad). To accommodate this a site must be at least about 60' long. I don't use that as a criterion for identifying a park as big rig friendly. We live in a 40' motor home, and almost always need to unhook our toad to fit in to sites. Of course, if a park has back-in sites, it doesn't matter if the the site is 60' long--you can't back up with a toad being towed four down. I designate a park as big rig friendly if I can negotiate the roads and if there is room for the coach plus the toad somewhere in or near the site.
Denali, You reminded me that I left out something in my explanation of big rig sites. I should have added pull through sites. I think many (but maybe not all) big rig owners like that type of space. I know I do especially if we are just staying only one night and not unhooking. If we are staying several nights and will be unhooking anyway then a shorter site is OK. Also I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding your statement about "not using that as a criterion for identifying a park as big rig friendly." Are you saying that is OK with you if just your coach sits on the site as long as there is parking beside or near-by for your toad? In that case the sites would not have to be 60' long. At least that is what I think I am reading. Just trying to clarify what you mean. TX
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Mar 29 2010, 11:09 AM) [snapback]21484[/snapback] Denali, You reminded me that I left out something in my explanation of big rig sites. I should have added pull through sites. I think many (but maybe not all) big rig owners like that type of space. I know I do especially if we are just staying only one night and not unhooking. If we are staying several nights and will be unhooking anyway then a shorter site is OK. Also I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding your statement about "not using that as a criterion for identifying a park as big rig friendly." Are you saying that is OK with you if just your coach sits on the site as long as there is parking beside or near-by for your toad? In that case the sites would not have to be 60' long. At least that is what I think I am reading. Just trying to clarify what you mean. TX Sorry I was unclear. Yes, I meant that it's OK with me if the toad doesn't fit in the site as long as I can park nearby. I guess my definition of "big rig friendly" is that I can use the park. I don't need a pull-through, room to park without unhooking, or specific kinds of hookups. I simply want to avoid going to a park where I can't negotiate the interior roads, fit in a space, and put out my slides. There are a lot of parks like that, especially government campgrounds, and the "big rig friendly" designation is usually the only clue as to whether I can use them.
QUOTE(Denali @ Mar 30 2010, 09:24 AM) [snapback]21498[/snapback] I guess my definition of "big rig friendly" is that I can use the park. I don't need a pull-through, room to park without unhooking, or specific kinds of hookups. I simply want to avoid going to a park where I can't negotiate the interior roads, fit in a space, and put out my slides. There are a lot of parks like that, especially government campgrounds, and the "big rig friendly" designation is usually the only clue as to whether I can use them. Sounds good to me.
I don't have a big rig (20' travel trailer), but when I write reviews I usually include whether there are a lot of big rigs, and if I think it might be roomy for big rigs. One campground I really like does have big rigs, the sites are large, but it is a very tight campground to manuever in.... so I am not sure if that is truly "big rig friendly". I would lean towards a "no" on that, except for all the big rigs there.... lol, **sigh**
I've been in state parks that are holdovers from the "Pre RV" days when there were only trailers. The sites are in these REALLY STEEP "arcs" and you have to "bend" your RV around to fit. I wouldn't call that one "big rig friendly." JJ
I just realized that this site uses the term "big rig (40' type) access", not "big rig friendly." When you submit a review it defines that as "access roads, park entry, site size, trees, etc." That makes it pretty clear what is intended. I wish it had occurred to me earlier.
I guess my poor little brain is not seeing something here. While it is true that this site does say "Big Rig (40' type) Access", I'm not understanding how that is different from "big rig friendly." To me they both mean that the park is able to accommodate rigs that are 40' in length. That includes the entry, roads, turns, sites, utilities, and anything else a big rig might need. Do experienced RVers, big rig owners, or full-timers use these terms differently?
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Apr 1 2010, 02:31 PM) [snapback]21528[/snapback] I guess my poor little brain is not seeing something here. While it is true that this site does say "Big Rig (40' type) Access", I'm not understanding how that is different from "big rig friendly." To me they both mean that the park is able to accommodate rigs that are 40' in length. That includes the entry, roads, turns, sites, utilities, and anything else a big rig might need. Do experienced RVers, big rig owners, or full-timers use these terms differently? "Big rig access" is nicely unambiguous. Can a big rig access sites in the park? Yes or no? "Big rig friendly" seems to get interpreted as a park having amenities such as 50 amp power, 60' sites, and and other nice-to-have features. Fortunately, this site simply asks if a park has big rig access. I submitted a review the other day for a park I designated as having "Big rig access", even though one of the three loops was too tight for a big rig and many of the sites were too small (all of which I nted in my review). Since we easily found a site for our 40' Bulgemobile and toad, the park has "Big rig access".
Denali, Thanks for the explanation, and I see what you are saying. Despite the fact that the Big Rig check box says "access" I just always thought that it included all of the attributes of "access" and "friendly." So in the past when I checked the box it meant big rigs could get into and easily maneuver within the park, and there were sites that were large enough to hold a 40' rig (including being able to put out slides) with full hookups. However, you have made me reconsider the utilities as some more rustic campgrounds have sites large enough for a big rig, but they may not have full hook ups. And I agree with you. It is OK to check the box even if not all the areas or sites in a campground are big rig accessible as long as there are some areas and sites that can hold a big rig. So it seems like "access" is the better term after all. TX
