Do most national parks and east coast state campgrounds accept 40 ft rvs for camping?

[Brendan]

I live and camp on the east coast, but I am retiring soon and plan on RVing more on the east coast. Will a 40ft class A be a problem finding campsites in national parks and most state campgrounds?

[Dutch_12078]

There are state and national parks with limited or no sites for longer RV's, but for the most part, there are plenty of parks that do have sites that accommodate them. Recreation.gov and ReserveAmerica.com both list the maximum allowed length for individual sites at each park. The state run reservation systems that I've used also list them, so you know before you get there that your RV should fit ok.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Dutch_12078

[Vladimir]

The short answer is what Dutch said. 

The National Parks are the worse, but a class A will be easier than a trailer or 5th wheel in those situations.

The real question is why would you travel out west and stay in National Parks and State Parks campgrounds??

There are better choices.

[Dutch_12078]

Brendan did say he's planning to camp more on the east coast after retiring, so I'll just add that the east coast state and national parks are our preference over private parks. The sites are usually larger than the private park sites, and the cost is almost always considerably lower than the private parks in the same area. One National Park Service park we'll be in this winter in southern Florida is just $15 a night with our Senior Access Pass for an electric only site next door to the Everglades. A National Forest Service park we'll be in for a couple of weeks in the Ocala National Forest is $31 a night with our pass for a full hookup site and free WiFi. We regularly visit state parks in New York, Georgia, and Florida as the seasons change, and over the years have developed favorite parks and even preferred sites that we try to get back to fairly often. They range from electric only to full hookups, and we enjoy them all.

[Vladimir]

Sorry, I misread it.

[Kirk W]

While it has been a few years since we were last near the eastern seaboard or the eastern 1/3 of the country, our experience was similar to that stated by Dutch. We found the New England area particularly difficult with most commercial parks used mostly by monthly rentals and few available spaces and most of those small. With our 36' class A we had little problem finding places midweek but in the northern states weekends were never very open and holidays nearly impossible. As we traveled south of Washington DC or west of Penn. it seemed to improve. If locating RV sites has become more difficult in the east they way it has west of the Mississippi, I would strongly recommend planning well ahead and getting reservations. 

[Domo]

Length varies from park to park - we always call to make sure our 36' will fit - AND, we've also learned that many of the folks on the "other end of the phone" do not understand how BIG a MH can be - plus, we've seen that the National and State parks had originally been designed for tents, then the sites had been expanded to accept small pull-behinds, then larger TTs and finally after very modest trimming of tree branches, motorhomes - But, even with the trimmed branches, the roads were not widened and straightened and now big 5'ers with giant trucks plus large MHs with toads and boats help to make access roads a great challenge.

Please do not be daunted!!! We've learned to accept scratches on the MH 'cause heck, you can't seem them at night while you're busy looking at the stars holding your best friend's hand in a national or state forest/park.