21 in National Park Campgrounds & National Forest Campgrounds

[Dustin Richardson]

My family of three is heading out on a year long social distancing road trip. We’ve placed the order for a 21NE. However, I’ve recently become a bit concerned that the additional 2 feet of length compared to the 19 is going to put the combined length of our tow vehicle (Ram 1500 Crew Cab Short Box) and 21NE just over the 40 foot maximum that I see floating around the internet for the bulk of National Park and National Forest campsites. We plan to do a fair amount of light boondocking (i.e., less developed sites without hookups - not so much all out BLM-type boondocking). Our tow vehicle plus 21NE combined length will be 40 feet 9 inches. Does anyone have experience with a similar combined length tow vehicle trailer combo in National Park and National Forest campgrounds? Hoping that experience is positive. I’ve got a message out to Joldie at Escape to see if switching our order out to the 19 is still even an option or if the trailer has already started production. Another wrinkle is that we’re having BattleBorn LiFePO4 batteries installed in the 21, and wonder if those would even be installable by Escape inside a 19, since it looks like the batteries are usually outdoors on the 19? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I’m just getting unnecessarily nervous about those 9 inches over 40 feet length? Thanks in advance!