5.0 TA Reservations at campgrounds

[Colorado Kirk]

Hello All,

Looking for some advice from 5.0 owners. We will be getting our 5.0 in mid-April and we are moving up from a Casita. With that said, we almost exclusively boondocked here in the mountains of Colorado with the Casita. We are planning on meeting up with family members throughout the summer this year. However, with the whole surge in ownership and general increase in RVing, we are already booking campsites to ensure our dates overlap with friends and family. When we start the booking process, the campsites invariably ask for our RV type. Here is my question (finally)! Do you folks with 5.0’s actually check the box for 5th wheels or do you just say you’ve got a travel trailer? I’m hesitant to check the box for 5th wheel cuz I don’t want to end up in the land of the giants but at the same time, I don’t want to mislead anyone or cause an issue at check-in. Thoughts??

[padlin]

I always put in a 5th wheel where it asks what kind of equipment you have, it's not like they keep them segregated. CG's assign sites mostly by size. When selecting my own sites at places like ReserveAmerica, I use "trailer" as the type of site I want.

[Brian B-P]

It's hard to understand why a campground would care about the type of trailer, unless they are expecting fifth-wheel users to keep the truck under the trailer, taking less space than a separate tow vehicle... and that seems unreasonable.

[rbryan4]

I'd select trailer. They often will ask about the length as well. Choosing "5th wheel" might limit the sites available because to most people, any 5th wheel is huge.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

I'd select trailer. They often will ask about the length as well. Choosing "5th wheel" might limit the sites available because to most people, any 5th wheel is huge.

If they ask about length as well, the type question seems pointless and it would make no sense to assume that a trailer explicitly reported as 21 feet long is "huge". If they don't ask about length then perhaps they're making a size assumption.

[Donna D.]

Who knows why some questions are asked. It could be for statistical purposes and we wouldn't know.

[davidmurphy02]

At state and national parks if the reservation system asks for trailer type it's just so they can add that info to the registration for the campground hosts to more easily check and verify who's checked into each site. At private commercial campgrounds they often have sites in a number of sizes and will ask trailer type as well as length and number of slideouts in order to make sure to put you into a space you will fit in. I always get a chuckle when indicating a 21 foot 5th wheel with no slideouts and imagining someone looking at it and wondering "what the heck kind of 5th wheel is that?"

[Ronn]

I select trailer, I think it at 21 feet trailer better defines my needs.

Besides I have the Andersen Ultimate Hitch (along with trailer safety chains), so is it a 5th wheel or not?

[HarleyD]

I check 5th wheel if it is there and make sure 20' gets in there somewhere too.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Colorado Kirk

Hello All,

Looking for some advice from 5.0 owners. We will be getting our 5.0 in mid-April and we are moving up from a Casita. With that said, we almost exclusively boondocked here in the mountains of Colorado with the Casita. We are planning on meeting up with family members throughout the summer this year. However, with the whole surge in ownership and general increase in RVing, we are already booking campsites to ensure our dates overlap with friends and family. When we start the booking process, the campsites invariably ask for our RV type. Here is my question (finally)! Do you folks with 5.0’s actually check the box for 5th wheels or do you just say you’ve got a travel trailer? I’m hesitant to check the box for 5th wheel cuz I don’t want to end up in the land of the giants but at the same time, I don’t want to mislead anyone or cause an issue at check-in. Thoughts??

Hi: Colorado Kirk... My wife always makes the reservations...that way no one is mislead. We always get a second glance when we go where we've never been before. Usually feel like the afternoons entertainment when we set up too!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[C&G in FL]

I generally tell them I have a 21-foot travel trailer. The designation “5th Wheel” to campground owners typically bring images of 35-foot or longer behemoths to their minds, simply because the 5.0TA is far less common. I do it because early on when describing it as a 5th Wheel, I would be told that all the larger sites were booked, and if not, they would assume I wanted a more expensive site with a sewer connection.
I no longer or only rarely experience the “awe” of other campers that Alf describes above, however, presumably because there are enough 5.0TAs in use now that many people who are “on the RV circuit” have previously seen one or more of them. I get more people asking where I purchased the rear view camera kit for my 5th Wheel F-150 tailgate.

[JStelly]

I always check the box for 5th wheel. There is usually a question of length that follows and I list 21ft. We have never been disadvantaged of segregated because of our reservation listing. I also think it’s more for statistical purposes.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

I generally tell them I have a 21-foot travel trailer. The designation “5th Wheel” to campground owners typically bring images of 35-foot or longer behemoths to their minds, simply because the 5.0TA is far less common. I do it because early on when describing it as a 5th Wheel, I would be told that all the larger sites were booked, and if not, they would assume I wanted a more expensive site with a sewer connection.

Do they not ask about size or desired services?

I'm trying to imagine the stupidity required to look at a reservation request that says "21 feet long" and "no sewer" and conclude that the trailer must be over 35 feet long and needs a sewer connection.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Do they not ask about size or desired services?

I'm trying to imagine the stupidity required to look at a reservation request that says "21 feet long" and "no sewer" and conclude that the trailer must be over 35 feet long and needs a sewer connection.

Really, no reason for imagination here. And I’m not sure “stupidity” is the correct word. I would substitute “assumption,” in that a 5th Wheel must be a large trailer. Actually Brian, most of our reservations are made over the phone and generally after telling the person on the other end of the line that we have a 21-foot travel trailer to eliminate assumptions, the discussion heads in the direction of preferred utilities. We will take sewer if that is all that is available, but we ask for an electric/water sight. I consider saying travel trailer rather than 5th wheel is simply being proactive rather than reactive.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

... I’m not sure “stupidity” is the correct word. I would substitute “assumption,” in that a 5th Wheel must be a large trailer. Actually Brian, most of our reservations are made over the phone and generally after telling the person on the other end of the line that we have a 21-foot travel trailer to eliminate assumptions...

But there's no reason to make an assumption if the information is explicitly given - I only commented that it would be stupid to make these assumptions if the length and required services were already provided.

If you make a reservation by phone and say that you have a 21-foot fifth-wheel trailer, it would be stupid for the campground staff to assume that it's over 35 feet long. I can certainly understand them asking something like "do you really have a fifth-wheel that's only 21 feet long?"

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

If you make a reservation by phone and say that you have a 21-foot fifth-wheel trailer, it would be stupid for the campground staff to assume that it's over 35 feet long.

But they do assume. They hear 5th wheel and that's it. I've no idea why. It's just easier to just say a 21 foot trailer and avoid any issues.

[escape artist]

Hi: All... Remember... "You can't fix stupid"!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jim Bennett]

I just pick a site based on it's size and book it. Most campgrounds I have booked at haven't asked for RV type, though some do sometimes ask for length and even height where trees cascade over the site. This asking RV type must not be only in certain areas, or I have just been lucky to avoid it. Mind you, we book maybe 10% of the time is all.

[HarleyD]

I feel that with the 5th wheel flexibility and overlap with the TV I can be as versatile as a 20' unit. Also some parks separate their sites to under 20' and over 20' for the trailer length. I prefer the small sites and would rather have any extra space on the sides of the trailer than on the ends. No one has measured our trailer yet. Even in our storage lot I can get a cheaper rate for 6 months by using one of their small sites.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by HarleyD

I feel that with the 5th wheel flexibility and overlap with the TV I can be as versatile as a 20' unit. Also some parks separate their sites to under 20' and over 20' for the trailer length. I prefer the small sites and would rather have any extra space on the sides of the trailer than on the ends. No one has measured our trailer yet. Even in our storage lot I can get a cheaper rate for 6 months by using one of their small sites.

Once, and only once, we were located in an area with only humongous 5th wheels. Since then we just reserve as a 19' camper. Now we mostly stay at state/federal campsites that could care less. The location in the campground is more important to us than the length of the pad.

We avoid commercial campgrounds like the covid!

Enjoy,

Perry