How this site works

Big Rig Campsites sorts the public campsite data from Recreation.gov by RV length limit. No campsite was measured or visited. Every length comes from the Recreation.gov listing, and each campsite links back to its Recreation.gov page.

Data source

Recreation.gov offers a free download of its listings, called RIDB. The download holds 130,899 campsites at 4,966 campgrounds and permit areas. The agencies behind them include the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers. Recreation.gov invites reuse of the data and suggests the credit line "Data Source: Recreation.gov". That line is on every page.

The two length limits

A campsite on Recreation.gov can list a "Max Vehicle Length". It can also list permitted equipment with a maximum length for each type: RV or motorhome, trailer, fifth wheel. The RV or trailer limit on these pages is the longest of those three lengths.

• Both limits listed: counts use the shorter limit. The longer limit is shown beside it and is not used for any count.
• One limit listed: counts use that limit.
• No limit listed: the campsite shows "Not listed" and is not counted at any length.

Counts include only the site types that take RVs: standard, RV, equestrian and group standard sites. Tent-only, walk-to, boat-in, cabin, shelter, picnic and staff sites are not counted, even where a length is listed. That leaves 85,149 campsites at 2,539 campgrounds with a length limit.

Checks on the data

• Counts built from two separate downloads agreed within about 1.2%.
• Twenty campsites picked at random were compared with the live Recreation.gov data for each campsite. Both length limits matched on all 20. The differences between the two limits are in the Recreation.gov data itself.
• Limits 5 ft or more apart are on the list of two-limit campsites.

Known gaps

• A campsite's Recreation.gov page can carry a typed notice that is not in the data download. A notice can contradict the listed length.
• Road, turn, overhead clearance and towing limits appear only where an agency publishes them. None are quoted on these pages.
• Campgrounds booked somewhere other than Recreation.gov, including private RV parks, are not covered.
• The data goes out of date. A newer download replaces the current one.

Money

The site has no ads and no paid or affiliate links today. If that changes, a plain note will sit next to any paid link and this page will say so first. No campground or company can pay to change a number or a ranking.

Who runs it

Big Rig Campsites is a small independent website. It is not run by, affiliated with or endorsed by Recreation.gov, the National Park Service or any other agency. There are no reviewers, testers or named experts behind these pages, only the published data and the rules above.

Questions and corrections go through the contact page.