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Geocaching in a camper


IdaLabs

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We’ve been looking at small Class C campers so that we can take our dogs on trips with us and not have to stay in hotels.  We’re worried about how difficult it might be to park in some places at different attractions and National Parks, and just pulling off the road to cache anywhere. I’d like to hear of your experiences caching with a Class C.  We don’t want to tow a vehicle. Thanks

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We've got a Class A, but the difference in this sense is probably negligible. We've taken it on two trips with caching interludes. We did not tow a vehicle on the first, and our caching options were definitely limited by that. We managed to hit a few caches near large parking areas and some with long pullouts, but we did have to skip a few due to parking concerns. There was also a bit more walking involved with the caches we did attempt.

 

Depending on the parks you're visiting, you will be limited in different ways. We could easily have fit into many of the parking areas in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but you'll have to do some extra planning and there will probably be some caches that will be out of reach. On our second trip, we brought a jeep and had a lot more fun. Towing a vehicle is a bit more effort, but it was well worth it. Apart from finding easier parking, the jeep was much more maneuverable. Worrying about parking in a large camper put a bit of a damper on our experience and we burnt out faster. The jeep allowed us easy access to some great hikes that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise and I was much happier with the experience overall. 

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We have used our class A 32 foot Motor Home on two cross country trips and last year Alaska.  Many National and State Parks have limitations on the length of your RV so if that your goal,  keep the RV under 24 feet. 

 

We have always towed a vehicle behind the RV and have found it very useful in touring and Geocaching. However, on one trip to Oregon to the Original Stash cache our tow car broke and we had to use the RV to find the cache.  Took a bit of looking but found a place to park the RV and walk back to the cache. 

 

Not sure what you needs are but maybe a Class B might work well for you.  

 

Have fun and maybe see you on the road

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We've done over 70K miles with our car and trailer (it's only 18', so with car only about 30-35 feet) in the last 4 years (five cross country trips plus two partial crossings).  It does get interesting finding parking for some caches, but most of the time we've been able to work something out.  We did skip the oldest cache in DC one trip when we couldn't find a double parking spot to use, but that's been pretty rare for us.  We generally can find some place to put the 'monster', even if it's just along the side of the road (it gets interesting when the road is not quite two lanes wide, but generally then there is very little traffic). 

 

One advantage a trailer has, is we've been able to 'drop' the trailer and continue with a car alone (a couple of weeks ago we did this at Arches NP, we left the trailer in Visitor Center parking lot - with permission - and parked at the TH a lot easier.  This was during their 'peak' season, the winter of 2018 we just took the trailer to all the parking lots/pull outs without problems.)  There were a few viewpoints along the Blue Ridge Parkway that were signed "no trailers", but again that's rare. 

 

So, there have only been a handful of caches that we've had to pass on because of the RV - but there always another just up the road...

 

 

 

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We rented an RV last month and drove to Ohio and West Virginia.  I so wanted to do some WVTim or other gadget caches; I also wanted to do a challenge trail near Coopers Rock State Forest where we stayed.  We did not pull a tow vehicle so that really limited what we could do (having a Muggle Hubby doesn't help either...)

 

I found rest area caches were my best bet while on the move.  I was also able to do some caches in the parks we stayed at - mostly earthcaches and virtuals but I took what I could get...

 

Once we were at our campsite, there was no moving around just to cache.  It was only when we were moving from site to site.

 

We decided not to pursue the purchase of an RV, for many reasons but it just wasn't the right move for us at this time.  If we ever change our mind (after I retire) we would definitely use a tow vehicle.  That would make caching much more easy!

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Most municipality parking spaces allow a 21 ft vehicle.   You can get class C in 21 ft or 24 ft or more.  If you plan any urban tourism or boondocking, the shorter the better.  You do have to measure yourself including bumpers and spare tire and bike racks.  Some places are strict that way.  Ferrys charge total length.  Some places also have 12 ft height restrictions.  Especially the northeast.  This is all for just general travelling the country. 

Another thing to think about is if you want a slide out, is to have it on the passenger side.  You can not park on any street overnight with a driver side slide out or back slide out.  You can overnight on a street or stay several days in an industrial area with a passenger side slide out.  

Some of the best national park RV camps only allow up to 30 ft total length.  Anything bigger is not allowed in.  Longer RVs typically will have to stay at more expensive private camps or State Park camps which can add an hour or more drive (slow roll) to get to the scenic views.

There are some really nice Class Bs out there and there were 2 with slide outs at Overland expo this year. New ones are expensive and depreciate quickly. 

The best investments for a Class C is a modest solar system and Ebikes.  Ebikes will get you anywhere and everywhere.  Love the Ebike to solve the travelling cacher woes.  Even though I use my regular bike just as much just because.   But for those long touristy trips, hills and hot days... Tons of youtube videos about them both.  Good Luck!

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On 7/18/2019 at 5:09 AM, Viajero Perdido said:

Maybe this counts as a "Class D" camper, I dunno.  But I love it, in part because it can go places larger RVs can't.

 

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...such as mountain tops.  Notice the wee bit of orange sunlight peeking through the lowest trees?

Subaru. Good choice. I have a 2010 Forester D2.0.

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10 hours ago, colleda said:

Subaru. Good choice. I have a 2010 Forester D2.0.

 

Thanks.  As long as I can sleep inside, it's perfect for me.  I have to go diagonal in that car, with two triangular-shaped piles of camping junk on either side around me.  I've got it down to a quick art once I roll into camp.

 

One other advantage of sleeping in the car: it's a Faraday cage.  I've lost track of how many times I've been on foot, chased off mountains by lightning storms.  In a car, just hop inside and wait.

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