Height restrictions with a full profile 5th wheel?

Hi there. I'm still researching my first RV purchase. I'm pretty dialed-in on a full-time Heartland, leaning heavily toward the BigHorn. But I have a question regarding a full-profile RV: are most parks, state and national, full-profile friendly? Or will I find the height to be a problem? And would a mid-profile be less restrictive or would it have similar height limitations? Thanks.

A lot, but not all are good, but you have to be careful in all of them because a lot depends the rate of growth of the trees and the competence and size of their maintenance staffs. Most of the commercial parks and resorts are fine. Don't alway believe the "big rig friendly" advertisements because perceptions of big rigs vary. I always try to look up the parks using google maps to check out the route to and thru the park and the sites for low growing trees. I also carry an extendable pole saw/cutter and always walk suspect sites before backing in. I even did this with my TT. My front a/c is right at 12', 11", but so far I haven't been anyplace in NM, AZ, TX, CO (southern part) that I haven't been able to get into although in some parks I had to be pretty selective about the sites we used.

Hi javankrona,

I've been to a number of Colorado State Parks and height doesn't seem to be any issue at all in those. I've also been to a number of Texas State Parks, which are typically older parks going back to the 1930s. In those, length can reduce the number of available spots, but height has never been a problem. The only national park we've stayed in was at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village. One spot had a low hanging tree branch but most spots were fine.

I wouldn't be too worried about height.

We've never had a problem, but have had low limbs brushing the highest point. The park we are in right now has a tree close to us that they did trim after I was in the site, as during windy conditions the limbs would rub. I've also climbed to the roof and trimmed some low branches in some state parks.

As height is always important also too with any towable is width. Up here in the northeast the limbs from hardwoods grow laterally as well vertically. Although the state DOT keeps ROW's clear one has to be cautious on lesser traveled and narrower local roadways to and from campgrounds.


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My previous SOB was a mid-profile, purchased because I had the same concerns that you expressed.
I found that in most mid-profiles storage space is severely limited. Also when walking forward in the bedroom, I must have hit my head 20 times on the low bedroom ceiling ( I'm only 6 feet tall). I knew it was time for a change to a full-profile rig.

My Bighorn is 40' long 13' 2" high at the highest point. Yes it does require some thinking before you go to an unfamiliar area. We fulltimed for three years with very few problems. If it looks tight, or crowded with trees or obstacles, don't try it.

If you take your time and research before you go on sites like RVParkreviews you should be fine with a full profile rig.

All things considered I would get the full profile Bighorn again in a heartbeat. Trace

Thanks for the responses. It's funny, I now find myself looking at the tree lined roads I travel daily, and think, "dang, that will probably scrape along the roof." I'm noticing old, concrete railroad overpasses for clearance issues and utility poles too close to the roadside, thinking I may have to cross the centerline of the road to avoid taking a notch out of the pole ... Do you folks stick mainly to freeways, or is there an RV route planner that can help avoid tight routes?

Any 13' 6" underpass look low from the truck and the trailer clears them well.
Just because they look low they might be plenty high.
In 5 years I never had to scrape the trailer on high lims.
Had to drive around low ones though.

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A Truckers Road Atlas is an inexpensive way to check for big rig friendly routes. Look at this LINK. Trace

I have an App on my iPhone from Allstays.com for low clearance locations detailed by state and map location.


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You can get a RV GPS that you program in your height and weight and width and it should not take you anywhere you would have a problem. I said SHOULD NOT. Nothing is 100% so you always have to be consus of the fact that you are higher, wider and heavier.

Most common problem I have run into with state parks in the Weatherford - Mineral Wells, TX area are spots that aren't long enough for my Cyclone and low branches a couple times.

I bought a Good Sam GPS a while back and used it on our trip to Wolf Pen Gap in Arkansas during spring break. The GPS routed us down just about every cow path in the area. Some of the 2 lane roads were just barely wide enough for the trailer. We missed most of the little towns and we didn't run into anything we couldn't go under but it wasn't the best route. My wife and I did get to see things we hadn't seen before and had a little fun trying to guess where Samantha and her magenta line was going to take us next.


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whp4262 said:

Most common problem I have run into with state parks in the Weatherford - Mineral Wells, TX area are spots that aren't long enough for my Cyclone and low branches a couple times.

I bought a Good Sam GPS a while back and used it on our trip to Wolf Pen Gap in Arkansas during spring break. The GPS routed us down just about every cow path in the area. Some of the 2 lane roads were just barely wide enough for the trailer. We missed most of the little towns and we didn't run into anything we couldn't go under but it wasn't the best route. My wife and I did get to see things we hadn't seen before and had a little fun trying to guess where Samantha and her magenta line was going to take us next.


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I know what you mean about Wolf Pen Gap. With my previous RV, we followed GPS routes to Wold Pen and prayed that another car didn't come up from the opposite direction (very narrow roads). Then when we got to the campground it was on the other side of a creek and there were only two ways over to the campground (a low water crossing with some steep sides and a rickety bridge). Took the low water crossing and made it, but it made me nervous (I wasn't sure the back would clear because of the incline).

My Big Country is also 13'2" and I worry about gas stations and low hanging trees mostly. There are several 13'5" bridges around but it clears them fine. Ever since I saw a guy on TV run a fifth wheel into a gas station canopy and knock it over on them (I'm very cautious). If I have the 5er attached and need diesel, I look for truck stops to avoid this. In general, I think everyone has to be cautious with this stuff, and the gain in space, storage, and comfort is worth the minor worries. Good luck!