This past spring we pulled our 26' high profile(12.0') 5th wheel into Black Canyon Campground off hwy 58 in Oregon. When we pulled in off the highway I noticed a visitor board located near the access road to the sites. We should have stopped and read the info before entering the loops, but we didn't. Normally when we get to a campground I feel the need to find a spot right away. I already know about the rules and how to pay.

As we started looking over the beautiful sites, I began to notice that I had to watch for trees along the edge of the narrow & windy road. Eventually I became stuck and couldn't move forward or backwards without hitting some trees. After about a half hour of maneuvering and pissing off people waiting behind me, I finally got out of the jam and pulled into a beautiful spot along the river. Later when we went to the visitor board to pay, I noticed a small sign warning campers of the possible problems maneuvering within the CG.

Suggestion: The CG descriptions within literature should include info on the above type of restrictions - and maybe even a sign located near the speed limit sign, or near the one way sign, warning people of the hazards ahead. Also, tree limbs should be trimmed before the CG is opened for the season, not later in the spring or early summer. Roof repairs are very expensive.

I did learn my lesson. We will walk the loops first.

I think we can all relate experiences where we may have gotten into some tight spots.

Your suggestion is a good one.

Korbe,
If you had checked the Forest Camping website for the Black Canyon CG you would have found the following statement,

" The interior roadway is narrow with close growing trees
and sharp turns."

So even though the NFS website will not tell you that, Forest Camping will.

A problem with campground description literature is that there are a lot of them out there. I attempted to purchase a guide through this website but the area I was looking for was on CD only. Viewing CD's on the road is not currently an option for us.

The Pacific Northwest area is what I am looking for. Will it be in printed form anytime soon?

Sorry, we are not publishing softcovers anymore, only ebooks on CD and soon downloads . . . Fred

If you know before you leave home which Forest(s) you are likely to be visiting, you might look up the campgrounds on the Forest Camping site and then copy and paste the entries, print them out and make up a loose-leaf notebook. It's really not a lot of work and has paid off for me when I have been unable to get online (which is usually, in National Forests).

Ed

Ed, that makes a lot of sense. One problem I'll have to deal with is most of the time we just take off in a particular direction. There's a lot of FS CGs. Maybe if I start a binder over time I'll have the entire area.

I just wish there were maps available online. When I first started using NF a few years back it seems that they were available.

You can indeed purchase National Forest maps online. A good place to start is Fred's post on 4/3/09 in the Trip Planning section of this forum .
These are the same NF maps that you buy at the Ranger Stations and of course they are not downloadable.
However I suspect you were talking about maps that you can download. You can even do that from various private companies that you will find on Google. The problem there though is that of size. Most of us can only print an 81/2 x 11 sheet so that means you are either going to get a map that's about 50mi/inch or a whole stack of sheets to piece together....neither way particularly useful for camping.
One final thought, getting back to the original comment .....although the NF maps show a good listing of the facilities at each campground and sometimes indicate the size rig that can be accommodated, I don't ever recall seeing any advisories about narrow winding roads and overhanging trees etc. We are still going to have to rely on Fred and Suzi for that info.

Ed

I don't know if this will help you but the entire United States USGS topo maps are available for free download in PDF form

http://tinyurl.com/y8z2k89

The site is a bit tricky to navigate until you've done it a few times, but if you follow the directions you'll get it. The files range from about 3MB - 15MB and are available as both the traditional Topo contour maps and as the new digital satellite maps. The files download as compressed zip files.

This is a bit off topic from where this thread has wandered to, but fits in with the original "expanded campground descriptions."

If the current proposal for reducing Senior and Access pass holders fees from 50% to 10% goes through, it would be nice to know which USFS campgrounds are run by a concessionaire...that way we can avoid those campgrounds!

In addition to ebooks on CD, ebook downloads are now available from our bookstore. Click on one of the icons upper left this page to access.

FYI
(1) We are now incorporating GPS coordinates for each CG we research; work in progress and available only in our ebooks.
(2) Maps displaying campground locations are in our ebooks only.
(3) A map displaying location of every NF and NG is located at http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/list/nflist.htm.