What this checklist is for
For motorhomes or travel trailers, this is used to record information about where you hook up and arrive at campsites in the United States. It's downloadable either as a CSV or PDF file. Or you may enter data directly into the form (above).
You'll document the location of your campground, site number, and the shore-power rating listed on your RV inlet placard. Next, you'll check your site. You will check the leveling, chocks, electric service, city water, sewer, and propane. You will also check the slides, awning, and inside start. For each row, you indicate if it was N/A, Skip, or Done.
The RV Industry Association explain 30-amp and 50-amp service, and factory systems follow NEC Article 551 and NFPA 1192.
This template isn't those standards, nor your owner's manual.
NPS campsite setup guidelines follow site hazards.
NPS RV Fire Safety 101 covers shore-power cords, detectors, extinguishers, and driving with the propane off.
NPS propane fire guidance covers cylinder inspection and the rule to leave the area if you smell gas.
The USDA Forest Service covers campfire safety.
The EPA RV wastewater guidance covers dumping waste.
Ready.gov covers evacuation kits and alerts, and it recommends a go-bag.
Done means you completed the step for this stay. If you have the hookup but aren’t using it tonight (dry camping; running a generator later), skip this step. If your site doesn’t have it, or if your rig doesn’t have it, like a motorhome without a trailer hitch, no slides, or no city water, mark it N/A.
The stay is identified in the rig section by the site name and site number. The date is recorded. Campground name follows. List the number of days or nights. Occupants. Include the type of RV that was parked.
Copy the inlet rating from the coach’s placard for shore power. Common factory assemblies include 30-amp 125 V; or 50-amp 125/250 V. Record which receptacle on the pedestal you plugged into. Say if you used an adapter, noting it in the notes.
Check that the owner’s manual is on board. Also check that your phones have local-emergency or weather alerts on. Ready.gov says to do this before staying somewhere new.
Walk the pad before you unhitch or drop slides. Look up for dead branches. A designated site with room for RV and slide-outs is what NPS wants. Stay out of ravines and other low ground prone to flooding. Follow Forest Service stove rules and NPS RV fire safety.
Find sewer inlet, water riser, and pedestal. Note trees and overhead wires. Check park rules on slide clearance into next site and generators. Know how you’d leave. Ready.gov wants a meeting plan and alternate routes, not a shortcut across a washed-out road.
The parking brake is on.
Chock the wheels before unhitching the trailer.
What it is not
- It is not a household road-trip packing list. Documents, house leaving, and car packing live on the published road trip checklist. Confirm the household kit on the published car emergency kit list if that kit rides in the tow vehicle.
- It is not winterizing. Do not use these rows to blow out lines, add antifreeze, or store the coach for freeze. That is a different topic (named here in plain text because that BenchTab page is not published).
- It is not a monthly RV maintenance log. Chassis service, roof sealant, and scheduled appliance service are not this arrival walk.
- It is not a substitute for NFPA 1192, NFPA 70 Article 551, or a licensed electrician or propane technician. It does not invent a universal amp draw or a city-water PSI limit. Use the inlet rating on the RV and the receptacle on the park pedestal. Use the regulator and inlet labels your OEM actually printed.
How to fill each block
Leveling: Per Owner’s Manual; Side To Side, Front To Rear. This may include motorhome jacks, landing gear, or blocks.
Stabilizer jacks are not a substitute for leveling and load bearing. If OEM Says They Only Stabilize, It’s Not A Substitute.
Use jack pads under jacks on soft ground.
Do not invent a jack load or travel limit; this form doesn't print one.
Check the chocks again after the coach settles.
The rows involving the auto-level function are not applicable on trailers without that system.
There are no rows involving an unhitched trailer, as the motorhome is hitched to nothing.
Match the pedestal to the RV inlet. The parking spot provides 30-amp 125 V or 50-amp 125/250 V (NEC 551.71). Not that feeder: 20-amp outlet. Inspect factory cord. It must be in good condition, the right size, and replaced if it is damaged (NPS). Look for burn, heat, loose receptacle.
Check for reverse polarity, open ground with a 30/50-amp analyzer if carried. RVIA cautions about damaged feeders and the use of dog-bone adapters. Both can cause a loss of ground and make the metal skin energized (hot-skin). Do not defeat ground. Turn breaker off, plug in completely, strain-relieve, turn on. Do not run cord under mat.
If a GMI, EMS, or surge unit is installed, wait for a pass. As of model year 2028 (per RVIA), new 30-amp and 50-amp RVs must be equipped with a Grounding Monitor Interrupter. There is no retrofit mandate for older coaches.
Unplug if you tingle in the metal. Don't overload your interior strips. Your generator stays outside, according to NPS, and isn't ever backfed into a pedestal.
The park water is posted as safe to drink. Use a drinking-water hose.
NFPA 1192 7.2.4.2 treats a city-water connection as an optional factory feature that might have a pressure regulator, or a hose rated for the factory test (no regulator). That’s a manufacturing rule, not a campsite PSI number. You install the regulator specified by the device label and your OEM. You don’t invent or publish a park-wide PSI on this form.
You open the riser slow and look at the inlet, regulator and hose for leaks. Mark the city-water rows N/A or Skip if you’re on the onboard tank only. Then, use the pump row in the interior station.
Ethylene glycol and methanol antifreeze belong in winterizing, not this arrival list (NFPA 1192 7.2.3.3).
Wear gloves. Plug in a sewer hose (to the site inlet or at the dump station). Only open the valves once both ends are seated. Support the hose while it drains.
Never dump holding tanks onto the ground. According to EPA, RV owners should always empty their tanks into a dump station or other legal place to empty them. Avoid using any chemical for your holding tank that might damage a septic system, including formaldehyde and similar products. Follow the park's dump-station guidelines.
Close valves after dumping. Different parks have different black-tank/gray-tank valve practices. Some OEMs also have different practices. Refer to your owner's manual, there is no one-size-fits-all "always leave gray open" practice here.
Inspect cylinders or the tank
Don't use badly corroded, fire-damaged, bulging, gouged, or dented containers, according to NPS.
Keep propane cylinders upright and secured.
Do not store spare cylinders in the coach, according to NPS.
Open the service valve slowly.
Check the connections, the regulator vent, and the visible hoses.
NFPA 1192 mandates listed regulators, vapor-withdrawal systems, and leak-free piping at the factory.
Smell gas? Do not light appliances. Get out and call emergency services, says NPS.
What varies
Test the propane detector
Keep the shutoff where reachable
RVIA's NFPA 1192 5.3 note addresses flexible propane lines that move with a slide. Look for a line that might snag, stretch, or be pinched before extending a slide.
Level and Chock First, NPS sees slide-out space as a site-fit problem. Clear picnic tables, tree, pedestal, neighbor’s pad. Observe seals on propane flex lines as the room moves. Use only original manufacturer crank or switches to extend slides and awning. Lock the awning in place. Retract if wind rises. Check entry steps. After rooms are out, ensure emergency exits remain open. These must follow NFPA 1192 means of escape. Two ways out is what NPS wants.
Test your propane, carbon monoxide, and smoke detectors.
After you finish
Know where the extinguisher is located. For extra protection, install extinguishers in bedroom, kitchen, and keep another outside, but unlocked (NPS recommendation). The listed extinguisher must be located near the main factory exit (NFPA 1192).
Water Source: Set city water vs. demand pump, you don’t want to turn on your pump if the city valve is closed. Do not do this unless the OEM tells you it is fine. Note that this form does not re-rate the extinguisher.
Do not turn on the water heater if it has no water in it. Start appliances like fridge, climate, etc., one at a time on 30-amp service.
There are two exits. Check that they’re both good. Two ways out!
Ready.gov Kit: Place it where you can grab it. Get it there.
Know the campground address (NPS) to use for 911 calls.
Roll: Roll up your awning and retract its slides. Reverse your hookups. Shutting down propane: At the tank. All Appliances Off Before Fuel Stop. Driving: Propane Off. NPS. Unplugging/plugging in: Turn Breaker to Pedestal Off, Stow Cord, Unplug, Stow. Water hose: Drain/Stow. Sewer (dump/close): Stow Hose. Jacks: Raise. Trailer Hitching: Connect Coupler, Safety Chains/Cables, Breakaway, 7-way. Remove Chocks. Lamps: Confirm. Campfires: Feel, Stir, Drown till Cold. Per Forest Service. Food/Wildlife: Pack Trash/Food So Not Accessible to Wildlife. Per NPS. gov.
Fifth-wheels and travel trailers unhook. Motorhomes rarely drop their couplers and sometimes auto-level. Class B vans don't typically have slides.
Missing hardware? Mark it as N/A. Have a 50-amp coach parked on a 30-amp pedestal? Use an adapter approved by the manufacturer and control your loads. How many air conditioners can you run? The answer isn't on this form. It's the breaker in front of you. It's also the adapter rating and the inlet rating.
Propane changeover? Check. City-water pressure? Check. Sewer valve habits? Check. It varies by park and by OEM. No hookups at some national-park sites. Wood fire bans may be a Forest Service restriction, but a propane stove is OK as long as it is listed. Not a number we made up here; you check with the host. Local codes use NEC editions on their own cycle. Ask for another site if GFI or tester balks at the pedestal. Don’t pick up the ground pin. Winterizing and monthly chassis service stay off this arrival form.
Nothing on this page is filed with a park service, a campground, an insurer, a dealer, or anywhere else. It doesn’t replace a dump-station fee ticket. It doesn’t text your site number to anybody. It doesn’t send answers anywhere except back into this browser tab.
Not a substitute for the OEM or a licensed inspection
If you’d like a copy of what’s in this browser tab, download it as a filled-in PDF or CSV. Then leave this browser tab. Next person who visits will see a blank form. Download a blank copy and fill it out by hand at the pedestal. The form itself appears above this article. Below the form is a preview of page 1 and the printable PDF.
Is it wrong? If it's electrical, sewer, or propane, don't mark it as stay ready. Shut the valve, close the sewer, unplug, and call for assistance. If the skin of the coach tingles, stop. A tingle on the skin of the coach is a stop, not a notes-only defect.
This is a campsite recordkeeping template. This is not legal advice. This is not a replacement for a qualified propane technician, a licensed electrician, NFPA 1192, NFPA 70 Article 551, or the owner’s-manual hookup procedure. You don’t make up amp, voltage, or PSI pass/fail numbers you didn’t find on the pedestal, the regulator label, the RV inlet placard, or the official pages linked here.