Interested in possibly winning a free America the Beautiful annual pass? How about the experience of traveling in a Winnebago Class A motorhome?

Those are the prizes in Winnebago’s new #SupportYourParks campaign — a continuation of last year’s award-winning “On the Road Again” campaign — to support the National Park Foundation (NPF). The #SupportYourParks campaign builds on Winnebago’s partnership with the NPF, which aims to strengthen people’s connections to national parks and increase outdoor equity through hands-on learning and career opportunities in parks.

For a limited time through Aug. 31, Winnebago is giving away 100 America the Beautiful annual passes to the national parks, which are valid between September 2021 through September 2022. In addition, one lucky winner will receive the grand prize—an extraordinary experience in a Winnebago Class A motorhome, valid for the 2022 calendar year. #SupportYourParks aims to ignite an appreciation for the national parks’ beauty and rich history, instill a commitment to protecting them for future generations and inspire responsible travel to these treasured places.

To achieve these goals, Winnebago has created a video for #SupportYourParks featuring musician Chris Koza singing a powerful and folksy version of the Willie Nelson classic, “On the Road Again” against the backdrop of some of our beloved national parks. People who follow Winnebago on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, like the #SupportYourParks post and tag a friend will be automatically entered to win one of the park-themed prizes.

In addition, for every share of this video via these sites and YouTube now until Aug. 31, 2021, Winnebago will donate $1 to the National Park Foundation, up to $25,000.

Combining the strengths of the nation’s No. 1 weekly RV and camping television show and North America’s premier RV how-to magazine, Rollin’ On TV and RV Enthusiast magazine recently announced a partnership that will benefit RVers with useful technical information and “how-to” content.

This partnership between RV Enthusiast magazine (RVE) and Rollin’ On TV (ROTV) will allow both companies to present stories across multiple media venues, which will provide readers and viewers with the opportunity to get their information from multiple media sources — how, when and where they want it.

Specifically, ROTV will feature stories with staff members from RVE, which may be edited for television, while RV Enthusiast magazine subscribers will also be able to visit rventhusiast.com and read the full article after watching the video. In addition, RV Enthusiast will preview upcoming segments on its website, giving readers a “heads-up” as to ROTV content and air date.

As the popularity of the RV lifestyle continues to grow, RVers regularly seek information on how to repair and upgrade their RVs, but with a multitude of information sources available online — some accurate, some not — the credibility and experience of those sources is more important than ever. When combining the RV technical and editorial experience of the RVE staff with the RV and broadcast experience of the ROTV staff, viewers and readers will benefit from more than 200 years of practical RV knowledge.

RVers will start seeing this “cross platform” media package starting July 4th on Rollin’ On TV and in the September issue of RV Enthusiast magazine.

By the way, Rollin’ On TV is celebrating 11 years in 2021 and has a current household reach of more than 40 million homes on both cable and satellite TV networks, along with streaming outlets including ROKU, Amazon Fire, Vimeo and YouTube. ROTV has an average actual weekly viewing audience of more than 400,000 homes.

The Department of the Interior has designated 10 new national recreation trails in eight states, adding more than 160 miles to the National Trails System. The newly designated trails join a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails, which can be found in every U.S. state.

The new trails include:

• Apache Creek Greenway, Texas
• Bethel Spring Recreational Preserve Trail System, Alabama
• Chapman Mountain Recreational Preserve Trail System, Alabama
• Confluence Trail, Wyoming
• Crabtree Cove Trail, Missouri
• Farmdale Trail System, Illinois
• Green and Nolin Rivers Blueway, Kentucky
• Greenbrier River Trail, West Virginia
• Green Mountain Recreational Preserve Trail System, Alabama
• Piney Knob Trail System, North Carolina

The National Trails System, which includes national scenic, national historic and national recreation trails, offers an abundance of opportunities to experience the majestic landscapes of the country and build awareness of historic events that have shaped the nation. A database of recreation trails across the United States is maintained through American Trails, a national nonprofit organization working on behalf of all trail interests, including hiking, bicycling, mountain biking, horseback riding, water trails, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, trail motorcycling, ATVs, snowmobiling and four-wheeling.

Boondocking is far and away the most popular trend in RVing — and now, anyone looking for an off-grid adventure can do so while also embracing the quality of an Airstream coach. In June Airstream debuted its fully loaded and adventure-ready Interstate 24X.

The Class B adventure van blends Airstream luxury and innovation with off-grid functionality. Built on the same Mercedes-Benz chassis as its motorized Airstream cousins, the Interstate 24X features all-terrain tires and wheels, an advanced power system and a thoughtful 24-foot floor plan optimized for storage, hauling gear and bringing along extra people.

The interior centerpiece is surely the rear sleeping/living/storage area — a versatile, convertible space that seats up to six passengers. Rearrange the red-stitched, Simtex Marine-Grade Carbon Gray cushions and it’s said to quickly convert into the largest sleeping area in any Class B motorhome.

The Interstate 24X also features the Aluminum Aircraft L-Track Storage System on the walls, ceiling, and floor, allowing adventure enthusiasts an array of areas to hang, secure, tie-down and cinch their gear. Above the aisle, overhead storage compartments on either side allow quick access to necessities, while additional storage compartments beneath the rear bench provide yet more options for stowing supplies.

Other equipment upgrades include a pair of 100Ah deep-cycle lithium Battle Born batteries, 30-amp energy management system, 2,000-watt power inverter and 300-watt solar panels for the house batteries with an additional 100-watt panel for the chassis battery. For more details, visit airstream.com/touring-coaches/interstate-24x/.

Constant research and improvement to battery technology has given rise to a number of new vehicles of late, taking the concept of electric vehicles into delivery vans and even on-highway semi-tractor trailers. Still, the question persists: who will make the first electrified RV?

The answer, apparently, is London Electric Vehicle Company. The England-based builder recently issued a press release giving first impressions of its new e-Camper.

Based on VN5, LEVC’s new electric van, e-Camper has the same pure EV range of more than 60 miles with a total flexible range of 304 miles. The new LEVC e-Camper includes sleeping accommodation for four, an integrated electric kitchenette, pop-up roof (incorporating sleeping for two) and a central folding table. In addition, the campervan includes a second-row bench seat, which folds into the second double bed. The innovative e-Camper also boasts distinctive exterior design with styling cues inspired by LEVC’s TX electric taxi, a wide choice of paint colors, with colored bumpers and alloy wheels, to stand out from the conventional campervan crowd. First deliveries of e-Camper, with an indicative list price of $86,775, are expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2021.

File this under “Why doesn’t someone build that here?”

Europe is, like the United States, a hotbed of camping — but with narrower roads and fewer places to camp, the continent focuses on smaller motorized and towable RVs. Class A coaches, for example, are few and far between — and as for big fifth wheels, forgetaboutit.

What the Europeans do, however, is make some engineering marvels. Consider the Beauer 3X camper trailer which, as its name suggests, expands to three times its size when set up for the weekend. For travel, the Beauer 3X looks for all the world like a personal-sized RV — not unlike a large teardrop-style rig stateside — but at the touch of a button both sides telescope out using technology patented by the French builder. In about 60 seconds, the unit triples its size, from 43 to 129 square feet.

Made of polyester with heat and sound insulation, the trailer weighs in at just 2,095 pounds while including an adequately equipped kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living area. Options include a shower, TV, heating system, air conditioner and more. Of course, high technology doesn’t come cheaply: it costs the equivalent of about $35,500.

Leading RV supplier and distributor WAY — the company that pioneered the use of products including electric fireplaces and 12-volt DC refrigerators for the RV industry — broke ground in June on a massive 800,000-square-foot facility in Elkhart intended to combine the company’s operations under one roof.

Founded in 2009 by Wayne Kaylor and the late Jim Conway as Way Interglobal LLC, recently rebranded “WAY” has grown into a soup-to-nuts supplier to RV-industry OEMs with product offerings including kitchen appliances, griddles and grills, coolers, fireplaces, furniture, ceiling fans, lighting, televisions, entertainment systems, solar panels, power stations, levelers and jacks, tire carriers, sinks, showers, air conditioners, ducts and more.

In addition to two locations in China, WAY currently operates two facilities in Elkhart and two in Niles, Mich., for a current total of 400,000 square feet. The new facility, expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022, will double WAY’s existing capacity.

A record number of campers are flooding campgrounds across the country, making it hard to find the perfect available campsite. It may become a bit easier in places, however, courtesy of new technology from CampgroundViews.com that allows campers to virtually tour campgrounds, get real time availability information on the campsites and click to book the site they want.

The technology is integrated into the CampgroundViews.com search engine and currently includes 144 public campgrounds in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Nevada with several hundred more expected to become available this summer. The technology has the added benefit of reducing barriers to camping, spreading out demand to lesser-known locations and encouraging more people to enjoy the outdoors.

For more information, visit campgroundviews.com.

Those of you expecting (or, after looking for an available campsite, hoping) RV sales would taper off probably won’t want to read this. According to the RV Industry Association (RVIA), May wholesale shipments to dealers reached 49,241 — the best May wholesale shipment total on record and a whopping 75.9% increase compared to the 27,999 units shipped in May 2020, the first month back for the RV industry following large-scale shutdowns to combat the pandemic.

And we all know how 2020 turned out.

According to RVIA, the RV industry has set a new shipment record for each of the past seven months. And, while wholesale shipment reports do not reflect actual sales, many of the shipped units have already been presold by dealers.

News & Notes is compiled with the assistance of RVBusiness, the nation’s premier RV trade publication. For more information, visit rvbusiness.com.