Building New Campground. Opinions Welcome!
My family is working on building a new campground from scratch and we would like to get some opinions from campers or campground owners. We considered building right off a major interstate on about 3...
Forum Discussion
There are some good opinions here and discussion here.
I assume you're doing this already, but please pay good attention to what the development would cost and what the return on investment might look like and whether you could survive charging what the going rate is in your area. I would imagine that talking with other existing campground owners in the general region could be very helpful. I'm thinking of questions such as what utilities are available at each location, and whether it could support a campground. Is the electric grid sufficient for n 50A sites? Is there city water and/or sewer with sufficient capacity? If no sewer or water, how much would it cost to put in a sufficient, approved well and septic or other sewage treatment system? Does zoning permit a campground, or how hard is it to get a variance for one? What sorts of hoops do you need to jump through for the state environmental protection agencies? What are labor rates like for employees to run the campground (assuming you will need at least some help)? Do you have the capital available to build what needs to be built?
I certainly don't want to discourage the development of campgrounds, but there is a whole lot more to it than just putting some numbers on stakes and building a bathhouse. Occasionally it's easy to dream about making one without realizing some of the difficulties and expenses that go with it. I'm sure I don't know even half of the challenges (nor, for that matter, some of the upsides).
I assume you're doing this already, but please pay good attention to what the development would cost and what the return on investment might look like and whether you could survive charging what the going rate is in your area. I would imagine that talking with other existing campground owners in the general region could be very helpful. I'm thinking of questions such as what utilities are available at each location, and whether it could support a campground. Is the electric grid sufficient for n 50A sites? Is there city water and/or sewer with sufficient capacity? If no sewer or water, how much would it cost to put in a sufficient, approved well and septic or other sewage treatment system? Does zoning permit a campground, or how hard is it to get a variance for one? What sorts of hoops do you need to jump through for the state environmental protection agencies? What are labor rates like for employees to run the campground (assuming you will need at least some help)? Do you have the capital available to build what needs to be built?
I certainly don't want to discourage the development of campgrounds, but there is a whole lot more to it than just putting some numbers on stakes and building a bathhouse. Occasionally it's easy to dream about making one without realizing some of the difficulties and expenses that go with it. I'm sure I don't know even half of the challenges (nor, for that matter, some of the upsides).
