Building New Campground. Opinions Welcome!

[Packbacker]

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 35 acres but are now looking at building on our own property. Our property is 12 minutes from the interstate. It is located on 500 acres of beautiful longleaf pine with unique sandhills topography and river access. We plan to offer typical park amenities such as pool, playground, splash pad, bath houses, etc. We also have miles of walking/bicycle trails, access to the slow, tranquil river and cabins rentals. Our main question we'd like opinions on is whether this type of park would be more attractive to campers versus a park right off the interstate and would the 12 minute drive be a turnoff? Also worth noting that the 12 minute drive is a 4 lane highway that is 55mph the entire ride.

[westernrvparkow]

If nothing else, I hope this thread has enlightened the OP to one of the first rules of business: "If you try to please everyone, you will end up pleasing no one."
To be successful, the OP needs to have a solid business plan. They need to do market research to determine what will most likely work in their trade area. And that market research needs to be much more professional then just asking an RV internet forum what they want in an RV park. (hint: everyone wants much more for much less money). They need to be aware of the competition and prepare for the fact the competition will react to their park. They need to have a solid budget and be sure all their ducks are in a row BEFORE they begin construction. They need to plan for unforeseen expenses in that budget. They need to realize that once the park is built, the battle is just beginning. Only in the movies do you build it and they will come. I wish them luck.

[Big_Katuna]

I dont know if they still require it but Lion Country KOA had a rule that the annual units had to move their unit out of the park once a year.

[CFerguson]

A lot of this has been said already, but fwiw here’s my thoughts:

I prefer away from the interstate for Quiet reasons. I prefer a park that’s a 15-30 minute drive off the main arteries. If it’s quiet, we often end up staying more than the one night we planned on. Be sure to have a sign at every turnoff and ideally just before every turnoff so it’s easy to get into the proper lane.

I also hate RR horns if you have one of those around.

Good wifi is a Must. If I read reviews and they say ‘spotty wifi’, I won’t even consider staying there.

Of course, lotsa room for each site and easy access for the site (no sharp turns or having to drive over a neighboring site to back a trailer in). this is more for noobs, but it’s important.

I like the idea of trying to keep similar types of campers together. Not by rig, but by old age/families/singles/etc. this could be a floating target as your demographics ebb and flow thru the seasons. Eg, the sites furtherest from the pool is your older/quieter preferring folks.

Make strict rules for long termers and ENFORCE them. If you don’t do that, you will get a reputation as a trashy park. I know long termers provide a steady cash flow, but try to keep them to a minimum- they tend to drive away ‘regular’ campers. I know we have pulled into a CG more than once and then just drove on because of all the long term ‘characters’ that were visible before we ever got out of the vehicle. Your long term tenants are a reflection of you.

Put on your website a good map showing the local gas/groceries/restaurants/etc. Also on the handout you give campers. Make it a scale map or note distances on it. A good aerial shot of your CG taken by a drone would make a nice side-by-side to a park map. Don’t pay professional prices- there’s bound to be a racing drone group near you and many of those folks have photo drones too.

Be clear to the point that a 6th grader can understand your pricing on your website. Post everything so there are no surprises.
Hire friendly front desk staff. That will get you a good review above all else. People will overlook lots of minor stuff if the staff is friendly and doing whatever they can to make your stay pleasant.

Stay after any potholes that form on site. Don’t do noisy maintenance until after 9 or 10am.

Make all sites as level as possible as if a monster motorhome was going to stay on it with a toad.

I really liked the food delivery to site post that one of the earlier posters mentioned. Gonna have to lok for that from now on.

Kinda out of the box ideas:

If you have the space, putting in a few disc golf holes in the woods would be fun for kids and adults alike. Low maintenance once theyre in too.

Some people like cornhole boards tho I cannot understand that at all. Should be a inexpensive option.


We wish you all the best in this venture. Be sure to post when you are up and running and if you are anywhere near us, we’ll come and stay a bit.

[ppine]

People are willing to pay for a quiet and private RV space. Many are too small. You can get premium prices for water frontage. I don't stay in RV parks much, but a nice one is pretty great. We just signed up for a group trip over in the CA foothills near wineries. They charge $150 for two nights. I am curious to see what that feels like. There is a growing market for "nice RV parks. " Many people are willing to spend a little more.

[Big_Katuna]

We owned a beachfront vacation motel in FL for ten years.

There is an saying in the motel business:

“It’s easy to make a small fortune in the motel business, just start with a large fortune.”

[Busskipper]

agesilaus wrote:
Well I cannot say I ever ran sewer lines professionally but I did go to college and studied environmental engineering. The national plumbing code specifies 1/4 to 3 inch drops per foot:

Balkin Plumbing

However North Carolina seems to specify a shallower slope: NC Code or the use of Mannings formula. That is a minimum 6 inch line tho.

Florida code goes into more detail: FL Code and uses the 1/4 inch per foot for 2.5 inch line. I went to school in Florida.

And he is right, you will get inspected for a water system frequently. They will at a minimum check chlorine levels and maybe once a year run more complete tests for fecal coliform bacteria and other items.

Let me point out that the intensity of oversight by the regulatory agencies varies from state to state. From paranoid (Florida) to eh in some other states. I have no idea where NC falls.

Jim,

I was not calling you out as Plumbers and Main Lines are totally different in the specifications used and the methods used, but the .5 percent is what is normally used across the country for 8" mains, we have laid larger mains at much less as water will run downhill even if the hill is almost flat.:) Just try to Imagine How Deep the lines would be if the Slope/fall has anything near 2 percent vs .5 or less? Plumbers use a level with A 1/4 bubble fall which usually works out to something around 2+ percent of fall, and that is fine for short runs with 4" pipe.

Can you imagine how deep the lines would need to be if the street was say a mile long, using the plumbers specs that you are referring to? Every foot deeper in the ground cost $$ lots of $$$$ so the sewer lines are usually designed to stay as shallow as possible so the developer and the repair crews, later do not go broke getting to the pipe.

Again not trying to be a PITA - as often Google sends you to the wrong page for information.

The next thing the owner would need to understand is the Advantages of an Aerobic Vs. Anaerobic Septic System - IMHO for a campsite he would be best served with an Aerobic system - while requiring an air pump it will likely need little other maintenance over the life of the Park.

One more thing to keep in mind is the way the systems are laid out - while trees may be the Campers friend they are in the way of the sewer and water and working around them will cost $$ lots of $$$$$$$, so the owner needs to keep that in Mind.

I could go on and on but........the biggest question for the OP is Budget and Mission - both are critical as none of this is cheap - if you do a lot of the work, yourself (possible but not likely) it still requires significant resources. (Ask IvyLog, as he has done this successfully and could contribute much to the OP)

Sorry for the long lecture, but his needs to be well thought out, as it is an expensive exercise, with a very LOW ROI.

JMHO,

[Matt_Colie]

I do have something to offer, but there is little chance of our ever being a guest there.

Before you get too far along, contact FMCA. They were putting together a program to assist new campground owners. I have lost track of what transpired, but they may be of some assistance.

In any case, I wish you luck.

Matt

[Packbacker]

Sites are to be 85ft long 40ft wide. Plus 10x15 concrete patio in site.

[mdcamping]

I don't see a problem with driving 12 or so minutes off the interstate, but as mentioned maybe some folks might.

From a customer standpoint and generally speaking, I have noticed the RV parks that do very well for business and that are father away from main attractions seem to offer more as far a amenities, things to do at the park, campsite locations are more planned out and a higher level of overall maintenance and customer service. Further more, and imo you will attract more experienced rvers/campers that look for what you offer. This will lead to less problems with enforcement of your park policies and security. (as I mentioned earlier)

Mike

[ken56]

One of my pet peeves is seeing an Rpod in a site meant for a big rig. Manage your site assignments accordingly. Been in some CG's where there were plenty of shorter depth sites for the small pop-ups and they take a deeper site leaving me where I could barely fit into a shallower site. I know their money is green too. Older campgrounds were not intended to accomodate the size rigs of today. Big 5th wheels and toy haulers are becoming the norm and room to manuver is essential.


You might want to consider a seperate tent area with maybe electric available. I would much prefer to drive 10 to 15 miles away from an interstate for a nicer CG. It could even prompt me to stay a few days.

[rexlion]

I like plenty of green space between sites for a feeling of privacy and 'being out in the woods'.

[TxGearhead]

I think it's all about the money. How much will it cost? What percent occupancy will you need to break even? What are non variable costs...taxes, insurance, etc.
I'm thinking hire a good stockbroker and sit in someone elses RV park is a better idea.

[1320Fastback]

We just stayed at a KOA that had smoked BBQ being cooked to order all day long and into the evening. We just called the front desk, put our order in which simply got added to our bill for the RV and they brought us our food on a golf cart which they also use to guide you to your spot.

If your handy in the kitchen or behind the grill consider that for extra $$$.

[westernrvparkow]

Apparently there are other RV parks in the area. That means competition for the visitors to the area. The amenities you mentioned (restaurants, minor league baseball, etc) will not draw many RVers. You are going to have to steal guests from the other parks. 10 miles out of the way is a big deal to many. The interstate location is better for quickly building business. The other location may work if you are building a Yogi Bear park or similar amenity rich property. It sounds like what you are proposing is going to be a multi-million dollar investment. You might be well served to hire a professional campground consultant who can do traffic studies, market analysis and the like to determine if it is actually a viable plan.

[mdcamping]

Don't underestimate enforcing your policies and security, you don't want your campground to get a reputation. 🙂

Mike