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]

We are in areas with minimal to no over the air Television. We still find cable to be a must. There are no customers that will choose not to stay because you have cable, but there will likely be many that choose to stay elsewhere because you don't have cable, especially in an area where there are limited over the air signals.
As for internet, it is nearly impossible for a park to provide internet capable of handling streaming of dozens to hundreds of HD videos. You will want to get the best internet system you can find and afford, but my experience tells me that unless you have an incredibly robust backbone system available at your park, you are going to have limitations within you system.

[agesilaus]

Cable is a minimal interest to me, but then I don't or rarely watch the tube. However my wife would feel differently. However it would probably be more cost efficient to run the cable system wiring at the same time as the rest of the utilities. The actual wiring isn't all that pricey and you could decide when to hook it up to a cable system once you have been running for awhile.

[Packbacker]

Thanks to everyone for your input so far. We are good to go on zoning, water and septic and are in the process of moving forward. Regarding the land closer to the interstate, we found out a few months back that there wasn't enough sewer capacity left at the property to support the park and upgrading the system was a dealbreaker for us which is what prompted us to look at some of our own property. While we realize the type of park we're proposing would be looked at as more a "destination" park, we still feel like we can catch our fair share of overnighters due to the relatively short drive from the interstate. From our feasabilty study to campers we've personally spoken with and input from forums like this, it sounds like that would be the case.


With that being said, I have another question to all of you regarding cable. Being that this is a new park from the ground up, do many of you still see a need for cable or would excellent Wifi be sufficient for todays camper? Lots of people we spoken with personally feel like cable is becoming a thing of the past and along with Wifi we have excellent local antenna channels in the area.

[2012Coleman]

Packbacker wrote:
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.

Sounds like an awesome CG to me. To answer your question without telling you what slope to run your sewer lines, I'd be a customer. 12 minutes off the highway is not a big deal - actually a lot better to be tucked away. It sounds like some of the parks I like to go to - your not trying to be a destination type CG like KOA, but you have stuff to do. Love to have trails to hike, the pool is a plus. If you have the cash and space, put put golf is something we enjoyed at a Georgia state park we recently stayed at. Having stuff to do, and access to groceries close by is a big plus. I would not stay at someplace right off the interstate unless I'm just stopping for the night. And even so, 12 minutes is not a deal killer. Hopefully I'll find you in my travels.

[mike_brez]

You couldent offend me if you tried. yep we are the cheapest :B

[westernrvparkow]

mike brez wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better :R

You say you were in the motel business. Were you the lowest cost provider in your area? If not, why? I know if I am traveling, I don't ever consider staying in the $29.00 a night no name motel when the Best Western is pushing $125.00. The low price place might be great, but I figure I am going to get what I pay for.

I didn't say I was in it I'm still in for a few weeks. 😛
If spending $96.00 more makes you feel better go for it.

I will watch my grammar in the future. I should have said "you say you are in the motel business". My deepest apologies if I offended you.
I don't want get into a battle of how many dollars extra someone should/will spend on lodging. It might be $96.00, it might be $50.00, it might be $25.00, but if you are in the industry, you know that the lowest priced rooms do not always sell out first.
You didn't answer my question. Are you the absolute low cost provider in your market? If not, why?

[mike_brez]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better :R

You say you were in the motel business. Were you the lowest cost provider in your area? If not, why? I know if I am traveling, I don't ever consider staying in the $29.00 a night no name motel when the Best Western is pushing $125.00. The low price place might be great, but I figure I am going to get what I pay for.

I didn't say I was in it I'm still in for a few weeks. 😛
If spending $96.00 more makes you feel better go for it.

[agesilaus]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

mike brez wrote:
Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better :R

You say you were in the motel business. Were you the lowest cost provider in your area? If not, why? I know if I am traveling, I don't ever consider staying in the $29.00 a night no name motel when the Best Western is pushing $125.00. The low price place might be great, but I figure I am going to get what I pay for.

Not hardly when we are traveling meaning looking for a bed to sleep in the cheaper place is fine if it looks clean and secure. After all we are going to sit up for a couple hours, the wife watches the tube and I read. What do you get for the extra hundred bucks that isn't covered there?

[westernrvparkow]

mike brez wrote:
Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better :R

You say you were in the motel business. Were you the lowest cost provider in your area? If not, why? I know if I am traveling, I don't ever consider staying in the $29.00 a night no name motel when the Best Western is pushing $125.00. The low price place might be great, but I figure I am going to get what I pay for.

[mike_brez]

Big Katuna wrote:
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.”

I'm going on 20 years in the motel biz. March 31 is my last day.

[mike_brez]

Just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better :R

[westernrvparkow]

henleyd wrote:
We go the xtra mile for a safe, secure, clean place rather than easier access that has “ residents”. Clean, decent space between sites, greenery, reasonable price, (under $40) and good security. Ex; quiet time after 10 or so. Easy hookups. Put the dang water spigot up a little higher. Lots of older travelers have hard time hook in up low spigots. Free beer! That’ll put em to sleep by 9.

Unfortunately, Safe secure and clean cannot be guaranteed by either advertisement or location. Same with greenery, easy hookups and most everything else. That is why I suggested either the interstate location for easily conveyed convenience, or building an amenity rich park further away, since amenities can be advertised. Free beer would work great to get them in, but might end up being more curses than blessings. And I never want to be the low cost provider. Lowest price implies low quality and the low cost customer tends to be low cost on everything which puts a crimp into the other profit centers in the park.

[Piddlers]

henleyd wrote:
We go the xtra mile for a safe, secure, clean place rather than easier access that has “ residents”. Clean, decent space between sites, greenery, reasonable price, (under $40) and good security. Ex; quiet time after 10 or so. Easy hookups. Put the dang water spigot up a little higher. Lots of older travelers have hard time hook in up low spigots. Free beer! That’ll put em to sleep by 9.

X10!!!!!

[#15]

We go the xtra mile for a safe, secure, clean place rather than easier access that has “ residents”. Clean, decent space between sites, greenery, reasonable price, (under $40) and good security. Ex; quiet time after 10 or so. Easy hookups. Put the dang water spigot up a little higher. Lots of older travelers have hard time hook in up low spigots. Free beer! That’ll put em to sleep by 9.

[agesilaus]

How true. You need to first make a decision: your clientele will be transients mainly for one night but maybe spending a couple of nights. Or you are looking for folks who will spend more time in your campground.

In the first case I would aim for simplicity, minimal frills, clean restrooms, easy in and out. A dog walk/park where the dogs can be let off their leads to run around. High quality WIFI and power to the sites. The Basics, maybe a laundromat.

For the resort bunch you add frills, a swimming pool, mini golf and so on. I recall that number one attraction for my sons was a fishing pond even with catch and release. Nothing fancy just a hole in the ground with water and fish.

Your description of the lot sizes was excessive in my opinion especially for the over night crew. Land will equal money and if this takes off you'll want to expand the number of sites. Keep the lots just big enough to avoid crowding with the neighbor but not so wide it costs you money. I'd go to some local cg with a tape measure and see how wide their lots are. Of course if they find out you will be competing with them their response maybe unfriendly. Tell them you are from Virginia....heh.

Let me point out one thing you probably have not considered: distance from the WIFI router decreases the signal quality. Giant lots mean that you'll be putting more WIFI repeaters to maintain signal strength.