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RED ALERT!
Your Favorite RV Park Has a New Owner. WHY DOES IT MATTER?
RV and campground real estate is pinging around the financial world like pawns on a chess board. Huge money is at stake. Mom and Pop campgrounds are being snapped up by large developers.
Demand for spaces is soaring. Inflation is roaring, raising the cost of everything from the park’s utility bills, taxes and staff salaries to the toilet paper in the bathrooms. New fees, tolls and taxes are coming at you from every direction. RV sales skyrocketed. Suddenly greenhorn RV-ers are viewed as an easy mark.
WHERE TO BE WARY
* SITE RATES will probably rise or change under the owners, perhaps in subtle ways that aren’t apparent at first. Read on.
* LOCAL MANAGEMENT DOESN’T MEAN LOCAL CONTROL over rules and rates. When rates and rules are determined by corporate headquarters miles away, local managers may have no say in whether Wi-Fi will no longer be free, or will RV pads will be reduced in favor of glamping sites, or will you pay a surcharge for pets, “resort fees” or more than two occupants per campsite?
* COST CUTTING measures are happening everywhere at all campgrounds. The swimming pool, fitness center and other amenities may be open some or all over the time for a fee to day guests. These facilities become crowded and you lose a sense of security and privacy. Membership campground clubs may open site rentals to outsiders, leaving fewer sites for members.
* LOYALTY POINTS. If you accumulated rewards or points under the former owners, will they be honored?
* TENANT RIGHTS. The saddest stories involve parks that are purchased by developers who plan to clear the land and build housing, mixed use. communities and sometimes high-rise condos worth billions. RV dwellers who considered the park their home for years are being evicted. You may no qualify to live here because your rig is too old.
* RESERVATIONS The new owners may use a different booking service. Gone are the days when you picked up the phone, called your old friend at the front desk in Greenfarm Acres and reserved Site A12 for two weeks next July. You may now be required to reserve online with a credit card .and pay a non-refundable reservation fee. Some parks have gone cashless; some take cash only. Some open the reservations window six months ahead; some a year ahead. The former owner reserved some sites for first-come-only guests. Is that still an option?
* SECURITY. As crime grows, so does a need for added security. Some parks now require a background check, especially for seasonal reservations. Does the park have on-site security? Is is 24/7? If there is trouble in the park is the area covered n by city, county, state or national law enforcement?
* AUTOMATION. The new, non-attended RV parks are a huge plus, especially for RV travelers who simply want safe parking and hookups for tonight. You reserve online and get a security code that activates the gate, hookups, shower house and laundry. If something doesn’t work, is there a panic number you can call 24/7?
Bottom Line: A Recreation Vehicle was built as a vehicle. You're free to move on, but your home on wheels is only as safe and comfortable as the parking place provided for it.
CAMPGROUNDS; GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
We troll local media for news of proposed campgrounds, new RV parks, closures and changes. News may be partial or tentative. We tip you off early so you can follow up as the story develops and grab reservations early.
Is your state or province listed here?
NEW OWNERS
The Santa Fe, New Mexico KOA is now a member of the Open Road Resorts family. To be added are more RV sites, a new bathhouse and laundry and communal areas such as afire pit and garden. (505) 466-1419.
Long a family camping favorite, Blue Haven Campground and Resort in Ellenburg Depot, N.Y., has a new owner. No changes have been announced at this time. (518) 594-3873
.Siuslaw Marina and RV Park, Florence, Oregon, has a new owner. Now managed by the port of Sinslaw, it has full-time staff and a list of soon-to-come upgrades. For now, long-term residents will be permitted to stay on.
Modern America Campgrounds announced its acquisition of the 220-site King Phillip’s Campground in Lake George, New York. It’s expected that 70 new sites will be added. The company offers the Freedom Trail Pass, giving campers access to all its member campgrounds.· (518) 668-5763
The former Cavendish KOA Holiday in Prince Edward Island, Canada will become a Jellystone Camp Resort. Also in Canada, look for the opening of the 6-acre L.A. Getaway Glamping Resort in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Plans are to add some RV sites to the glamping resort.
CLOSURES
In Port Townsend, Washington, Fort Worden State Park is closing its housing services but for now the campground remains open. The site became famous after it was used in the filming of “An Officer and A Gentleman”.starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
Throughout 2025 and 2026 closures will be off and on and here and there at the campgrounds, roads and other features in the 75-acre Keith J. Charters Traverse City Park, Michigan. Improvement projects totaling $8.5 million will be completed in phases, so check ahead before each visit.
NEW OR EXPANDING RV PARKS
The city park in Paden City, West Virginia is due for upgrades including a better parking area and shower house for the campground, which has 10 RV sites. Also to be added are riverfront beach swings, ball courts, shaded areas near the performance stage, a larger swimming pool and additional restrooms. As the third most forested state in the U.,S. West Virgin calls itself “almost heaven”.
A popular marina and seafood restaurant on the Escambia River in Pensacola, Florida plans to add a 28-site RV park with full hookups and a dog park. Bring your RV and your boat. Wet slips are available from $12/foot. As soon as approvals are obtained from the county, an opening date can be projected. It could be as early as this spring. Contact The Swamp House Marina, (850) 781-5036.
RV travelers can’t get enough of vibrant Nashville, Tennessee. The Nashville KOA Resort will merge with the Nashville RV Resort & Cabins and add 22 RV sites plus cabins and tent sites, Paw Pens, a pavilion, a café, a year-round heated pool with hot tub, shuttle service to music shows and meeting facilities for up to 200. Call (615) 889-0282.
In Eatonville, Washington, Nisqually State Park is opening in phases that will eventually include an RV campground, dump station, trails, a village center and interpretive exhibits honoring the Squally-Absch people. It’s currently a day use park . (www.) parks.wa.gov/
Just in time for trout season, Roaring River State Park, Missouri, has 30 brand new RV sites with full hookups.
Denali State Park, Alaska will get a campground. Details are still being worked out. Stay tuned for news of the future Denali RV Park Resort Campground. The campground will be on private land inside the park and will include a helipad.
In Bardstown, Kentucky, My Old Kentucky Home State Park will get a modernn makeover that will include eight new pull-through RV sites and a new bathhouse.
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