Location, location, location. Real estate agents will tell you that is the key to selling a house. Apparently it is also the key to establishing the first RV Park within the city limits of Kalispell, Montana.
On Sept. 11, Andy Matthews received the approval of the Kalispell City Council to begin construction on the first phase of what Matthews refers to as an upscale RV Park. The site of Matthews’ business endeavor, Montana Basecamp RV Park, sits on 50 acres of land, accessed off a major highway (HWY 93) and within a few minutes from the downtown district.
“My wife Christy and I chose Kalispell because of our love for Glacier National Park,” Matthews said.
The National Park is located about 30 miles from Kalispell and draws 3.2 million people each year, with major highways to the park traversing through the city. The Matthews and their two daughters have been visiting the national park and spending time in Kalispell for about four years. Andy also attended college in the state, but at the University of Montana campus about 130 miles away.
“Kalispell is what we consider to be ‘Downtown Glacier National Park’. Kalispell has amazing breweries, restaurants and history,” Matthews said. “So many items are hand grown or made in Flathead Valley.”
Those are just some the reasons that Kalispell is enjoying an influx of visitors, confirmed Diane Medler, director of Discover Kalispell, the local Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It’s a long range plan to keep the Downtown core vibrant,” Medler said.
Efforts to make downtown more walkable and pedestrian friendly are underway, with plans to increase the number of biking and walking trails in the community with the removal of the railroad tracks in the downtown area. The downtown also boasts a mix of historic buildings which have been well maintained.
Medler said that 47 percent of visitors to Flathead County arrive by automobile, 17 percent come in an RV and the remainder arrive by air. The average age of visitors to the area is 55.
Lively streets of Downtown Kalispell. [Photo/Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development]
Outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, biking, snow skiing and other sports are some of the most popular activities that draw visitors to the area, Medler said. Flathead Lake is the largest fresh water lake in the state. Other tourists simply like to drive around and take in the scenery.
“We are in the center of everything,” Medler said. Having access to an RV park within city limits would be a huge benefit.
Travelers who come to the area in RVs will be able to park and stay right outside downtown Kalispell and still be in the center of the action that is waiting to be discovered.
Matthews is hoping that his campground will draw those RV travelers because of its design and because the downtown action is only 5 – 10 minutes away. “We think people are searching out great experiences that include food, culture, art, and local fare,” he speculates.
The Matthews have designed the campsites to be resort style or destination style. According to him, that means that the sites are large, measuring 35 feet wide and 110 feet deep, with land on all three sides.
“We will not have pull through sites,” Matthews said. “We feel that our location is the guest destination and we designed our Resort with that in mind. This design is traffic and children friendly,” he added.
The 50 acres was once a dairy farm established in 1913 and owned by the same family. Matthews purchased the land from the original owners.
When Montana State Alternate Highway 93 was constructed, the 50 acres was separated from the original plot and then further dissected by the Great Northern Bike Trail, which touches the Montana Basecamp site on three sides.
It will be along both sides of the Bike Trail that the Matthews will develop the first 62 RV sites in the first phase of development. Accessing this Bike Trail can take guests to downtown or to the shore of Flathead Lake. Medler said this same trail will also eventually access other trails, including the linear Rails to Trails project to be developed downtown.
“We have an opportunity to plant each and every tree across the 50 acres creating one of the nicest Resort Parks in North America,” Matthews said. “We understand that many guests have Glacier National Park on their Bucket List of Life. Our goal at Montana Basecamp is for their experience with us to equal what they had in mind.”
Matthews said the property he purchased was the second site he looked at in the area. For him and his wife Christy, the owners of Montana Basecamp, access to city water and sewer made this location ideal for their business plan.
Gaining city approval was a multi-step process for Matthews. A zoning change was needed to designate the property as commercial, and water and sewer lines have to be installed to the park.
Neighbors’ concerns about increased traffic to the park were managed by locating the primary access to the campground off an arm of a round bout on MT Alternate 93 located on the property’s northern border.
“The giant roundabout in front of Montana Basecamp is absolutely designed for massive logging trucks, trailers and huge amounts of traffic to go around those circles,” Matthews told city council members on Sept. 11.
The project is in engineering right now, Matthews said. Construction will start this October and Montana Basecamp is expected to open in June of 2019 with 62 available sites. It will be open from June through October.
“We will expand as we fill up each season,” he explained.
Future plans include up to 330 spaces on 24 acres, a swimming pool and lodge.
“We are working with local businesses to collaborate on tourism,” Matthews said. “Montana Basecamp hopes to be a connector business, meaning we will be the front desk for Kalispell as ‘Kalispell’s Concierge’, and we will connect thousands of guests per summer to the best Kalispell and Flathead Valley has to offer.”