Kansas campgrounds: Public vs. Private?
America's Heartland Sees A Distinction Between Public & Private Campgrounds, But There's No Question Of Their Dedication To Satisfy Customers
Campers looking for a place to stay have no shortage of options when traveling through Kansas. The state boasts 26 state parks, as well as a private campground association that has 25 members. While there are many parks and campgrounds throughout the state, not all are operated the same, nor do they cater to the same clientele.
“The Kansas Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds was formed in 1973 by campground owners for campground owners. The mission is to be of assistance to campground owners, to bring them together to network with one another to learn about trends in the industry, new demands of the campers, and to help problem solve how we can help each other over time. It has evolved to be an educational platform. At the moment Kansas is a small group, we have twenty-five members and they are from around the state”, explained Mary Arlington executive director of the Kansas Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
The Kansas State Parks Division is a part of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. “The departments merged in 1987 when they put the Park and Resource Authority in with Fish and Game. We have 26 state parks pushing on 7 million visits per year. We have about 32,000 acres of land and oversee 500 miles of trails, 10,000 campsites, and access to 130,000 acres of water. Most of our areas are on a body of water or a reservoir and that makes it appealing to our customer base as they can boat, fish, and camp”, stated Linda Lanterman, Director of Kansas State Parks Division.
“Our typical visitor has changed over the years”, explained Director Lanterman. “The typical person that would come would be a tent camper with minimal means to enjoy our park in a family environment and camp and fish. It has changed so dramatically, we have a large diversity of groups that will come out now and spend the day. Some camp, some don’t. We are starting to get a lot of millennials coming out and they’ll bring their bicycles and they will want to hike our trails, they’ll do short stays for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with their families and spend the weekend in the parks. We have also put in cabins and those cabins have brought users that we wouldn’t expect. Its brought a different clientele, it’s a nice option for those that don’t want to buy an RV, but don’t want to rough it either. As we make our campsites larger and more ADA accessible, we are getting more large RVs and those individuals do come in and stay extended periods of time. We really do have an oasis out there, it’s quiet. They can find solitude and have access to multiple different recreational opportunities.
“The big draw for our visitors is that we are one of the windiest reservoirs in the lower 48 so sailing is a big deal at our park. We also have some natural sandy beaches that you don’t find elsewhere”, claims Mike Satterlee Manager of Clinton State Park. “We have a range of visitors from camping groups that come out with RV clubs all the way down to your family that is just getting started in the camping world sleeping in tents. The majority of our campers are Kansans, we have a big draw from Hutchison and Wichita. We have a lot of families that come out and use our park”, stated Mr. Satterlee.
“We get traffic from people traveling down Interstate 70 but also a lot of people from the city of Lawrence and the Kansas City area. The best thing about Clinton state park is location really. We have 7,000 plus acre lake and boating, fishing, and kayaking has become really popular. We are located on the west edge of Lawrence which makes it convenient for people to be able to run into town and have the luxury of being right next to a city where there’s a lot going on”, claimed Nick Birdsong Manager of Cheney State Park.
When asked about the typical visitor to KARVC campgrounds Ms. Arlington stated, “I would say there’s the overnighter, who is truly looking for a place to get off the road and close their eyes, there’s the long stay worker, the one who lives in the RV and travels around based on their job, then you have the family vacationers. The atmosphere at any campground will change drastically from one season to the other. The climate is very different. If you have a campground that in the summer caters to activities for families, you may not find that same atmosphere in mid-September, it may be more empty nesters seeing the historical sites. I used to say, my campgrounds have different atmosphere every two months”
While Kansas State Parks maintain a fairly consistent theme, the range in private campgrounds is not difficult to identify. Two campgrounds with varying clientele include the Capital City KOA in Topeka and the Air Capital RV Park in Wichita.
“Our park is fairly new, it’s one of the few that has all concrete pads, it’s a very upscale park. We do have vacationers, but Wichita in general is not a destination city, there’s not a big water park or theme park in this area. Most of our visitors are travelers, not local Kansans. We cater to a different clientele. The state parks are the folks who are there for the campers, boaters, fishermen and that kind of thing and we don’t cater to that group at all. We are more about catering to the travelers and those working here. Wichita is the hub of contract employees for the aircraft industry as well as other industries so we stay about 60 percent full with those that stay a month to a year, the balance of the people are travelers”, said Frank Pegg owner of Air Capital RV Park.
“Our campground offers a saltwater pool, three fishing ponds, a playground, hiking trail, game room, exercise facility, and different events through the year. The fascination with the salt water pool is a draw, and our main building is a turn of the century old rustic barn that draws some people interested in mid-West history. We have a good mix of visitors. In the last couple of years, we have seen more locals coming in to camp with us. We start early in the spring with traffic from Australia and Germany, but in the summer months, the foreign traffic tends to die down. We get people from all over the country and all different ages. Being a KOA there’s an expectation that we’ll have the KOA standards; they are committed to family camping and having good clean facilities. I don’t see state parks as competition, because they typically gear toward local families that want to come out for the weekend, they typically don’t offer all of the amenities that we do”, stated Charlie Reaser owner of Capital City KOA.
Regardless of the differences, the one thing all of the public and private parks and campgrounds have in common is a dedication to making satisfied customers. The variety in patrons dictates what methods each must use to accomplish this goal.
“The State Parks and the members of the KARVC strive to satisfy the needs of all of the RVers whose destination or pass-through is the state of Kansas. We have a lot of history, geography, geology, culture, and cuisine that many people simply aren’t aware of. I used to say as a campground owner, I needed the state to help me get the visitors to Kansas, and once they got to my place, it was my job to keep them there a couple more days”, said Ms. Arlington.
“We don’t have many challenges, the people that come here like it, they like the cleanliness of it and they have everything they need for the time they will be here”, stated Mr. Pegg.
“We try to have an affordable and reliable campground for folks to get off the road and stay anywhere from overnight to long term if necessary”, claimed Mr. Reaser.
“We put on tons of special events and if I were going to say what do we do that keeps us afloat, it’s special events. We are in the business of making memories, we are Memory Makers. That’s what my job is to figure out how can we have generation after generation continue to visit our state parks and buy the RV’s, jet skis, and boats from our suppliers in Kansas. My job is to make sure that my team knows we are in the business to make a safe environment for our constituents so they can make memories when they are there and not just memories, but good memories”, said Director Lanterman.
“We do some events every year. For the last two years we have done an off-road bicycle race, we host the Honey Badger 100 which is a 100-mile foot race, we host an OK Kids Day on our free entrance day where kids come in and we set up outdoor activities like a fishing clinic and archery clinic with a free lunch and t shirt”, said Mr. Setterlee.
“We have a big event coming up, our OK Kids Day, on August 12 which includes a fishing derby, an archery clinic, and an animal show. That’s one of our biggest events for the year for the kids. We’ve had triathlons, gravel grinder races that start and end in the park, trail races, there’s always something going on”, stated Mr. Birdsong.
Jared Langenegger
A graduate of New Mexico State University with B.S. in wildlife and fisheries science, Jared spent 15 years working in fisheries and parks management. He enjoys camping, fishing, hunting, painting, and wood working.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Capital City KOA is the largest and top rated campground in the Topeka area. All RV sites are full service with Free Cable TV and Wi-Fi internet access. No RV? No problem! We have large open tent sites, and three types of rental units.