When a campground is your livelihood, how it looks becomes important, much like the curb appeal of a home makes it more appealing. Although not one of the most glamorous of duties when managing a campground, maintenance is essential, those ‘in the know’ say.
It is so important that Kampgrounds of America teaches new campground owners about how to take care of their properties, said Michael Gast, with KOA Media Relations. In addition, four two-person teams are deployed from May to September to conduct quality assurance audits at KOA campgrounds in the United States and Canada.
Keith and Julie Dial take on that task for the Western states and provinces.
”Each team inspects 100 plus KOA campgrounds each season,” Keith Dial said. “We use a rigorous 600 point inspection system to ensure the highest standards across the brand.”
That inspection system includes “everything that people see,” Keith said. “It’s the condition of roads, picnic tables, fire pits, everything seen.”
While campground maintenance is a subject that campground owners take seriously, it is its impact on the guest experience that is the most important element, Julie Dial said.
“Imagine being in beautiful country setting, pulling into a campground and the first thing you see is an overflowing dumpster or dog droppings on your way to registration,” she said. “By the same token, even the cleanest facilities cannot overcome a pothole in the road or front door that needs paint. Something as simple as replacing a burned-out light bulb can be crucial. A safe environment is extremely important to campers and a clean well-maintained park just feels safer because campers feel that someone cares and is paying attention.”
Townsend-Great Smokies KOA Holiday campground is exemplary for well-kept facilities and grounds. [Photo/Kampgrounds of America, Inc.]
Routine maintenance is one way to keep problems repaired and in check. The National Park Service (NPS) operates almost 400 of their 450 campgrounds in the national park system. Many of these are in remote locations, which make repairs and improvements more difficult, expressed Jeffrey G. Olson, Public Information Officer with the National Park Service.
That’s why taking care of the campgrounds on a routine basis is important, he said.
These duties include “making sure campground roads, parking areas, camper pads are in good shape,” Olson said, “And the same for showers and trash bins.” Other duties include mowing and trimming greenery, removing hazardous trees, and keeping trails in adequate shape.
Randy and Cindy Harris are both former owners of campgrounds in northwestern Indiana and southern Illinois. Now retired, the couple spends several months of the year living and working out of their RV. With an insider’s eye, they can spot a well-maintained campground from one that is not being given the care it should.
The Harris’ said that in addition to routine maintenance, problems need to be addressed as they happen.
“You must fix anything as quick as possible,” Randy said. “Whether that’s a water pump on a holiday weekend, a major power outage during the busy season, or when a camper drives over water hookups.”
The Dials agree.
“Good campground maintenance is addressing the issues that come up every day to prevent owners from having to spend more time and money down the road,” the duo said.
“Each campground is like a little city; you have to look at it like you are the mayor of the city and still have to do the work,” she said.
According to the Dials, the best campgrounds they inspect have a hands-on approach to maintaining the grounds and look at the whole picture daily.
“The good ones inspect and repair as needed and as sites are vacated,” Julie said. “When the next camper comes up it looks like they are the first one to be at the site.”
Great Smoky Mountain National Park campground. [Photo/NPS]
Randy Harris said one challenge is for the campground manager to be able to set priorities on which repairs or routine maintenance take precedence. For example, if the grass needs to be mowed and the bathrooms need cleaning, putting either one of these tasks off is likely to draw complaints from guests. His advice is to tackle the bathrooms first and mow second.
It turns out that is a common dilemma. “Many campgrounds struggle with this. Often they do not know where to start so they simply don’t,” the Dials said. “This is especially true in campgrounds that are not well maintained, it can be overwhelming.
“We suggest starting at the beginning, which is the entrance and the front of the main building. Focus on what campers see first and touch first,” Keith explained. “You should walk through the same process your campers do when they arrive and go to their site.”
To be adept at campground maintenance, a Jack-of-all-trades is what’s needed, advises Randy and Cindy Harris. “A maintenance person at a campground should have some knowledge in light mechanical tasks, understand plumbing, be able to make electrical repairs, and operate various equipment,” Randy said.
There are other challenges, based on a number of factors, including how to fit work into a busy schedule and/or finding contractors to do the work, the Dials said. For example, some campgrounds are open all year, and it is a challenge to remodel a bathroom that must be open 365 days.
“Another challenge is finding contractors to do the work; there simply are not enough of them to go around,” Julie said. “This used to be more prevalent in the rural locations, but we see it everywhere now.”
The many campgrounds in some of America’s most scenic natural areas are challenged simply by their location, Olson notes.
National Park campgrounds often have long access roads and long travel distances from a park’s headquarters, and maintenance facilities and utilities positioned outside of the parks, Olson explained.
Flagstaff KOA is a "green" campground with full on-site recycling, water reclaiming for landscaping, wind turbines and its new "Environmental Impact Educational Park". [Photo/Kampgrounds of America, Inc.]
These distances increase costs of supplies, the costs of hauling trash and emptying dump stations. These costs are absorbed by visitors to the parks.
“Eighty percent of recreational fees collected in the park are reinvested where they are collected,” Olson explained. “Parks use revenues from fees for all kinds of projects, including deferred maintenance projects that improve visitor facilities like park roads, campgrounds, trails, and boardwalks.”
But cost is not only a factor in the maintenance of publicly owned campgrounds. Private campgrounds also feel the pinch. But reacting early may be the key to keeping costs down over the long-term, Keith Dial said.
“Campground maintenance is no different than maintenance on your home or vehicle. The concept ‘pay me now or pay me more later’ applies, and depending on the size of your park that can be the difference between thousands of dollars now or perhaps tens of thousands later,” Dial stresses. With a good regular maintenance program, large dollar remodels can often be postponed, and campgrounds can provide campers with a consistent standard rather than a declining one that often continues downhill until a remodel occurs.
And let’s not forget the people factor. Campers may not complain directly to the campground hosts if something is wrong, but many will complain before the campground manager can do something about the complaint, the Harris’ say.
At other campgrounds, picking up and cleaning up after careless guests is a pet peeve. “It helps,” commented the Dials. Meaning it makes a difference for a campground manager to be proactive in taking care of the grounds.
“There is a saying, ‘people respect what you inspect’,” Keith reiterates. “It does not matter whether it is the employees or the guests, if it looks like you don’t care, why should they? You can’t just expect someone to do a job to a high standard if the high standard does not already exist.”