Making money with a Campground?

We are actually in the Parkland area of Missouri. We are withing 30 minutes of Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, Elephant Rocks State Park, and 2 other state parks. About 15 minutes away from whitewater rafting. Big recreation area, that's why I thought about the campground. Because I know the state parks are not real primitive and private. I am not expecting to start something big, no RV's or motor homes, just tents maybe small campers (self contained). Just a few campsites. I lived in campgrounds for about 2 years so I've seen a lot from California to Missouri. I know that a lot of them is not what I consider camping. I appreciate all the ideas and suggestions.

I just like the idea of being near my children. I thought that was the one of the reasons of having a homestead. I don't want a big business, just looking for a way to make a little extra money. I love being outdoors and so do my children. I feel I am much more accessible to my children at home than if I worked and took them to a sitter or daycare. So I have to disagree with the geography point.

What is camping like around your area now? Are you near an interstate? Whats your market instate folks or travelers. If your going for the instate weekend folks then one type of park will work, if yoru going for the travler then you need every feature you can afford to meet there needs, Electrical, cable tv, wifi, nice big drive in (no backups) pads. Lots of room for grampa to drive around the campsite.

Your biggest obstical will be sanitation. Can you support a parks sanitation needs based on your local heath services requirements?

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Gary in Central Ohio

When I was a kid growing up in Montana we had a 7 acre place and operated a campground. I was young and wasn't invloved in the money management but it was a neat place to grow up. Most of the campers would roll in off of the highway and set up for one night and the next morning be on there way to Glacier Park or wherever they were going. When we first moved there it was mostly tent camping or self contained travel trailers. Eventually we built a shower house and had some electrical hookups. There was a fair amount of work keeping everything mowed, keeping those old wooden picnic tables up and someone had to be there all of the time. We kept some horses and would take the tourists for rides or the smaller youngsters could go round and round on a shetland pony. We turned a porch of the house into a small store and people could pick up a few supplies or some of my mom's home made bread and cinnamon rolls. Nothing big. This was in the 1960's when people weren't sue crazy and liability didn't seem like such a huge issue as it has become.
We also had a huge garden and sold produce, had a milk cow and a calf going most of the time and some chickens. We were homesteading back then and even then my Dad had a job in town working a night shift.
It was a great way to grow up and I have lots of good memories of that place.

yes, its a good chance, in fact if you do two things youll have tons of campers, one , build paddocks/coralls, and allow horses,
2 build a concrete block building with sectioned off , like regulat storage building, but only compartments 3x3x7 ft with locking steel doors ( for deer hunters to cool/hang deer) charge extra for rentals on either of those two ,
then get to know the local park ranger, REALLY well, so they will help you out ,
personally, i wouldnt get set up for RV's , too expensive, with tipping stations, electricity , etc ....

then build a BIG! septic, then check your well volume , figure 30-50 gallons a day per person.. if your well cant provide it , you need a new well...

set up 10 campsites . i think thats a pretty good break even number 10 sites at 10.00 night, + 10.00 for either horse or locker ( tell hunters, they have to book lockers in advance, and only 1 deer per locker )

it might work ,
going for you in this case is missouri weather , so you have a 8 month camping season , even if youre only at cap 10 days of the month , you could make about 32K, less trash and other expenses , you could clear, about say half that .... not a bad idea if you can swing it

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Good timber does not grow with ease,
the stronger the wind the stronger the trees.

Just thought I'd pop in again...About the insurance. Small business insurance might be better than adding something onto your home insurance. For our wedding, we had to carry insurance on the hall and in case of injury. For 1 day of coverage (actually about 5 hours that people were there), it was about $175 for 2 million in coverage, 1 million per incident. It covered fire, earthquakes, slip and falls, and even covered us if some idiot left the party drunk and got into an accident. I do know that business liability insurance is less expensive. Maybe you could call around in your area and ask campground owners what company they're insured through.

We like to go camping just outside of Petaluma, CA at Dillon Beach. The last time I was there it was something like $14 or $16 a night, per car. It was extra for dogs, motor homes, boats, etc. The place is PACKED year round, even during the early summer months when it is so cold and windy that you can't even get out to go fishing. The rent out small plots of land for mobile homes, and the waiting list is about 20 years long. Mobile home owners are the biggest customers, and many stay for a long stretch at a time. The campground provides potable water, crude but working bathrooms, firepits, and also has a small store that sells firewood, crab traps, baits, snacks, etc. The land does double duty, though. The family that runs the campground also raises cattle, and lets the cattle roam through the campground. We've never had a problem, but one did make off with a bag of marshmallows one time.

Before you do anything get a good handle on any and all ZONING issues.
Your property is probably zoned agricultural or single family residential. Doing anything on improperly zoned property will drain your financial resources quickly as well as create ill will with neighbors & governmental units.
We have had these issues recently in our county from the same type of scenario.