Campgrounds offering more play for guests
More campgrounds are luring families to stay with organized activities for kids
I received an interesting news release the other day about campground trends.
One trend is the increase in organized activities at campgrounds to entice more guests.
“People still travel long distances, but most people are taking shorter trips, closer to home, and private campgrounds have found that if they give people enough things to do, they will stay for several days,” said Jeff Crider, of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
As a result, private campgrounds are adding more and more activities.
In addition to the usual stuff like offering canoe and kayak rentals, many lakefront campgrounds now have inflatable floating trampolines as well as floating and land-based water slides, Crider said.
Others offer guided nature walks, horseback riding, ropes courses and ziplines ranging from 300 to 800 feet, he said.
Activities can range from zany cardboard boat races to family Olympic games, scavenger hunts, outdoor cooking competitions and presentations by psychics, magicians, caricature artists and visiting insect and reptile specialists.
One park even offers hot air balloon rides while others offer wine tasting events and children’s classes in Yoga.
An example in Oklahoma of such marketing is the Jellystone Park Camp at Lake Eufaula.
Among the activities the campground has planned for guests this summer include a root beer drinking contest for kids and a “Death by Chocolate” weekend.
Find out more about Jellystone at http://www.jellystoneok.com/calendar.html.
Also, the KOA campground in Checotah has a barnyard zoo on site and a catch and release fishing pond with boat rentals.
And those are just two examples. If you know about other campgrounds in the area that are offering special activities this summer, send me an email at egodfrey@opubco.com and I will share them with readers in my blog.
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hey ed, thank you about the checotah koa camp ground, iam taking my nephews and nieces fishing there from okc, when school is out how much for kids or tennagers please, they will love this….