Autumn Camping

As summer gives way to autumn, most campers’ thoughts turn to thoughts of school starting, autumn campfires, and Halloween Weekends.  While you're enjoying those camping weekends, maybe it's time to think about next summer, and begin planning your family’s camping vacation time!       

Here are some reasons why we think Meadville KOA might be the right choice for your family! 

The Price is right!  When you compare our unlimited seasonal camping rates to overnight camping, the discount you get by being a seasonal camper is huge!  Most campgrounds provide similar services and activities, but ask about extras!  Some campgrounds provide all inclusive seasonal rates like we do, and some do not.  Make sure you know exactly what your expenses will be before you sign that Seasonal Camping Agreement!   When you do the math, you’ll find that the price is right!  Your RV is all set up and ready to camp, for about the same price as a weekend of camping!  

What’s included in the Seasonal Rate?

• We do the mowing!  That is a premium service.  Meadville KOA Campground is the only campground in NW PA that offers that at no additional charge.  What that means is no mower to buy, transport or store.  No gas to buy and transport, and no work!  You can spend more time having fun and less time working!  Even more importantly, it makes our park quiet.  There aren’t mowers running on Saturdays when you’re trying to relax and enjoy sleeping in. 
• Unlimited camping for 2 adults and 2 children, or a 3^rd adult.  Most campgrounds charge extra for extra adults. 
• Seasonal Campsites have water, sewer, refuse, and the electric is metered.  The water, sewer, and garbage services are included in your seasonal rate.  The electric (and we offer 30 and 50 amp) are metered, which means you only pay for what you use. 
• Wi-Fi and cable TV are included!  We provide Wi-Fi to all of our Seasonal campsites, and each campsite has 48 channels of Cable TV.  Channels include Disney, ESPN, Movie Channels, 5 local channels, The Weather Channel, and more!  They make camping on rainy weekends easier with, or without the kids or grand kids!
• Themed event weekend’s planned activities are included!  We even include children’s crafts and meals for the people listed on your seasonal camping agreement!  Where else do you get that?
• We have a reduced, pre-paid visitor’s program, and a reduced pre-paid extra camper program for your extended family members.  It’s affordable and allows your extended family to come enjoy the campground!
• We have a reduced cost fun band for the rental amenities!  It’s affordable and will keep your tweens and teens busy!
• The rate includes your on site winter storage of your RV!  (With your deposit and signed camping agreement for the following season.)
• We have an interest-free payment plan with a $75 Rebate if you pay in full by January 1!  That helps make it fit your family budget!

Right now is the perfect time to select a site!  Like most campgrounds, we have a few openings for next season this time of year.  So it’s the perfect time to shop for a campsite!  Don’t forget that we have a winter payment plan and we even include on site winter storage in the fees!  If you normally pay for a storage facility, that’ll save you even more money!   

Save more by getting an early bird discount!  You can save even more money by paying for your campsite early.  We provide that $75 rebate off the seasonal fee if you pay in full when you reserve your site this fall.  Or, you can save $50.00 if you pay it off in full by Jan 1!  Now there’s a savings!    

Store Your RV onsite all winter at no additional fee!  With your deposit for 2018, you get free, onsite winter storage.  Get set up on your site for camping next season, and then leave it there all winter!

Meet new people!  Seasonal campers are like a small community.  They become friends, hang out, play cards or yard games, have group campfires, their children become friends, play together, and much more!  Many volunteer to help with activities and events and bring lots of fun to their camping environment in a family-friendly way!  What a great way to meet new people and make new friends!  We hope you’ll consider joining our KOA family!      

We’re a family campground!  We run a campground that caters to families of all ages.  We are all about family fun!  We want your family to create a lifetime of memories from camping here!  That is our goal!  And we have 3^rd and now 4^th generations of campers camping here at Meadville KOA! 

We save you work!  Recreating is never work free.  But, you can save all the work of hooking up, unhooking, setting, up, tearing down, and towing expenses by camping seasonally.  You get a vacation home away from home, for about the price of one vacation! Now that’s a savings and it makes vacationing every weekend all season long even easier!  Vacation right into autumn and enjoy the fall foliage and autumn events and activities, and who doesn’t love sitting around a campfire?

Make the right choice!  Seasonal camping maximizes your summer vacation time and use of your RV while minimizing your expenses!  It can provide your family a summer full of fun, family oriented camping experiences for about the same price as one vacation!  Make sure you take a little time to consider that idea, and how it can help your family get the biggest bang for your buck next summer!  Then, we hope you’ll start looking at local campgrounds and thinking about becoming a seasonal camper!  It’s not too late to move onto a site this fall!  Campground owners are looking forward to talking with you and showing you all the fun events and activities we’re already planning for next summer! 

By Robyn Chilson


Tim & Robyn Chilson are both CPO, own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.

Enjoy Halloween In September!

At Meadville KOA, we do Halloween in September.  Generally, the weather is little better than in October, and we’re not competing with other campgrounds who do their Halloween Events on or near Halloween.

Halloween is a big deal.  Kids love trick or treating, parents love the creativity, and it’s just good, family fun!  If you’re looking for some family fun this fall, then come to Meadville KOA!  We have some great Halloween (and other autumn) event weekends in store for your family!  But you better reserve now, because the weekends are upon us!

The weekend, Sept. 16, we have Pumpkinfest Weekend! – This is a great weekend for tweens & teens!  We’ll have free crafts with the younger kids, and free pumpkin carving for teens, and then enjoy free pumpkin treats like pumpkin cake and ice cream!  Turn your campsite into a Haunted Campsite!  Big prizes (Free Camping) for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd Scariest with Best Pumpkin Theme!  Tweens & Teens, join us on our pumpkin scavenger hunt!  Find a magic pumpkin and bring it to the store before you leave for your prize!  (* 2 night min. at holiday rate.  Leave your RV for free if you’re coming back next weekend!)

The Next weekend, September 23 is Our Halloween Weekend!  We have costume contest (prizes for all ages), trick or treating, apple cider, donuts, after dark glowing wagon ride, and a Sunday morning free all you can eat pancake breakfast with the purchase of your campsite (for 2 adults and 2 children)! We have a campsite decorating contest!  Prizes for 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd Day & Night time!  Breakfast is just $3.00/person for visitor’s & extra camper’s!  (* 2 night min. at holiday rate.  Leave your RV for free if you’re coming back next weekend!)

September 30th is our Applefest Weekend!  (Save $5.00 per night this weekend!  Discount Code CD)  Or, Bring a friend who never camped at Meadville KOA before and you each get a night free, when you each buy one! Ask for Discount Code C1! Come join us and enjoy the flavors of the season!  We’ll have free crafts for kids, an apple dessert dish to pass social, and an afternoon wagon ride to enjoy the foliage!  This is Franklin Applefest(tm) Weekend!  (+ Leave your RV for free if you’re coming back next weekend!)

October 7 is our Customer Appreciation Weekend & Columbus Day Weekend!  (Save $10.00 per night on your campsite if you camped with us earlier this summer!  Discount Code CA)  Or, Bring a friend who never camped at Meadville KOA before and you each get a night free, when you each buy one!  Ask for Discount Code C1.  Adults & Children play Farkle (a dice game!)  Winners go home with a pocket Farkle game as the prize!  Then, we’re having a free pizza party after the Tournament!  The Fall Saegertown Steam and Gas Engine Show is this weekend!  (+ Leave your RV for free if you’re coming back next weekend!

October 14 is our Closing Weekend!  (Save $5.00 per night on your camp-site!)  Or, Bring a friend who never camped at Meadville KOA  before and you each get a night free, when you buy one!  Ask for discount code C1!  This is our last camping weekend for this season!  Please note that all amenities may not be functional this weekend!

If you don’t own an RV, don’t panic!  We have a camping cabin, kitchenette cottage cabin, and deluxe lake-front lodges to rent so your family doesn’t have to miss any of the fun!  And all of our autumn campsites and cabins (unless otherwise noted) are at our lower autumn rates!  Come enjoy some autumn camping with your family!

By Robyn Chilson
Tim & Robyn Chilson CPO, Own and Operate Meadville KOA Campground. You can contact her at 814-789-3251.

Our Featured Kamping Family for July 2017

We want to introduce you our featured kamping family for 2017! They are Michael and Sue McAndrews from Tonawanda, NY!   They stayed with us in July of this summer.  

They were kamping with us because they are on a mission to camp at as many KOA (Kampgrounds of America) Campgrounds as they can in one summer!

The McAndrews tell us that they have been to the Houghton/Letchworth KOA, Canandaigua KOA, Chautauqua Lake KOA, and Natural Bridge/Watertown KOA.  All of which and in the lovely state of New York.   We’re so glad they decided to wander a little south of the border and check us out! 

During our discussion, they also mentioned that the had camped out west in Utah’s three KOA's which were Cedar City KOA, Green River KOA, and Panguitch KOA without there RV.  They camped in their cabins!  These folks take this KOA kamping thing seriously, don’t they?

They were camping in a 2015 Whitewater Retro (lit looks like a 1950’s camper!) that they purchased from Colton RV in North Tonawanda, NY.  They were towing it with a small SUV.  They said it made it easy, affordable, and fun!     

Michael is a retired hardware store manager, where he had worked for 31 years.  Sue works at Trader Joes.  They just love to camp and RV at KOA Campgrounds!

We were the furthest KOA from their home base that they had travelled to!  We’re sure glad they decided to camp with us at Meadville KOA.  It gave us a chance to see their awesome Whitewater Retro RV and to meet a really nice couple who just love travelling and camping in their small RV!  They really put the kamper in KOA Kamper!  And of course, we took this opportunity to invite them to our vintage RV Rally next June!  

We hope that you’ll come see what’s behind the yellow sign at Meadville KOA this summer, bring the family and spend your vacation enjoying a campground where modern convenience meets nature! 

Until we see you, we wish you safe and happy kamping, where ever your travels take you!    

By Robyn Chilson

Tim & Robyn Chilson, CPOs, who own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA. Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251. 

Save BIG with KOA's Big Discount Weekends!

March is a great time of year to begin booking your later summer holidays and other summer camping.  Everyone loves a discount, and that is why you need to know about the KOA Value Kard Rewards Membership, and these special discount weekends offered at KOA Campgrounds.  They provide big savings for your family!

All campers are welcome at KOA campgrounds.  You do not have to be a KOA Value Kard Member to camp at a KOA campground.  If you do become a KOA Value Kard Rewards Member, it pays you back with big savings!  The more you camp at KOA Campgrounds, the more points you accumulate and the more discounts or free camping you’ll receive.  It’s a great customer loyalty discount program! 

First, for a yearly membership of just $30.00, you save 10% on every stay at any of the 500 KOA Campgrounds across the US and Canada. 

Secondly, you receive points for each stay, card renewal, special offers, and more.  Those points can later be redeemed for more discounts or free camping, as long as you maintain your membership (i.e. renew your membership each year prior to its expiration). 

Third, being a KOA member entitles you to these special discount weekends listed below, and the Hot Deals advertised on the KOA website for each individual KOA Campground.  You can get more information about KOA’s Value Kard Rewards Program at https://koa.com/value-kard-rewards/.  If you have any questions about the program that we can answer for you, please feel free to call us, and we’ll help you!

We hope you’ll join us for these three super savings weekends offered by KOA! 

May 12^th & 13^th is Care Camps Big Weekend!  All paying guests renting a campsite Friday May 12^th, receive Saturday May 13^th for just $10.00!  We dedicate this weekend to raising money for Care Camps across the United States to help send sick children to enjoy the healing nature of camp.  In 2016, thanks to the generosity of our wonderful campers and suppliers, KOA raised over $1,000,000 for this effort.  KOA covers all the administrative costs for the charity, which means, that every dollar of every donation you make, goes directly to sending a critically ill child to camp! 

This one weekend can save your family 40% on camping!  We hope you’ll donate to help us send a child to camp!  Your family saves big on your weekend of camping, and you’ll walk away feeling great about helping a sick child enjoy just being a kid at camp!  It truly redefines who they are, and as always, we thank you for your generosity.  Remember that if you purchase a KOA Value Kard, and camp just this weekend each season with KOA, you’ve saved more than the cost of your value kard, and still saved money!   

On Father’s Day Weekend, June 16^th & 17^th, kids camp free for all Value Kard Reward Members at all participating KOA Campgrounds.  If you have a large family or want to take the grandchildren camping for Father’s Day, this is the perfect weekend for you to go camping!  The campgrounds will have fun family events and activities planned to celebrate Father’s Day!  And of course, our rates include 2 adults and two children every weekend all summer long!  But bring along their friends, and introduce them to camping!  Not everyone’s kid is as lucky as yours to get experience camping!  And, your kids will love having a friend come along! 

Each year in September, KOA hosts a national Value Kard Reward Members Appreciation Weekend!  KOA wants to make sure you know how much we appreciate all of our great KOA Value Kard Reward Members!  All KOA Value Kard Members receive Saturday night at no charge when they purchase Friday night at all participating KOA Campgrounds.  This year, the national Value Card Weekend is September 15^th & 16^th at all participating KOA Campgrounds.  However, at Meadville KOA, we’re actually having ours the weekend prior on September 8^th & 9^th.  That gives our campers the opportunity to camp with us for one night free, and then to camp for one night free when they buy one, with another participating KOA on the weekend of the national campaign! 

No matter how you add it up, if you take advantage of just the Care Camps Big Weekend, or just the Value Kard Rewards Membership Appreciation Weekend, you’ll have more than paid for the cost of the KOA Value Rewards Kard Membership fee and already started saving money and collecting points.  You can get more information about KOA’s national events and which campgrounds are participating at http://koa.com/national-events/. 

If you don’t have an RV, but want to try camping, some KOA’s offer these discounts on cabin rentals.  It’s a great, low cost way to introduce your family to camping!  Check out the KOA deluxe cabins.  Most KOA Campgrounds now offer Cable TV in their deluxe cabins.  All KOA Campgrounds offer Wi-Fi.  KOA deluxe cabins will change your perception of camping, as they are a great, affordable, fun family vacation value.  

We hope that your summer camping plans include us at Meadville KOA Campground! We invite you to join us for Care Camp Weekend and to not only get a great discount for your family, but to help us change the lives of critically ill children. We sincerely thank you for your generosity.  

We also have other great discount offers!  Make sure you check out all the special discount offers we have for police, Fire fighters, and EMT’s, and our repeat camper’s discounts (within the same season) that will save you up to 20% on all future campouts this season!  And we have a very special cabin offer of buy 4 nights for the price of 3 for May!  You can find all of those discounts and more at: https://meadvillekoa.com/discounts-and-free-camping/

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!  We provide fun family camping info!  We share great camping recipes, hacks, tips, RVing maintenance tips, and much, much more!  And of course, we love to have you share your photos of camping at Meadville KOA Campground with us! 

We look forward to seeing you this summer!  Until we do, we always wish you safe and fun camping, wherever your travels take you!     

By Robyn Chilson

Tim & Robyn Chilson own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.

Thank you for kamping with us in 2016!

2016 has been a great summer! We met new campers and were visited by old friends, making 2016 another banner camping season!  Thank you for choosing Meadville KOA!   

We are so excited to have had Meadville KOA featured on Crawford County Outdoors!  If you missed seeing that video, please check it out at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Krzbt086qY!  We appreciate them coming to see us, and trying to capture the essence of what Meadville KOA is really all about!

We had some great fun this last season, and hope we got a chance to catch you and your family having fun!  You can check out some of those camping memories at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onoAty8QaXk.

As we’re planning our events and activities for the 2017 season, we want you to know that it is our plan to continue to make improvements to our events, facilities, amenities, and customer service at Meadville KOA Campground. 

We hope that you will bear with us while strive to make those changes, and that you will continue to provide us your input and assistance in making the changes that you, the camping consumer want.  We hope you’ll continue to do that through our KOA Guest Surveys.

Sadly, we fell just a few points short of achieving our Founder’s award for 2016.  So we’d like to ask you, especially if you’re a regular who camps with us multiple times a summer and loves our campground, to please remember to complete and submit your Camping Customer Survey to KOA each time you camp with us!  All you have to do is provide us an email address to do that.  KOA will automatically send you the survey, which has just two questions, and only takes a couple minutes of your time.  Your ratings and comments count and are important to us!  And, we thank you for your support and making Meadville KOA an award-winning KOA Campground!      

Your ratings in 2016 helped us to achieve the KOA President’s Award this year!  We thank you, our campers, for taking the time to tell us what we need to hear!  We sincerely thank you!  We’ll proudly accept that award at the 2016 KOA Convention this fall in Chattanooga, TN. 

We have some great fun in store for next season which you can find on our website at https://meadvillekoa.com/themed-weekends/.  We hope that when you’re spending time with friends and family over the holidays, that you’ll include some great fun family camping at Meadville KOA in your schedule for 2017!  We hope you’ll check out and join us for some new fun events like our “Free the Butterflies” KOA Care Camp Fundraiser for 2017 and some old favorites!  Don’t forget to book early to ensure you get your favorite campsite!   

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the winter RV Shows and then again next spring!  We hope you’ll stop by the booth to see us and say hello!  The RV Shows are a great opportunity to get out this winter, and start thinking about the summer season and camping!  
Until we see you again, we always wish you safe and happy kamping, where ever your travels take you!

See you soon!

Sincerely,
Tim & Robyn Chilson, Owners
Tim & Robyn Chilson are both CPO, own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.

169 Million Unused Vacation Days

Recent reports suggest that unused vacation days are at a 40 year high.  The study, commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, found that American workers earned just under 21 paid-time-off days in 2013 (excluding sick days,) but used only 16.  While some employees can bank or roll over their vacation days into the next year, an average of 1.6 days were completely forfeited, according to their survey.  In total, that is somewhere around 169 million days forfeited, and amounts to a whopping $52.4 billion in lost benefits.

And yet, further studies showed that people who used their vacation days seemed to be more productive when at work, and another independent study showed that they also received better performance reviews!

Well, if you’re a Stephen Covey fan or a graduate of his self-help “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” you already know that people who “sharpen the saw” are better workers than those who don’t!  And you may already know, spending time with the family makes deposits in those emotional bank accounts and fosters family unity.  Both of which are the hallmark of family unity, marital success, and having healthy, happy, and successful children.

So why am I telling you this?  Because visiting your local campground can help you accomplish all those goals.  It can provide your family with time together, give you the time away from work stresses you need, and do it without breaking the bank or stressing for hours on the road! 

Here’s how:

You don’t have to be a camper to go camping!  Today’s campgrounds offer cabins with restrooms, kitchens, air conditioning, heat, and more.  You can go camping without sleeping on the ground, or in a dirty run-down, smelly fishing camp.  They call it Glamping (glamor camping), but what it is all about is introducing non-campers to camping and the outdoors!  And it costs about the same as a hotel, and doesn’t require you owning an RV (recreational vehicle)!

Stay in a more rustic cabin!  You don't have to stay in the most expensive or fancy cabin!  Stay in one with less frills, and you get the same experience for less.  You still get to enjoy all the activities and events.    

You can stay closer to home!  Simply book a cabin for a long weekend, stay Thursday night through Sunday night, and go home Monday.  Use 2 days of vacation and get a 4 day break!  Now that’s a sweet deal!  And you used a whole lot less time to get there (more fun and less time locked in the car with the kids), and less money in gas and less wear and tear on the driver!  It’s much more restful and relaxing!    

Camp during the week or in the off-season.  Many campgrounds offer discounted camping Sunday – Thursday and in the off-season (before Memorial Day Weekend and after Labor Day) because they are less busy, have smaller staffs, and fewer events.  So why not capitalize on that and camp during the off season or during the weekdays when you’ll spend less and have a less crowded pool to enjoy?  That way, you’re spreading your vacation out across several months, and you’re not competing with those other vacationing campers for facilities nor co-workers for peak season time off.   

Choose a campground with amenities and activities for the kids!  The kids are less likely to beg to go to the mall or a movie if there is a ball game, fishing tournament, or other activity at the campground they don’t want to miss.  So, make sure that you involve the kids in the campground selection and that within that selection is wide assortment of activities and amenities for everyone in the family.  The busier the campground keeps the kids, the happier everyone will be!  Generally speaking, campgrounds with a good activity program generally advertise the specifics of the program.  A little research in that department pays big dividends when it comes to both the bottom line and the quality of the get-away for your family!     

Make more trips and stay shorter periods.  Instead of making 1, 7 day vacation trip why not make 2, three – 4 day trips?  You’ll get more “mini vacations” or “stay-cations” as we call them!  That gives you more breaks from work, and you’ll use more vacation days, but aren’t missing a whole week at a time.  It’ll keep you better connected with what’s happening at work, but still allows for that time off we all need.

Enjoy A Campfire Together!  Skip the dinner out and the movies or mall trip. Stay at the cabin or campsite and enjoy a campfire.  Dinner?  Chips, dips, veggies, hotdogs, buns, and the fixin’s.  Kids love roasting a hotdog over an open fire.  And don’t forget desert!  You have to let ‘em roast marshmallows and make a s’more!  Don’t forget the campfire popping corn or peanuts to shell and eat!  You can tell scary stories, strum the guitar and sing campfire songs, study the constellations, or collect fireflies!  There are a host of ideas and fun to be had at a campground this summer.  You save the cost of the dinner & movies, the gas to get you there and back, and the kids are thrilled with a new outdoor experience!  

Why not start planning your mini vacations today?  Don’t let another 25-27% of your vacation go unused this year.  You need to sharpen the saw, the family needs time away, and you need to spend time together!  Start right now while there’s still enough summer left to do it!  But don’t stop at Labor Day Weekend!  Keep right on going and take your kids to fun-filled autumn events too!     

Don’t forget, you can do most of these things at any one of the many Kampgrounds of America Campgrounds!  You don’t have to go a long way to get away and enjoy a low cost but high adventure camping experience!  Use those vacations days and enjoy time with your family, and moreover, make memories that will last a lifetime!    

By Robyn Chilson
Tim & Robyn Chilson are CPOs, who own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA. Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.  

Staying Safe While Camping

There are a lot of things to take into consideration when camping.  Don’t be lulled into thinking that just because you’re in a tent, cabin, or are RV camping in a private campground or RV park a few miles out of town that you’re safe, and that the laws of your nature don’t apply to you!

Camping history is full of stories about bears getting into bird feeders, coolers, and tents.  These encounters are generally a young bear, newly kicked out of the den because mom now has a new cub, and who now has to fend for himself.  They quickly learn to associate campers with an easy meal.  The teenage equivalent of a McDonald’s drive-thru.

The food source can be campers who leave food on their campsite picnic table that can be right up under the awning of the RV, unburned food scraps in a fire pit, or forgetting to put the cooler away, a bag of garbage they failed to take to the dumpster before nightfall, bird feeders they have out, and even grease from a BBQ grill or dumped from a fryer.

These simple things can attract bears.  And the last thing you want is you, your children, spouse, or pets having a face to face meeting with a bruin.  While attacks by black bears are rare, they can happen and it’s important to remember that you’re in their territory.  They were here, in the woodlots of Pennsylvania, long before RVs and campers were. 

As their guest, we need to make sure we’re doing our part to not cause them the heartache of being trapped out and relocated.  It isn’t fair to the animals.      

So please follow these simple safety tips when you are camping to ensure your safety.

1. Never, ever allow your children to take food in their tents.  If the children are sleeping in a tent, they need to eat at the picnic table, or in the RV.  Never, ever, never take food in the tent. 
2. Never leave food out on your picnic table, especially overnight.  Put the cooler in the RV or trunk.  You become a McD’s dive thru, remember?  It’ll entice them to come right into your campsite for that easy meal.
3. Never place food scraps in the campfire.  All food scraps need to go into the garbage bag and to the dumpster every evening.  Cooking oil from fryers needs to cool, and then go back in the bottles it came out of and placed in the dumpster.  Never dump oil in the campground.  
4. Take the garbage to the dumpster each night before retiring.  Never leave garbage out overnight.  A bag of garbage will attract, skunks, raccoons, bears, opossums, dogs, etc. that can quickly turn a fun, family outing into a bad experience.  Not only will they make a mess, but they’ll be back, and they become ever more aggressive to get their meal.  That can place your family at risk of being bitten by a raccoon, skunk, bear, dog, etc.
5. Never try to feed or entice bears or other critters.  While they may be cute to see at a distance, they aren’t cute if they bite you and you have to go through a series of very painful rabies shots. 
6. If you see fresh bear skat while hiking, make sure you talk to your friends loudly or if you’re alone talk to the bears loudly or sing a song loudly, keep your head up, and be on the lookout for the bear.  If you encounter a bear, give it lots of room, and keep your distance.  Never run from one. Back away from the situation if you can.  And try to keep yourself positioned so you’re never between a sow and her cub.  That can be very dangerous.
7. Don’t forget that you need to know how to identify snakes too.  You could encounter them while hiking, camping, fishing, etc.  Make sure, like bears, you watch where you’re walking, and know your venomous snakes from non-venomous snakes.  Never play with snakes.  Even a non-poisonous snake bite can be nasty and require medical attention.
8. Make sure you know your surroundings and keep your pets leashed.  Small animals like cats and dogs can and do become prey for coyotes.    
9. And last, but certainly not least, know your plants.  Teach your children the old adage “leaves of three, leave it be”.  Watch for and stay out of poison ivy, poison sumac, and other plants that can cause very uncomfortable skin rashes.       

The best way to have a safe and fun camping adventure it to remember that the outdoors can have hazards that can be difficult to navigate if you forget that you’re a guest in the great outdoors!  So have fun, but be smart and stay safe!

By Robyn Chilson

Why Are Visitor Fees Charged At Campgrounds & RV Parks?

No matter which campground that campers choose to stay at, if they have friends or family living in or near that area, chances are, they’ll want to visit them.  When guests arrive at the campground, they are often charged a visitation fee, and many are surprised by that.  Below, we’ve listed some reasons why visitor fees are necessary.   

The campground’s facilities can only handle so many people at a time.  It isn’t that campground owners don’t want visitors.  On the contrary, we love you to invite people to come visit.  We love to have people see and enjoy our parks.  We take great pride in them.  However, additional people place an extra burden on the facilities.  There are the obvious additional expenses of toilet tissue, paper towels, cleaning supplies, attendant’s labor, garbage bags, and more.  The prices of these supplies have sky rocketed with increased petroleum prices.  We have to recoup those costs. 

Popular, private campgrounds receive hundreds of visitors a month, which can translate into thousands of visitors a season, which translates into huge extra expenses for the campground.  The less obvious long-term expense is that expanding facilities is a huge investment these days and in order to maintain the facilities a campground has, they have to stay within the capacity boundaries for which their water and sewage systems were designed and for which they are permitted.  Water system quality, pool samples, and sewage testing are required by the state to the tune of thousands of dollars a season.  All for good reason, as they are designed to keep the public’s drinking water, swimming facilities, and ground water safe.  However, when extra burdens are cast upon those facilities, the costs to maintain and operate them increase as well.  If the testing of those systems is that expensive, imagine the increased operating expenses for them as well.

State and local laws, set occupancy, and facilities are only permitted for so many people accordingly.  Design load and licensing of campgrounds or the facilities is similar to the ‘seating capacity’ license you see in food services, however recognize that because a campground does not have tables and chairs that limit occupancy, it must be done in another fashion.  The state issues sewer treatment permits based on the total number of campsites and number of people per campsite, times the average water usage per campsite.  That is why the number of people per campsite and the total number of campsites is limited.  When the campground is full, an extra 8 people is another campsite.  Multiple that by several campsites, and the idea of overflowing sewer systems should come to mind.

In addition, the visitor rates aren’t normally set on the person who uses the facilities the least, but on the average cost of the visitors to the campground or RV park.  The campground owner assumes that your family will participate in activities and events, enjoy the entertainment provided, and or utilize the swimming pool, and other facilities and amenities.  These business owners know that their visitor rates go up dramatically on holiday and special event weekends.  The numbers of visitors increase because we have special activities and events; have better entertainers or entertainment and more things to do.

In some states, laws require that every visitor to a private outdoor hospitality property register, regardless of intent to visit residents or use the facilities. State health department require that business owners can identify all in residence and visiting in case health issues arise.  User pay fees are the fairest way to cover the costs of those inherent costs, and should a health risk arise, to identify the users at risk.

Security is always a concern.  Campgrounds, like anywhere else, can be a target for thieves, child predators, etc. So tracking who is in the park helps to reduce the chances of theft, child abductions, among others.  It provides more security for both your family and possessions.

Emergency Preparedness is essential!  What if the campground had to be evacuated in the event of a fire, flood, hurricane, or tornado?  How would the campground account for who was on the premises and who might be missing?

Parking extra vehicles is another issue.  In most campgrounds, real estate is a premium.  So, too many cars per campsite quickly become a congestion and safety issue.  Most campgrounds limit the number of vehicles per campsite to one or two for safety reasons and rescue vehicle access.  Therefore, the campground needs to provide extra visitor parking areas to relieve that congestion and ensure access for emergency vehicles.  That means that there is a clerk that has to assign the visitors tags, provide access to the park, a campsite map to help the visitor to find the folks they desire to visit, and finally directions on where they are to park.  All of these materials and the employee’s time is an additional increase to the cost of operations to the business. 

Be a courteous camper!  No one wants to be camped next to a mob.  If you’re planning a family reunion, birthday party or another celebration of some sort, ask about using a pavilion or facility so as not to intrude on your camping neighbor!  

Increased visitors increase a campground’s liability insurance costs.  The rates for a campground’s liability insurance are based on the risk assessment and the number of people who occupy a campground during a season.  The higher the number of occupants in the RV Park or campground, the risk increases accordingly.  In addition, some insurance carriers argue that visitors are more likely to be injured because they are unfamiliar with their surroundings, may not be aware of all the rules or safety policies at campgrounds, and are less likely to be dressed appropriately for the camping or outdoor experience.  All of these things place the visitor at an increased risk for an injury.    

Remember that privately owned and operated campgrounds aren’t subsidized by tax dollars like federal, state, and county parks.  Even at most of those campgrounds, there is an entrance fee, and then camping fees on top of it.  They charge for visitors too.  It’s called day use fees.     

Read the back of your visitor's tag!  Many campgrounds, offer a full refund if you're only there a short time (less than an hour).  You just take the time-stamped tag back to the office and they'll refund your visitation fee if you were there in less than that amount of time.  

State Laws define unlawful trespass and theft of services.  Visitors or users of any private property that have not identified their purpose are considered trespassers, and are subject to trespass laws, and or theft of service charges. In some states, this is also called defrauding an inn keeper.  These laws help protect campgrounds from thieves, vagrants, etc.  Trying to cheat or defraud a campground owner as to how many people you have camping with you or visiting you can land you in hot water with the law.  Please don’t do that! It’s not only more honest and the right thing to do, it’s the law.  Please don’t place a campground owner in the position of having to have you arrested for unlawful trespass, defiant trespass, and/or theft of services.

Visitor’s fees, as you can see, are necessary.  There are additional costs associated with visitors.  It isn’t fair to pass those costs on to all the campers.  That is why most campgrounds charge the people receiving those services (i.e. the visitor) for the services rendered.

So the next time you hear someone complaining about a visitor’s fee, or worse yet encouraging another person to cheat or to avoid paying a visitors fee, remember that it is you, the RVer or camper, who will ultimately pay for that visit.  At the end of the business year, when the numbers come in, and that owner looks at the bottom line from that camping season, the campground owner will have to set their rates for the next season to offset their losses.  In other words, they’ll have to raise the campsite prices accordingly to pay for those extra supplies, extra tests, extra labor and extra maintenance.  So when visitors cheat, they aren’t cheating just the campground owner and breaking the law.  In the end, they are cheating the American consumer, and in this case, that is you, the camper. 

By Robyn Chilson

Tim & Robyn Chilson, own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  You can contact Robyn at 814-789-3251

KOA Summer Camping Season Off to a Fast Start

BILLINGS, MT (May 23, 2013) – Summer camping at the 485 Kampgrounds of America locations around North America is off to a fast start, according to numbers released this week by KOA, the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds.

KOA’s advanced registrations for the Memorial Day Weekend are up more than 4 percent over the same period in 2012. Advanced reservations for the entire summer peak season (Memorial Day to Labor Day) are even stronger, showing an increase of 8 percent for that period compared to 2012.

“The 12-day period surrounding the Fourth of July holiday is actually up more than 14 percent over that same period in 2012,” said KOA President Pat Hittmeier. “All indicators show a strong summer camping season on the way.”

According to a recent survey by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), an estimated 14 million Americans will enjoy the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend in an RV. The survey also said 71 percent of RV owners intend to use their recreational vehicles more this summer than they did last year, and an additional 21 percent intend to use their RVs at least as much as they did in 2012. Only 5 percent reported that they intend to decrease their camping.

Kampgrounds of America officially launched its summer camping season with its 10^th Annual KOA Care Camps Big Weekend May 10-11. More than 12,000 KOA camping families stayed more than 25,000 camping nights during the event. Campers who stayed as paying guests on Friday, May 10 received a free night of camping on Saturday, May 11. The event also serves as a major fundraiser for KOA Care Camps for children with cancer, a network of 55 specialized summer camps for children with cancer located throughout North America.

Kampgrounds of America is celebrating its 51st Anniversary in 2013. KOA, the world’s largest network of family-friendly campgrounds, was born on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Montana in 1962.