Faron Wahl, Manager.

We typically kick off some light camping at the village during late April, with the overall momentum ramping up through May. And then comes Memorial Day.

Once again, we will be hosting dozens of camping families during the Memorial Day stretch, that traditional holiday weekend viewed by many as a launching pad to summer. While the camping experience here at the village is a bit non-traditional, it is a favorite of many and continues to swell in popularity. What follows is a brief glance at a few of the reasons for this growth, largely taken from our own campers’ comments.

To be clear, though….my points aren’t intended to pit our offerings against nearby campgrounds offering a similar product. Our friends at Lake Herman State Park, for example, are great neighbors and are always kind to refer folks our way as appropriate. We’re always happy to return this friendly and mutually beneficial favor. We each offer something quite different, and the region is better for the existence of both.

Easily topping this list is the fact that camping at the village is a good value, plain and simple. For $21 per night, including tax, you’re booked and ready to go. While this price by itself is very competitive, the deal is sweetened when you consider we don’t charge you additionally for village admission if you’ve rented a campsite. Taking in our historic structures and associated artifacts is all part of the package.

We offer lots of open space, allowing campers and their families to take walks and roam a great deal of real estate during their stay. The accompanying family dog typically loves this aspect, and we welcome your beloved canine family member while you’re camping with us. We simply require they be kept under control and on a leash always, and that all their vaccinations are current and producible.

Many weekends include events which are pure bonus material, right here in your camping backyard. Whether it’s one of our many annual happenings or an Opera House concert (concert tickets are on sale now in our gift shop), our campers often book their stays in tandem with our summer event schedule, ballasting their time here with additional fun stuff.

Riding an operating train or other rail equipment on Saturdays at 2:00 is a benefit not found just everywhere. If you can locate a railroad experience such as this anywhere else for a mere four bucks per ride, I’d love to hear about it. Moreover, with our carousel returning in late June, followed by a kickoff celebration hopefully in July, campers and other visitors will once again be able to experience a most unique and rare operating example of amusement rides which moved about this very region 100 years ago. That’s yours for a basement-low two-dollar ticket, I might add.

Our gift shop, housed in the historic Chapin Lumber Company building, offers an eclectic mix of traditional historic goodies along with a fresh array of snappy new logo items. Tack on a hunger-killing lineup of snacks and drinks as well as some of the tastiest fresh popcorn around, and you’ve got a shop well worth the visit. All of that says nothing of the best resource in the building: our friendly, smiling staff who work very hard to make your camping stay an enjoyable one.

And while we can’t ever guarantee it, to date we are one of the only camping destinations anywhere with the capacity to generally allow for last minute campers who didn’t know until Friday afternoon they had the weekend free. In today’s frantic, advanced-booking camping scene, that’s nearly unheard of. We love to plan your reservation with you in advance, but if you find you’re able to hook onto the camper and head out at the last minute, check us out. We probably have a place for you!