Focus on Parks Environmental Services:

Campgrounds shine as assets to several municipalities

By DENISE FEDOROW | The Municipal

The reasons behind how these municipalities became stewards of campgrounds may vary, but officials agree that having the amenity within their city or town is a benefit.

From east to west, several municipalities have campgrounds, including Austin, Texas, at Emma Long Metropolitan Park.

City of Austin Parks Manager Kerrie Thompson said the city has about 189 parks, but Emma Long Metropolitan Park is one with campsites available. Thompson wasn’t sure when the campsite started but believes they have been available at least 40 years, if not longer. She said there are about 45 tent sites and 20 RV sites.

The campground at Emma Long Park operates much like a state park, according to Thompson. People can reserve sites through the city of Austin’s park and recreation website.

“When they show up at the park, there’s a cashier who’ll check them in and give them a reservation card — very similar to a state park,” she said.

Thompson thinks having a campground in a city park is a good benefit for the community, and with many of the campsites being right on Lake Austin, it’s very attractive.

“The campground is used a lot by scouts, the YMCA, rec kids — a lot of youth,” she said. “We’re working to get more seniors out camping.”

The city also gets out-of-state campers, including some regulars. The park has a maximum 14-day stay to avoid having someone living at the campground.

She said, “Every once in a while we have someone who wants to stay longer — especially if they’re working in the area on a construction job—it’s more economical than a hotel.”

Campers need to leave for a day and then they can come back for another 14-day period.

Thompson said the fees are on the website along with a helpful camping guide, but the sites in the grove and the bluff are $10 a night, camping sites with utilities are $20 a night and the waterfront sites are $25 a night.

She said the biggest challenge is “people who don’t want to pay attention to the rules and want to party all night. We’ve had ABOVE: RV campers form a line on the waterfront of Lake Austin at Emma Long Metropolitan Park in Austin, Texas. (Photo provided by the city of Austin Parks & Recreation)

Emma Long Metropolitan Park in Austin, Texas, offers many amenities for campers staying at the park, including a beach on Lake Austin. (Photo provided by the city of Austin Parks & Recreation)

situations where people were screaming and yelling at 2-3 a.m. and we had to call 911.”

The park rules state that quiet time is from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m.

Another issue has been RVers overloading the electrical system. “People with RVs want

Campers of all sizes take advantage of lower rates offered by city-operated campgrounds at McFarland Park in Florence, Ala. (Photo provided by the city of Florence, Ala.)

to run air conditioners, TVs, microwaves, etc., and we were burning out a lot of fuses.”

In the last two years, the parks department upgraded all the electrical, but despite that, campers are still putting too much strain on the system.

Thompson said she’d like to have a camp post with someone on property 24/7, like state parks have.

“It would be something completely new for the city — having someone on property all the time, but if there was someone patrolling the area on gators, it would help alleviate some issues.”

She said she’d also like to add more ADA campsites for people with wheelchairs. There are about four to five wheelchair-accessible sites now.

Austin is currently undergoing Phase II of its upgrades — a brand-new bathhouse pavilion. Thompson said the park is 1,400 acres and has an entire motorcycle track through the woods, a five-mile round trip bike and hiking trail and “lots of endangered species out there.”

The park is reportedly only 20 to 30 minutes from downtown Austin. Thompson said, “I’ve really utilized scouts with beautification projects.”

For other cities and towns thinking of starting a campground, Thompson advises, “Do your homework — have a plan; there’s tons of liability being open 24/7, 365 days. Have an evacuation plan and be prepared.”

However, she added, “It’s a lot of fun, but a lot of work. The park is used and abused a lot — it’s a cool amenity.”

Camping for tournaments

Nashville City Park in Nashville, Ark., put in campsites in the 113-acre park about seven to 10 years ago, according to Meghan Floyd, park director, specifically for those coming to town for softball and baseball tournaments.

“They’re usually in town all week, so they like to stay in RVs,” she said.

The campsites are lined up on the front side of the ball park, and in retrospect, that’s something Floyd would change if she had to do it all again.

“They’re right in the parking lot — not the best location,” she said, especially for those not staying because of tournaments. “We do get quite a few campers who are traveling through the U.S. and stay one or two nights.”

She said each site has both 30 and 50 amp hookups. Thirty amp is $10 a night, and 50 amp is $12 a night. Nashville has a seven-day maximum stay.

Floyd said in the five years she’s been with the park department, there hasn’t been any issues other than minor vandalism elsewhere in the park. She said Nashville also had lightning strike a hookup once, but no one was hurt and it hit the camper of the state trooper who stays in the park.

The city has a state trooper and a detective who live on site. There’s a small two-bedroom cottage the detective lives in and a camper in a different location for the state trooper.

Floyd said the parks department upgraded all the electric poles about two years ago and added a dump station. The city also added sewer hookup to the state trooper’s site only. Floyd thinks it’s an asset to the city to have the campsites.

“The biggest issue we’ve had is when we’ve had people who want to stay longer,” she said.

McFarland Park in Florence, Ala.

In Florence, the parks department is planning to double the amount of campsites the McFarland Park in Florence, Ala., is on the Tennessee River with picnic sites on the riverfront, where visitors can watch paddleboats go by. (Photo provided by the city of Florence, Ala.)

city has, according to Park Superintendent Lee Peden.

Currently, the city has 60 sites, and they are on a first come, first serve basis. No reservations are taken at this time, but Peden hopes that might change when the campground expands.

Peden wasn’t sure of the history of this campground, as he’s fairly new, but estimated by the size of the sites they might’ve started in the 1960s.

“It’s a tight fit to pull in a 40-foot RV,” he said.

McFarland Park has 21 primitive sites and 60 pull-in sites for RVs with water, sewer and electric. Each site has both 30-foot and 50-foot amp service.

Along with the expansion of 60 more sites, Florence is looking to upgrade the current sites and the bathhouse soon.

He said unlike some other locations, Florence’s campsites haven’t had electrical issues, but they have had water issues. “Our water hookup gets backed over frequently — we’ve had to replace spigots,” he said.

And they’re really close to the dam and by the Tennessee River, so “we’ve come under water a couple of times,” Peden said.

There’s a lot of grass on Florence’s sites and big RVs pulling in creates holes, and campers want the city to fix them, but Peden said if workers fill them with dirt, they’ll become mud holes. If workers put in gravel, that can create other problems.

The park is open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., and there are park employees on site during those hours, but at night, the city has park police patrolling.

The cost for RVs is $25 a night, $20 for seniors or the disabled and $14 for tent camping. Peden advises other municipalities considering a campground in a city park to “do your homework and do it right the first time. Make sure the sites are wide enough.”

He added, “It stays busy down there. It’s a revenue producer.”

Campground donated to town

In Freeport, Maine, the city’s campground came about because of a donation. Neil Lyman, park manager for Winslow Park and Campground, explained the land for the park was “donated to the town in the 1950s but with stipulations.”

The stipulations included that the park would have campsites and no town tax money would be used for the park and no revenue from the park would go to the town.

“It came with a trust, and it should be self-supporting,” Lyman said, adding the campground started off slowly with a few campers and scout groups until the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“The previous park manager before me built it up, and now it’s a legitimate operation and is full all the time,” Lyman said.

According to Lyman, the deed states the park is 93 acres, but it’s actually 70 acres and includes a mile-and-a-half waterfront.

“We have 12-foot tides,” he said.

The park has 102 sites all together — 23 are right on the water and the rest are wooded. None of them have hookups, but most can take RVs up to 40 foot.

“The only amenity is a dump station and a couple of water filing stations,” he said. “There are two restroom buildings and one has showers.”

He said the most expensive sites are those right on the water at $45 a night for RVs and $40 for tents. Inland, the sites run $35 for RVs and $30 for tents and all those fees go to operate the park.

Lyman explained he is the park manager for this park only. “We operate as a nonprofit that is a town entity, overseen by the town manager and town council. We have to go to the council to get our budget approved.”

He said Winslow Park and Campground has its own employees who work at the park and use the resources of the town for payroll and hiring. He noted he is considered a town employee. There is a park commission that mainly makes recommendations.

“There’s a trust attorney who oversees things to make sure the town operates it as they’re supposed to,” he said.

Lyman said the campground is at 93% capacity most of the time. “We do get a lot of locals within 30 miles, but we also get campers from all over Canada and from out-of-state,” he said.

Some issues Winslow Park has had include those who just want to party. “Our sites are fairly spacious, but we’re basically an island, so it gets loud, but we have three rangers on duty 24 hours a day.” There’s plenty of scenic beauty to be found at Winslow Park in Freeport, Maine. The land was donated to the town with the stipulation that it provide camping sites. (Photo provided by Winslow Park and Campground)

All three rangers live on-site as does Lyman. He said the only sites with electricity are the rangers’ sites. They live at the park about seven months a year while Lyman is there year-round.

Winslow Park has a two-week stay limit. However, he said there are some seasonal sites that started back when the campground wasn’t making any money, so the seasonal sites became part of the town charter. Campers can pay a fee for camping for the whole season, and they get to re-up every year.

Dog walking

Lyman said because the park is in a nice neighborhood, it’s become a popular place to walk dogs, and at times, they’re allowed off leash.

“It’s not the best place to walk dogs — one lady got knocked over by a dog, but no one’s been bitten,” he said.

People are adamant about walking their dogs there, Lyman stated. The town had a piece of property with a pond and trail that was fenced, and officials thought it would be a great place for a dog park, but the community didn’t want it.

Lyman advises other parks to have dogs on leash at all times and keep it simple. Personally, Lyman would advise against seasonal sites, but if they have them to remove everything at the end of the season.

“You don’t want it to become a trailer park,” he said.

If camping is allowed for more than a month, he would have them sign a contract stating they have no rights to the property, because apparently in Maine, there’s a law that makes that an issue. He would also set limits on all sites.

“Always have staff 24/7 so they can patrol and enforce quiet hours, otherwise it can get out of hand and you’ll lose business if a bunch are partying.” He further advised, “You have to run it like a business —like a private campground — and enforce all the rules, otherwise they’ll be abused.”

Other city-owned campgrounds include:

Drummond City Park, Drummond, Mont.; Riverside Park, Douglas, Wyo.; Washington Park, Anacortes, Wash.; San Jon City Park, San Jon, N.M.; Langdon City Park, Langdon, N.D.; and Greenhorn Meadows Park, Colorado City, Colo.