The latest campground amenity might surprise some RVers. It’s not bigger sites, upgraded electrical hookups, or faster Wi-Fi. In parts of Wisconsin, some campground operators are adding on-site bars, breweries, and taprooms as a way to attract guests and encourage them to spend more time—and money—inside the campground.
According to a recent report in Woodall’s Campground Magazine, several Wisconsin parks now feature bars, breweries, or similar gathering spaces as part of a broader effort to create destination-style camping experiences. The idea is simple: Give guests another reason to stay on property and view the campground as more than just a place to park an RV.
The Wisconsin developments may be unusual, but the larger trend isn’t. Across North America, campgrounds and RV resorts continue adding amenities that would have seemed out of place at many parks just a generation ago. Pickleball courts, splash pads, food trucks, organized entertainment, golf-cart rentals, dog parks, outdoor kitchens, fitness centers, and resort-style pools are becoming increasingly common.
For some RVers, that’s exactly what they’re looking for. For others, it raises a question: Are all these new amenities delivering more value—or simply helping drive campground rates even higher?
Amenities have become a competitive weapon
Campground owners face increasing competition for travelers’ dollars. Private parks are competing not only against nearby campgrounds, but also against vacation rentals, hotels, cruises, and other travel options.
Amenities have become one way to stand out.
A family traveling with children may choose a park with a splash pad and organized activities over a basic campground with full hookups. A snowbird staying for months may appreciate social gathering spaces, clubs, events, and recreational facilities. Some travelers specifically seek out resort-style destinations where the campground itself becomes part of the vacation experience.
The strategy appears to be working. Many newer RV resorts prominently market their amenities alongside site size and hookups, sometimes devoting more space to pools, clubhouses, and recreation areas than to the RV sites themselves.
But somebody has to pay for it
“Not every RVer wants a brewery, pickleball court, or splash pad. Many simply want reliable hookups, decent Wi-Fi, and a fair nightly rate.”
Of course, amenities are rarely free.
Pools require maintenance. Pickleball courts require construction and upkeep. Clubhouses consume energy and staffing resources. Bars and restaurants need employees, permits, inventory, insurance, and management.
Those costs eventually have to be recovered somehow, usually through nightly, weekly, or seasonal site rates.
That reality has become increasingly noticeable as campground prices continue climbing in many parts of the country. RVers frequently report paying substantially more than they did just a few years ago, especially at destination parks and resort-style properties.
Not every traveler feels they receive equal value from those additions.
An RVer who spends most of the day sightseeing may never use the pool, fitness center, clubhouse, or pickleball courts. Another traveler may specifically choose a resort-style park because of those features and consider the higher rate money well spent.
The challenge for campground operators is that their guests often want very different things.
What RVers often say they want
Ask a group of RVers what improvements they’d most like to see at campgrounds, and the answers often sound surprisingly practical.
Reliable Wi-Fi consistently ranks near the top of many wish lists. So do spacious sites, dependable electrical service, clean restrooms, well-maintained roads, adequate shade, and responsive management.
Those aren’t flashy amenities. They don’t generate glossy brochure photos or social media posts. But they’re often the features guests notice most when they’re missing.
That raises an interesting question for campground owners. Is the next must-have amenity another entertainment option—or simply doing the basics exceptionally well?
The question for RVers
The Wisconsin campground bars may be grabbing headlines, but they also highlight a larger shift taking place throughout the campground industry.
Many parks are evolving from simple overnight stops into destination resorts packed with activities and amenities. Some travelers welcome the change. Others would happily trade many of those extras for a lower nightly rate and a quiet campsite.
So what about you?
If adding amenities means higher campground rates, which features are actually worth paying for—and which ones would you gladly do without?
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RVT1262b
As campgrounds shift from locally owned to corporate owned I’m afraid that we will continue to see more of this resulting in higher nightly fees. As mentioned above we seek the reliable hookups, decent wi-fi, fairly priced overnight fees & the opportunity to meet & enjoy new friends. After all, strangers are just friends that we haven’t met yet.
Bars and restaurants make money on their own. Some are even run by outside entities.
Things like game rooms (pay to play), spas and even pools are optional at an additional fee.
No need to increase site fees.
The ‘corporate takeovers’ need to pay all the people running the corporation and booking sites so you are paying extra for a bunch of people that have no idea about the campgrounds.
We stayed a Sun Resorts in NJ, and when I called about a problem, I was speaking to someone in another state who told me they would forward my concerns. Never heard from anyone.
Sun Resorts is owned by Sun Communities, a real estate development company who owns housing developments, hotels, marinas.
These aren’t campgrounds. If someone thinks they are camping in their RV at these places, they got an RV for the wrong reason. They have more money than they know what to do with, or they enjoy going broke.
To each their own.
My opinion is that these so-called resorts are overpricing themselves. We have been going to one of these so-called resorts for 10 years, but last couple of years, they raised their rates twice. This will probably be our last time going there. We will go to the state park next door for half the price.
I think there’s room for both types of stays. We don’t need a lot of amenities as we are “travel through maybe stay a few days” travelers. But, we have friends who go for a season. We can pick and choose.
So many options because there are so many ideas, wishes, and desires. We prefer quiet, low amenity, small, private CGs. But we know people who want all the amenities. Agree that as corporations buy up CGs the small and quiet will disappear. That’s disheartening.
We live in the northeast and I agree that campground rates are steadily increasing. One well known park we’ve been to several times is charging $135 a night on an average weekend for full hookup sites. It’s an obscene rate in my opinion but it’s almost full every weekend. It’s around 500 sites I think, with about 25 percent seasonals. It is a highly rated park, but I no longer want to pay those prices. I’d pay that for a certain destination I wanted to go to for a vacation, but not regularly.
I think it would be great if more campgrounds had breweries, pubs, and restaurants as part of the CG. But, that’s only if they are upfront and outside the campground part of the business, keeping non-campers away from our campsite set-ups and possessions left outside. All the other items mentioned in the piece become what most seasoned campers already know, “resort” or family-type all-inclusive campgrounds like Jellystones, Yogi Bear, etc. Retired travelers already know to avoid these types of facilities.
We tend to avoid the “everything” resorts but sometimes need to use them because of the size of our rig. I can’t ever remember using a resort’s pool, or many of the other amenities, although many of the rallies we attend use the banquet facilities available in the park. We prefer quieter campgrounds with fewer children but larger sites. WiFi is optional since we use Starlink with a cellular backup. Good hookups, paved sites preferred, and grassy areas for our dogs – a nice dog park is ideal. We don’t mind staying at the fancier places but wish more would charge a flat fee with the amenities provided at an additional fee for those that want to use them.
We love when our Wisconsin campgrounds has a bar. Because we have been out drinking your state since 1848! 😁. Simple don’t go to a cg if you don’t like paying for extra amenities. And bars generate cash flow!
And that extra cash flow should go into keeping the site fees lower.
Plus, the extra amenities should be optional. Pay more only if you want to use them.
Of all the campgrounds we have stayed at, I can count on one hand the number of times I used the pool, spa and exercise room.
In other words, pay to play.
We are retirees and resort style cg’s, even when we were much younger, aren’t our fav. No sense paying for a bunch of stuff we have no interest in. For us, you said it best writing about a good basic cg done well. We can, and do, boondock ala Quartzite, but I don’t want a steady diet of that. A good COE suits us fine. Solitude isn’t it, we like people. $80+ a night doesn’t work in our budget as an everyday thing.