Does Harvest Hosts have a new rival? LandTrust “new alternative”

Harvest Hosts has proved to be a popular program for RVers. For those looking for an overnight alternative to an RV park or a Walmart parking lot, Harvest Hosts offers more. Stay at “wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, and attractions.” Now a “land-sharing marketplace” wants RVers to stay at their “partner” members’ places. Imagine camping access on farms and ranches.

“Alternative ways of camping”

The name of the maybe-Harvest Host wannabe? LandTrust. “The recent growth in the number of people camping has led to more challenges in finding campground availability,” reads the outfit’s news release. “Fortunately, as campground availability continues to be scarce, alternative ways of camping are cropping up.”

Originally LandTrust tried to set up ranchers and other landowners with hunters. Charge hunters a fee to chase around where the deer and the antelope play. The same held true for folks with fishing poles. Imagine, gang, you won’t need to compete with hordes at public fishing spots. Spend a few bucks and have a spot on the river all to yourself. But they “quickly realized we should offer lodging and camping, too, since so many of the properties are off the beaten path with no nearby hotels,” explained Nic De Castro, the founder and CEO of LandTrust.

LandTrust’s wide open spaces bigger than Harvest Hosts, but…

LandTrust.com says it lists more than 1.25 million acres of private land across 40 states. More than 200 of those listings offer RV and camping experiences. “LandTrust is for exclusive access to working farms and ranches. It’s more for the off-grid type of camper who’s looking for outdoor recreation opportunities and no one else around,” said De Castro. Maybe LandTrust’s wide open spaces are bigger overall than Harvest Hosts’, but the idea seems much the same.

Money is a big difference

But there’s at least one major issue to differentiate LandTrust’s offering from the popular Harvest Hosts. Money. Pay $99 for a yearly membership to Harvest Hosts, and you can stay at any of the “hosts” places for nothing. Users are encouraged to buy something from their host’s gift shop, true enough.

But LandTrust “partner” land owners charge their guests to overnight on their properties. Here’s one description we saw. Described as a “Foraging Experience at Montana Cow Company.” A foraging experience? “Package includes one day of foraging on the ranch. We have had great moisture this Spring here in the Gallatin Valley, so there’s lots of Morels to be found.” Spend a night and look for mushrooms in Montana. The cost? $75 per night—per person!

We looked around the site and found that prices were typically per person, per night. The lowest price we found in our search was an $8 per night spot in Oklahoma. But prices were decidedly higher than that for most other offerings. $40, $50, even $100 per night, again, per person, were not uncommon. What about membership costs? None for RVers “booking” a property.

Plenty of states with ZERO hospitality

LandTrust is decidedly a “startup” in terms of accommodating RVers. We checked out a number of Western states. While there were plenty of land owners willing to take in RVers in Montana, other states are decidedly lacking. Of the West Coast states, only California had any RV sites—and just six, at that. Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico—not a site to be had. Texas boasted three—but all of them were actually offering houses. Idaho did a bit better, with 25 landowners offering RV sites.

At this point, Harvest Hosts’ management should be able to sleep soundly at night. LandTrust has a long way to go to become a real competitor in the alternative overnight RVing marketplace.

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