7 Things We’ve Learned During Our First 2 Years as RV Park Owners
In June, we quietly celebrated a milestone —our second anniversary as owners of Pisgah Forest RV Park.
A few days ago, I found myself scrolling through photos from the summer of 2024, just after we purchased the park. Comparing those pictures to today was incredible. The landscaping has grown, new amenities have been added, and the park is slowly becoming the vision we had when we first fell in love with this little piece of Western North Carolina.
Two years isn’t a very long time, but it has been enough to teach us a few things. Some lessons were expected. Others…not so much.
Here are seven things we’ve learned during our first two years as RV park owners.
1. We know far more about wastewater than we ever imagined.
When people think about owning an RV park, they probably picture campfires, mountain views, and welcoming travelers.
They probably don’t picture wastewater treatment.
Before buying the park, we knew almost nothing about commercial septic systems. In just two years, we’ve upgraded our step tank, repaired treatment chambers, installed a pretreatment system, and even received state approval for an entirely new and more advanced wastewater discharge system.
Need to know the average amount of wastewater an RV site produces? Curious about parts per million (PPM) of typical wastewater? Want to discuss lift stations or treatment systems?
Apparently…we’re your people now.
It’s not exactly glamorous knowledge, but we’ve learned that what’s underground is one of the most important assets in the entire park.
2. Hospitality is hospitality.
Before purchasing Pisgah Forest RV Park, Todd and I owned a vacation rental management company.
When we sold our last business, we decided we wanted to start over and create a new, different business. We eventually landed on owning an RV park (we’ll save that story for another blog). We were thrilled to only have dirt to manage and to own the space we were offering to others.
After two years, we’ve realized the two businesses are actually remarkably similar.
Both are hospitality businesses.
Whether someone is staying in an oceanfront home on the beach or parking their RV for a few nights, our goal is exactly the same: provide a clean, comfortable, welcoming place to relax while they enjoy everything the incredible area has to offer.
We don’t just want guests to have a campsite.
We want them to have a memorable experience.
That means sharing hiking recommendations, celebrating local events, pointing people toward hidden gems, and creating a park that feels welcoming from the moment they arrive.
3. We found the community we didn’t realize we were missing.
For many years, Todd and I were deeply involved in triathlon and endurance racing.
Of course we enjoyed the challenge of training and racing, but what we loved just as much was the community.
Everyone standing at the starting line shared the same passion. Conversations came naturally because everyone spoke the same language.
Surprisingly, we’ve found that same feeling here at the RV park.
Every Saturday morning during our social hour, guests gather over coffee and pastries to swap hiking stories, compare bike trails, talk about their latest RV adventures, and recommend places they’ve discovered.
It’s one of my favorite parts of the week.
The conversations are easy because everyone shares a common love of travel, adventure, and the outdoors. We’ve truly enjoyed all of the new friendships we’ve made here at the park. Even more rewarding is seeing familiar faces return.
4. Owning an RV park is really a landscaping business in disguise.
If someone asked how we spend most of our time at the park, they might expect us to say checking guests in or helping campers.
The reality?
Pulling weeds.
Trimming shrubs.
Fertilizing flowers.
Planting trees.
Working in the community garden.
Watering.
Mulching.
Repeat.
We’ve learned an incredible amount about landscaping over the last two years, and it’s become one of the parts of the business we genuinely enjoy. Watching the gardens mature and seeing guests notice the flowers, landscaping, and little details makes all those hours worthwhile.
5. We don’t have to do things the way everyone else does.
One of the best lessons we’ve learned is that we don’t need to follow the traditional RV park playbook.
In fact, we don’t really want to.
When we think about improvements or new amenities, we don’t ask, “What do most RV parks offer?”
Instead, we ask ourselves, “What would we appreciate if we were the guests?”
That mindset has led to our community garden, complimentary refreshments, fresh local eggs, our U-Pick flower garden, the bike wash station, dog park improvements, Saturday morning socials, and countless other little touches throughout the park.
We’ve had many guests tell us they’re surprised these things are complimentary because they’re used to paying extra elsewhere.
Our goal has never been to make money on every little thing.
Our goal is to create an experience people remember long after they’ve packed up their RV and headed home.
If we do that well, we believe the rest takes care of itself.
6. Nature always wins.
This lesson deserves its own category.
No matter how dry the summer…
No matter how much mulch we spread…
No matter how many hours we spend pulling them…
The weeds always seem to come back.
Meanwhile, the flowers and vegetables we’re carefully nurturing somehow decide they’re having a rough week.
How weeds manage to thrive through weeks without rain while our garden plants begin to struggle remains one of life’s greatest mysteries.
If anyone has solved that puzzle, we’d genuinely love to hear your secret.
7. Todd has become very good at justifying new toys.
This one may be my favorite.
Need a tractor?
“It’s for work.”
Need a dump trailer?
“It’s for work.”
Need another attachment?
“Definitely for work.”
Need to test mountain bike trails around Brevard?
“Research.”
To be fair, he’s not wrong.
Every piece of equipment has helped us improve the park, and every mountain bike ride has helped us discover new adventures to recommend to our guests.
Still…I have a feeling owning an RV park may have become the world’s best excuse for collecting grown-up toys.
The Best Lesson of All
Perhaps the biggest lesson we’ve learned is that we truly love what we do.
Todd and I have always been “all hands on deck” kind of people. We’ve never been afraid to roll up our sleeves, do the work ourselves, and take pride in creating something with our own hands. We often have guests tell us how hard we work, and they’re absolutely right—we do work hard.
The difference is…it doesn’t really feel like work.
Todd is happiest climbing onto the tractor for another project. I genuinely enjoy caring for the flowers, working in the gardens, and yes…even pulling weeds (I know, I might be the only person who actually enjoys that part!). And it’s even better when the weather starts to cool and our four-legged project manager, Sienna, spends the day outside “supervising” every project.
There’s something incredibly satisfying about being outdoors, looking back at the end of the day, and seeing tangible progress from the work you’ve put in.
But the best moments happen in the evenings.
Watching dogs race around the dog park we built. Seeing guests picking tomatoes or fresh herbs from the community garden. Walking through the park and hearing laughter around campfires. Receiving kind words from guests who noticed the little details that we poured our hearts into.
Those are the moments that remind us we’re creating something much bigger than an RV park.
We’re creating a place where people can slow down, reconnect with nature, make memories with family and friends, and begin new adventures.
Looking back at those photos from 2024, we’re proud of how much the park has changed in just two years.
But we’re even more excited about what’s still to come.
