Publication
Woodall’s Campground Magazine
Author
Woodall’s Campground Magazine
Published
September 9, 2022
Source
Spacious Skies Campgrounds continues its aggressive growth pattern with the acquisition of two campgrounds in North Carolina and South Carolina, expanding the company’s campground count to 13 since its first park acquisition in May 2021.
With RV and tent sites, as well as cabins for glamping enthusiasts, the new campgrounds are Spacious Skies Hidden Creek in Marion, N.C., at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, and Spacious Skies Peach Haven in Gaffney, S.C. near Spartanburg.
Spacious Skies Hidden Creek features 141 RV sites including sites with views of the campground’s private creek or five-acre lake, as well as 17 deluxe one- and two-bedroom cabins.
“Hidden Creek is at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains and it is scenically just so beautiful,” explained Ali Rasmussen, Spacious Skies’ CEO and creative director, to WOODALLSCM.com (WCM). “The amenity package at Hidden Creek is probably our most extensive since it was a former Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort. It hasn’t been one for almost a decade but the amenity package is still there.”
The campground’s marquis feature is a 300-foot-high loop waterslide that cascades into one of two campground pools. Other activities include kayaking, canoeing and aqua-cycling, with rentals available at a lake-side pavilion. The campground also features sports courts for volleyball, shuffleboard, basketball and Gaga ball, as well as fishing, miniature golf and nature trails. A brand new jumping pillow has been installed, and golf cart rentals are available.”
Local attractions include the Catawba Greenway and Beanstalk Journey Zip-line, Lake James and Pisgah National Forest, Linville Caverns, Linville Falls, Linville Gorge and Orchard Altapass.
Peach Haven features 127 RV sites with full and partial electric, water and sewer hookups as well as seven tent sites. RV sites include both back-in and pull-through configurations. Many are in shady areas while others are open.
Sites include picnic tables and fire rings.
The campground also offers six deluxe lodges with a six-person capacity. These lodges have one queen bed, a set of bunk beds and futons. There are also four deluxe cabins sleeping four and two deluxe units sleeping two. Lodges and cabins each have a kitchenette, private bathroom, air conditioning/heat, private deck, television and gas grill. Guests need to provide their own bedding, linens and cooking utensils as well as other supplies.
“Peach Haven is very accessible since it is pretty close to the highway,” Rasmussen explained. “It is off the highway enough that there is no highway noise and the property is long, so it just goes back and back. It is beautiful. There are fishing ponds here that are really well stocked.”
Campground amenities include a swimming pool, mini golf, dog park, jumping pillow, playground, fishing, pavilion, recreation hall, WiFi, hiking trails, camp store and a Gaga ball pit.
“There are a number of new pull-through sites that are built for larger rigs in the back area that are paved and have nice stone fire pits,” said Rasmussen. “It has everything in that aspect that we like to see without having to put too much effort behind it. We also have a few cabins of different sizes that can accommodate different-sized groups. I think what makes this unique is the roadside location. It used to be a Kampgrounds of America (KOA), but it was not a KOA Journey, it was a KOA Holiday. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it work, but it is naturally beautiful and it is a park that fits will in the Spacious Skies brand.”
Rasmussen said that on the employee side of things Spacious Skies has been able to fill the positions it needs filled, but that there are more challenges at parks located in larger metro areas.
“At Hidden Creek, we brought in a new general manager and a number of other new work campers and maintenance crew members,” she noted. “The amenity package and the layout of Hidden Creek command our largest staff yet. We have been able to retain a good number of the staff that were there before, and they’re great and super committed. They love the campground and the property, and they love being a part of Spacious Skies and having that new experience.
“We also retained a lot of the staff at Peach Haven,” added Rasmussen. “They were fairly new to the property, whereas at Hidden Creek quite a few of the staff members had been there for years.”
Looking forward, the Rasmussens plan to keep pursuing the acquisition of other parks.
“We are still setting our sights on other properties that we want to join the mix,” she said. “But I think that there are natural cycles of when there are deals available. It’s sort of like the seasonal nature of camping, where there are peaks, and it ebbs and flows.”