Opening day for a new park owner
Your first season will teach you things no checklist can. Still, a clear list keeps opening day from depending on memory. Work through the park the way a guest will meet it: find it, enter it, settle in, ask for help, and sleep there.
Sites: walk every one
- Confirm every site name or number matches the map, the reservation list, and the marker at the site.
- Check that each site is clear, level enough for its intended use, and free of limbs, ruts, and leftover debris.
- Test water and electric hookups where they are offered, and make sure sewer caps and connections are in proper shape.
- Note the largest rig each site can handle honestly, including turns on the road — not just the pad length.
- Put out picnic tables, fire rings, and site markers where they belong.
Take photos of problems as you find them and make one repair list. A site that is not ready should not be sold as though it were. It is better to open with fewer good sites than to spend opening day apologizing for preventable trouble.
Rates: make the price easy to explain
Write down the nightly, weekly, monthly, and seasonal rates you plan to offer, along with taxes or fees that apply under your own business rules. Note what changes the price: site type, hookups, extra people, extra vehicles, pets, or a holiday period. If a staff member cannot explain a rate in one breath, the rate card needs another look.
Check the same numbers everywhere they appear — office sheet, booking page, confirmation message, and any printed handout. A guest should not meet three versions of one price. Decide in advance how you will handle a rate mistake, a late checkout, a shortened stay, and a guest who needs to move sites.
Policies: decide before you need them
Put the basics in writing: check-in and checkout times, quiet hours, visitor rules, pet expectations, fires, speed on park roads, trash, and what happens when a guest cancels. Include arrival instructions for late guests and a plain way to reach the right person in an emergency.
Keep the language kind and direct. Rules work better when guests see them before arrival, hear the important ones at check-in, and can find them again without hunting. Train your team to explain the reason briefly and apply the policy evenly.
Store basics: open only what you can run
A small, dependable store beats a large, messy one. Start with the supplies guests are most likely to need from you — ice, firewood where allowed, basic RV needs, and a few food and household essentials. Count the stock, mark prices clearly, and make sure the person at the counter knows how to record a sale and what to do if the power or connection drops.
Set aside a simple place for deliveries and a regular time to count fast-moving items. If you are not ready to sell something well, leave it off the shelf until you are.
Arrival day: rehearse the first guest
Ask a friend or team member to play the first arrival. Can they find the entrance and office? Is the confirmation easy to show or look up? Does the map lead to the right site? Will they know where to park while checking in, whom to call after hours, and where to find water, trash, restrooms, and help?
Finish the day with a short notes page: what broke, what confused people, what ran out, and what guests asked that you did not expect. Fix one item at a time, starting with safety and anything that affects the next arrival. A first season is built one calm correction at a time.
New to all of this?
If you are starting from zero — permits, sites, rates, bookings, staff, the store, the money — our complete beginner's guide walks the whole process in order: New to owning an RV park? Start here. It includes OHI's guide for people thinking about opening a campground, "So You Want to Open a Campground?" (link checked October 30, 2026).