The Creation of Escapees RV Parks: A New Phase of Our Park System
We at Escapees RV Club have a rich tradition of operating RV parks, going all the way back to the mid-80s when we built Rainbow’s End in Livingston, Texas. Over the next decade and a half, we built seven more parks. We now operate in seven different states. Historically, these first eight parks have been referred to as Rainbow Parks, both formally and informally. In recent years, to tie more closely to our club and our membership, we have shifted to referring to these as Escapees RV Parks.
More Changes for Escapees RV Parks
There are more changes coming for our Escapees RV Parks, too. We are proud to announce the creation of Escapees RV Parks, Inc., a program that will enable more members and supporters of the RVing community to open campgrounds more quickly than we could do on our own.
These new parks will be held to the same standards as our existing parks. We strive to create friendly, comfortable, well-maintained, and community-oriented environments at our parks, and for a good value thanks to the many volunteers who helped build our existing parks. It is important to us that parks which bear the Escapees name share our values and our commitment to quality camping.
Want to learn more history behind Escapees RV Club and parks?
Why Escapees RV Parks, Inc.?
Every year, we get requests from members to develop more parks, both co-ops and more traditional RV parks. However, the process of building an RV park is expensive and time consuming, from the first day you start looking for land to the last sign post driven into the ground before officially opening. It would take us many years to expand our park system by building our own parks. (Believe us, we’ve looked into it!)
At the same time, we field requests from people (including members!) who want to partner with us to build and operate RV parks all over the country. While this has been appealing in some ways, we didn’t have the infrastructure to support these kinds of endeavors at the time.
We also investigated expansion through the existing co-op system. However, as with our former Rainbow Parks, these were built with a substantial amount of skilled volunteer labor. This enabled them to create beautiful, welcoming parks with desired amenities at a fraction of the cost. Even if we were able to gather similar volunteer effort from our current membership, the added hurdles of more contemporary government oversight make it cost-prohibitive to build a new co-op park at this time. Additionally, co-op parks are designed to meet the needs of their long-term guests (lot owners). Though they still welcome short-term guests, and offer enjoyable visits to traveling RVers, they have a more residential feel.
Bringing More Parks and Campgrounds to RVers
Putting all the pieces together, we established a system that helps those interested to build quality, friendly parks with the support of Escapees RV Club. We know RVers want more Escapees parks, but we cannot build enough of them, quickly enough, on our own to meet the growing demand. This is why we now offer the opportunity for others to share in the “secret sauce” that makes our parks so appealing for RVers, through a franchise program we call Escapees RV Parks, Inc.
Our board of directors spent a lot of time discussing the options before them, and confidently agreed this route is the best way forward at this time. “We are excited for the new adventure this expansion brings and the future of Escapees RV Parks,” says Travis Carr, Escapees RV Club President, and Vice-President of Escapees RV Parks, Inc. “In carrying forth the Escapees philosophies and traditions, we look forward to continuing to provide RVing enthusiasts and full-time RVers looking for friendly, comfortable, and well-maintained RV parks with more parking opportunities at a good value. Escapees RV Parks’ first priority will always be to provide a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for all RVers to call ‘home’ alongside their RVing family.”
It is a point of pride that we have successfully operated an RV park system for over 30 years. We want to share our processes and values with more RV parks to ensure that the expansion of our parks system would continue to promote the Escapees’ culture and community. And, thus, we created Escapees RV Parks.
Disclaimer: This is not an offering. An offering can be made by prospectus/Franchise Disclosure Document only. Franchises are not being offered to residents of, or for locations in, states where we do not have an effective franchise registration on file. Escapees RV Parks, Inc., 100 Rainbow Drive, Livingston, Texas 77351
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Good luck with your new endeavor! I’m sure you know that successful franchises are built on quality control. Consumers (campers) will expect a consistent level of service and standards among all the franchises. Therein is your challenge. I highly recommend investing in a great quality control and management system to effectively assure your organization a successful outcome. Your customers will demand it.
Happy camping!
Tony Shurts, MBA
Member # 148485
Looking forward to new camping opportunities in the future.
One thing that’s lacking is good parking pad materials, good maintained stone pads should be a Minimum. Most pads seem to be dirt,sand and not level in any form. I truly wish a program to upgrade the pads would be considered. I have construction equipment experience and would be glad to help at various locations.
Thanks
G Belanger
Where are all the new parks?
They will come! 🙂
This is great news but we echo the comments that a strict minimum and ongoing standard must be maintained as you have for your properties. A suggestion would be a team(s) of “mystery shoppers/campers” employed/or trained volunteers to do unannounced inspections and on the ground reviews/stays as well as a Quality Control department with teams who would be ever vigilant to ensure and work with a franchisee to ensure they maintain their parks AND do upgrades as the traveling RV communities demand/expect. There needs to be penalties or revocation of the agreement for failure of a franchised property to meet or exceed expectations. These issues have been the significant downfall of other franchised name/entities in the camping world for sure as we travel and see such a huge range of quality control level of parks, customer service, amenities, etc. from totally run down and dangerous to high end with showing pride in their product. So glad you are expanding your reach and happy we are lifetime members!
In order for a park to be approved as a franchisee, there is a set of guidelines they will have to meet, and standards they will have to maintain during their time as a franchisee. Our goal is to encourage the opening of more parks that uphold Escapees values and quality! 🙂
I agree with Gerard. A well-maintained gravel pad, properly constructed, should be the minimum, with a concrete slap the expectation. Every site should have 50A, FHU service. Assume that each site will be occupled by a 45′ multi-slide RV with a Class VIII tow truck and runaround car or a 50,000 pound 45-foot MH with towed. In other words, assume that everyone has the largest possible combination, and those of us with smaller rigs will easily fit.
Use COE or State campgrounds as the model for lot spacing. Plenty of space between lots, with appropriate ground cover. All lots should be level, even if it means that each lot is terraced.
Just a thought, David: Would you with the “smaller” rig be willing to pay the $100+ fee for such a huge space? Would I with the self-contained unit and no desire to hook up be needing all that? Many of us would not.
Please just don’t become another KOA. Some are great, most are not as advertised as far as amenities, available hook ups, etc.
Ethics in the RV business seems to be waning – witness the poor QA of new RV’s in this booming trend. Yes, you are in business to make money – absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just stay true to your values – and verify that franchisees do as well.
Go for it, and good luck. I am one of the SKPs who helped build a park, it was work, but it was also Lots of Fun. We looked forward to our winter of working on it while ‘home’ for the summer. My husband really lived this fully. He was happy with working, and the many great friends we made. We really missed Pair-A-Dice park after we had to sell out and stay our regular home all year. He died about 6 months later, but felt he’d been useful to the end.
Madora
Its a shame that a lot of rv parks have gone to the
Greadey parks and the well off parks instead of park for the everyday people and the retirement on fixed expenses people.
One of our goals with Escapees RV Parks is to keep them afforadable, though we understand that is a subjective term. We aim to support more parks that are for RV enthusiasts, focusing on the daily needs of RVers moreso than vacation-centric amenities.
Doesn’t sound like a not – for – profit model. One draw for me to visit Escapee Parks has been the desire to support the club affiliates knowing the quality of camp site and community prior to actual arrival. More parks are needed and your encouragement for their development is applauded.