Morning Sentinel
High gas prices are keeping Maine campers close to home
BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 09/02/2008

BY MECHELE COOPER

Staff Writer

With gas prices on the rise, the age-old tradition of piling into a motor home for a road-trip has seen better days.

Albert and Josephine Bliss love to vacation in Maine.

The retired couple reserve a wooded site for their two-week stay at the KOA campsite in Richmond.

But this year, high gas prices crimped their plans, but they still came to Maine.

They left their gas guzzling mobile home parked in their driveway back in Pataskala, Ohio.

"We opted to come up and stay in one of the park trailers they rent because of the price of gas," Josephine Bliss said. "Gas was four dollars and something, so we decided to leave our RV home. And we're not the only ones. My twin sister has a motor home and they've only taken it out once this year and only went 200 miles. They usually go to Texas in the fall, but they're not even taking it out then."

Nancy Kirkpatrick, owner of the KOA, said she's not seeing the huge RVs like she used to. The ones that would roll in for a night.

Instead, she's seeing more families in small campers and tents who live anywhere from a few miles to a couple hours away. More people are reserving her cabins and park trailers. And instead of one or two nights then moving on, she said they're staying a week or longer

"I'm assuming it's the gas," Kirkpatrick said. "We're having a lot of campers from Sabattus, Bowdoin, Gardiner and from Richmond, which is right here."

It's the same at Two Rivers Campground in Skowhegan. Elaine Strout, manager, said her campers are not traveling as far and are extending their weekends.

"It's because of the gas prices," Strout said. "We're getting more locals and they are staying longer. We're finding people like it here. It's quiet, the campground's clean and they're enjoying it."

Rick Abare of the Maine Campground Owners Association said Mainers camping in their own state this summer made up for the loss of out-of-state campers who did not travel as far because of fuel costs.

He said campers are reducing their travel time to one or two hours. Those who spent four weekends camping during the summer are now down to three and adding a Thursday or Sunday night stay.

"They're not reducing the nights they camp, but are traveling less often," Abare said. "We're seeing that in a big way, which really, for our members, is a good situation. Whenever you own a campground you turn people away during the weekend. Now we're not having to turn away as many people on the weekends and are full up during the week."

Reducing the distance they drive and spending more time in one place are ways to cope with rising gasoline prices.

Abare said the high price of gas reduced the number of big rigs that came into the state and will probably affect the fall foliage season even more.

"They're the retired folks and they're not out driving the roads as much as they were," he said.

A motor home's fuel tank holds on average 50 to 70 gallons, said Rob Armstrong, owner of Motor Home & RV Super Center in Auburn. At $3.65 a gallon, that's $183 to $256 for a fill up. And the fuel goes fast at eight to 12 miles per gallon.

Armstrong said spending more for gas, however, doesn't keep people from doing what they enjoy.

"We're still seeing customers buying the big coaches for cross-country trips and going down to Florida, certainly not like they have been in the past," Armstrong said. "And they are a lot of folks buying the smaller units who typically camp around Maine. They're still camping only closer to home rather than going way up north."

Abare said there are about 275 licensed campgrounds in Maine. He said it's estimated that a person at a campsite will spend as much as $120 per day. Maine has nearly 30,000 sites among the state and national parks and private campgrounds.

"Somewhere between 70 and 90 nights a year a lot of those sites are full," Abare said. "There are three to four people at the sites per day. When you start to run the math, that's a billion dollar impact on the state of Maine."

For Betty and Dan Wilson, owners of a pop-up camper, the allure of the camping experience in natural settings is what draws them outdoors

But now, they're doing it within 30 miles of their Belgrade home.

"We usually try to go to New Hampshire at least twice a year," Betty Wilson said. "If we do go, I don't think we'll haul our trailer. We'll just go and stay in a cabin. It's not worth taking a vehicle and hauling a camper up the mountains. So camping closer to home is a plus for us."

In spite of it all, Abare said campgrounds are doing quite well on the coast and southern interior areas. There is also potential in the Augusta and Gardiner area for growth in the industry.

Nicholas Beaulieu, a West Gardiner builder, is taking advantage of people camping closer to home.

Beaulieu is at the end of the permitting process and hopes to open his 30-site campground on Longwood Drive in Gardiner by next Memorial Day weekend.

He had intended to expand his subdivision on Longwood Drive, but decided to build a campground on the remaining land when the housing market bottomed out. Colonial Heritage Resorts RV Park, with access to Cobbossee Stream, will be located on a 40-acre parcel within the Residential Growth and Shoreland Zoning Districts, which allows for campgrounds.

He said this type of business will bring money into the community and attract campers from all over.

"We'll have access to Cobbossee Stream so there will be a dock and swimming area and I'm also putting in a swimming pool," Beaulieu said. "And we'll have electricity and water hookups. One of our goals is to keep the natural features so you can really have the camping experience."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com

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