Working at any campground in Leelanau, you meet people from near and far, and a lot of the satisfaction you get from the job is in the special memories you help families make year after year.
Lake Leelanau RV Park Manager Jennifer Rhodes has been working at the campground office since 2007 and said that’s a big reason why she still loves what she does. Before the park, Rhodes was a nurse and would work a couple days a week for the family business, eventually taking on the job fulltime. This year, the park opens officially for the season on May 1.
“We’re ready to go for the season and are so excited,” Rhodes said. “So many campers like meeting each other. I like to know what all of the customers’ wants and needs are, where their sites are, who their kids are, so I kind of make that a priority, and that makes it fun for me to know all of them. You see their families grow.”
Some of the kids of families that Rhodes met years ago now return to the campground as adults, a full circle generational moment that she and the family always appreciate.
Rhodes’ husband, Jeff, is the son of Don Wilson, the owner that made the park into what it is today. Don and his late wife, Marilyn, originally purchased the property in 1976, with their first summer in business beginning in 1977. Before the Wilson’s acquired the campground, it was known as Teter’s Little Finger Beach in the 1960s.
“It’s also really important to all of us, with Don turning 91 this July, just so that he gets to enjoy the benefits of seeing a beautifully run park. We all take great pride in it, and customer service is one of our number one things, we like to know everybody,” she said.
The family-owned and operated RV Park offers 196 sites today, complete with lakeside camping opportunities, fun amenities, a sandy beach and safe swimming areas, and even a modern clubhouse that includes a large kitchen, bathrooms, big screen with surround sound, and a wood burning fireplace.
While campgrounds became a much more popular place during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhodes said the camping business has been steadily growing since she started more than 15 years ago.
Always keeping campers in mind, Rhodes said Don and Marilyn have been improving and adding to the amenities at the park from the start. After purchasing the property in 1976, paved roads were put in, as well as their beloved water fountain and lodge building.
“It was really important to him (Don) to try and keep the campground current and updated, while preserving the beauty of Lake Leelanau,” she said. “It’s an incredible lake to go out on, and then the restaurants and the wineries and the small towns all around.”
The park staff today continue to strive to keep their campground amenities modern and up-to-date, knowing that if ever a bigger campground was put in, they would still be a sought after spot for people to come and visit.
Although they’ve never had a store on the premises, Rhodes said they wanted to encourage local business from the start. Whether it was suggesting that people shop for essentials at NJ’s Grocery, Leland Mercantile, or Hansen Foods, or recommending any of the wineries and restaurants found in each unique town in Leelanau, it’s always been important to the park team to support and promote shopping at other businesses.
“A lot of the time, we’re full, so we can’t get people in, and I tell them about all the other campgrounds in the area, and the bed and breakfast and the cottages in the area, too,” she said.
With the increased number of people camping in the region, the busiest campground times have changed. Rhodes said over a decade ago, the main camping season seemed to be in July, the first couple weeks of August, and then Labor Day weekend. Now the season starts earlier and ramps up in June and September especially. She said she has also noticed that camping habits and where people are traveling from have shifted greatly since the 70s. Seasonal campers used to be people who wintered in states like Arizona and Florida coming in for the summer. Nowadays, it’s people of all ages that are traveling from down or out of state/country, as well as families from Leelanau.
“It’s nice because we have a great variety of seasonal campers that range from young families to older ones,” she said. “We’ve got one couple that’s in their 90s, and they have come for so long and they are just driving and getting around and still coming up enjoying the area. It’s fun to have that, I like the diversity and all the different people.”
The majority of campers are returnees, but Rhodes said it’s always great to get new people in and off the lengthy waitlist when they can. The seasonal waitlist has been closed since October 2021 because there’s been such a desire for these sites, but Rhodes said she’s hoping the list will be back open by the fall.
“COVID really slowed down our turnover of seasonal sites, we used to turn over about eight a year. When COVID happened, we found that less people were making changes and sticking with what they had, so we had an average of two to three sites a year turnover,” she said.
While customers have more than enough campgrounds to choose from, Rhodes said she thinks people return every year not just because of the prime lake access and amenities provided, but because of the friendly and genuine staff on-site ready to assist with any of their needs.
“It’s incredible the number of people I get everyday in the summer that say they’ve been to campgrounds across the country and this campground is so beautiful,” she said. “We just really pride ourselves in that… and we want you to keep coming back and we want people to have a good time.”
