RV Campgrounds & Man Camps in Stark County, ND

Stark County has real, documented precedent for permitting RV-based workforce housing -- oilfield 'man camps' -- as a conditional use during the Bakken boom, along with a genuine city-versus-county fight over where they belonged. That history is directly relevant to anyone evaluating land here for an RV park, campground, or short-term workforce-housing use today.

This page covers what's specific to Stark County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Man camps were a real, permitted land use here -- approved through a conditional-use process, not built ad hoc

During the Bakken oil boom, Dickinson's housing shortage was severe enough that oil-service companies built temporary workforce-housing camps -- commonly called 'man camps' -- to house crews, and Stark County handled them as a genuine land-use decision rather than an informal workaround. The Stark County Commission approved a conditional use permit for a roughly 100-person man camp for Stallion Oilfield Services on a site north of Dickinson, with conditions attached: the company was required to provide the county and the sheriff's department with contact information for the site manager. That's a useful precedent for anyone proposing a comparable RV-based workforce-housing or campground use on Stark County land today -- it establishes that the county has a track record of approving this use through its conditional-use process, with public-safety-oriented conditions rather than a blanket prohibition.

The camps themselves were purpose-built temporary housing: skid-mounted units, some with full kitchens and communal cook and entertainment spaces, designed for oilfield crews rather than long-term residents. Separately, existing RV parks and campgrounds in the Dickinson area -- North Park Campground among them -- became a well-documented, informal housing option for oilfield and construction workers during the same period, meaning the demand for RV-based lodging here wasn't limited to purpose-built camps; ordinary campgrounds absorbed real workforce demand too.

A real city-vs-county siting fight, and a boom that didn't last -- both worth knowing before you plan a new site

Siting a man camp in Stark County was not uncontroversial. Dickinson city officials raised specific concerns about man-camp infrastructure -- lagoon-based wastewater systems in particular -- and city planning discussions reflected a clear resident preference: the community needed the housing capacity man camps provided, but didn't want the camps sited near the city itself. That friction is a genuinely local land-use dynamic worth understanding if you're evaluating a Stark County parcel for a campground or workforce-housing use now: proximity to Dickinson's city limits has historically been a point of real public pushback here, distinct from the county's zoning rules on paper.

The other half of this history matters just as much for a buyer today: as Bakken drilling activity fell sharply in the 2014-2016 price crash, demand for man-camp housing collapsed with it, and local reporting described the camps 'dwindling to ghost camps' as crews left the region. That boom-bust pattern means any RV-park or workforce-housing investment in Stark County should be evaluated against current, not peak-era, oilfield activity and population levels -- a facility sized and financed around 2012-2014 demand assumptions has already been through one full cycle of ninety-percent-plus occupancy followed by near-vacancy in this exact county. Before buying land for this use, confirm current zoning and conditional-use requirements directly with Stark County Planning & Zoning, ask the county about any lagoon or wastewater-system standards that apply given the city's past concerns, and size any business plan around present-day oilfield employment rather than boom-era peaks.

RV Campgrounds and Workforce-Housing Camps in Stark County, North Dakota

Man camps were a real, permitted land use here -- approved through a conditional-use process, not built ad hoc

A real city-vs-county siting fight, and a boom that didn't last -- both worth knowing before you plan a new site

Ready to talk to someone who knows land?