Running an RV Campground on Your Land

A Genuinely Different Build Than a Tent Campground

An RV campground and a tent campground look similar from the road, but the infrastructure underneath them is not close to the same. RVs expect to plug in: at minimum, the National Electrical Code's recreational-vehicle-park provisions call for every RV site with electrical service to have at least one 20-amp, 125-volt, weather-resistant, GFCI-protected receptacle, with at least 20 percent of sites also getting a 50-amp, 125/250-volt receptacle to handle larger rigs. That is a real electrical design and inspection job, not a single outdoor outlet -- see our national guide to rural utilities for how power gets extended to raw land in the first place.

Layered on top of the electrical code, NFPA 1194, the Standard for Recreational Vehicle Parks and Campgrounds, sets the design, fire-safety, and environmental-sanitation criteria that most state and local RV park codes are built on. It is worth knowing this standard exists even if you never read it cover to cover, because it is usually the document your local fire marshal or health department is quoting when they hand you a list of requirements.

Site Sizing, Spacing, and Setbacks Are a Local Question

There is no single national minimum site size -- this is set township by township and county by county, and the range is wide. As illustrations only, one Pennsylvania township requires RV lots of at least 1,500 square feet and 30 feet of width with a 15-foot front setback from an interior road, while a neighboring township requires 3,000-square-foot spaces at least 50 feet wide, and another sets a 5-acre minimum for the whole campground plus a 50-foot planted buffer along side and rear property lines. None of these numbers transfer to your county. Pull your own zoning ordinance (our national zoning guide explains how to read one) and confirm minimum lot size and setbacks before you plan site layout.

Utilities You Actually Have to Install

Beyond the electrical pedestal at each site, you need a water supply sized for peak-season simultaneous demand across every occupied site, not the single-household load a residential well is designed for -- get a well tested and evaluated by a hydrogeologist or driller specifically for this use (see our national well water guide). Wastewater has to go somewhere too: either a commercial-grade septic system engineered for a much higher and more variable daily flow than a house (see our septic systems guide), a connection to public sewer where one exists, or a dump station with a pump-out and holding arrangement if full site sewer hookups are not feasible.

Licensing, Zoning, and the Business Side

An RV campground is a commercial use in almost every zoning code, which typically means a special or conditional use permit even on land zoned agricultural or rural residential, plus a health department license tied to the water and sewer plan and usually a state campground or lodging license. The industry trade group, now known as the Outdoor Hospitality Industry association (formerly the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, ARVC), publishes operating benchmarks and has been working on voluntary baseline standards for the private campground industry that go beyond code minimums.

Where the Real Costs Land

The electrical build-out is usually the single line item that surprises new operators most, because it scales directly with the number of sites and the distance each pedestal sits from the main service, and it has to be inspected against NEC standards rather than approximated. Road frontage and interior road quality (see our road frontage and private roads guides) also matter more here than for most other land uses, since you are moving trailers and motorhomes in and out regularly, not just the occasional pickup truck.