With the overall mild spring and summer months we’ve seen, camping has been seeing an increase in Greene County.

County Conservation Director Dan Towers says the number of campers at Spring Lake Park has steadily been on the rise. Two years ago, Towers notes the total number of campers was up 15-percent over the previous year and last year, that number rose again by another ten-percent. He adds that this year, he has already seen the percentage of campers go up again by 12-percent so far. Towers explains what he thinks has been the factors contributing to the record number of campers.

“Spring Lake, they do like that because we have a concessionaire there that provide boat rentals, skating rink, a beach, concessions, so there are things to do. Most of our campers are either elderly that like a quiet spot or families with young kids that have things to do.”

With 75-percent of the campers coming from out of county, Towers says the park isn’t the only entity that sees an economic impact.

“When they come here, they don’t spend their whole time at Spring Lake, they come to town and do things like buy groceries and gas or maybe go to a movie or something. So it brings in tourism dollars that we wouldn’t see otherwise.”

With an increase in the number of campers, that also drives up camping revenues. Towers anticipates camping revenues to be over $150,000 this year, which is about $10,000 more than last year.