A fragmented market with real demand behind it
RV parks and outdoor hospitality have the ingredients investors like: resilient leisure demand, fragmented ownership, and room for operational improvement. They also have a data problem. Compared with office, industrial, or multifamily, the public and private datasets are thinner and less standardized.
Industry estimates put the U.S. RV park and campground market in the low tens of billions of dollars, with thousands of privately owned parks and a large public-campground universe. KOA’s 2026 camping report showed camping participation above pre-pandemic levels, with younger campers and glamping continuing to broaden demand. That is encouraging, but it is not enough to underwrite a park.
Why records matter more here
Most parks are still independently owned. Many are operated locally, classified inconsistently, and marketed with limited institutional reporting. There is no single source that reliably gives you site count, transient mix, seasonal rent, utility configuration, capex history, and entitlement limits.
Public records become the skeleton of the first screen. They will not tell you everything, but they can tell you whether the basic story is worth a call.
What the records can actually support
Assessor records can help identify parcels, ownership, use classification, assessed improvements, and sometimes site counts. State campground licenses, where available, may be better for permitted site count, water and sewer configuration, and operator identity.
Permit records can show capex: pools, clubhouses, cabins, bathhouses, electrical upgrades, septic work, dump stations, and amenity additions. Planning records and conditional-use permits can show whether the current site count is entitled, whether cabins are allowed, and whether long-term stays create a zoning issue.
Environmental and utility records matter because many parks rely on private wells, wastewater systems, or regulated discharge points. Those systems can carry real capex and compliance exposure.
What still has to come from the operator
Daily rates, seasonal mix, annual occupancy, OTA exposure, direct-booking share, guest reviews, payroll, maintenance practices, and true operating margin do not live in county records. They live in the property-management system, bank statements, tax filings, and operator interviews.
That is why the first screen should be humble. Use records to verify the physical and legal skeleton. Then decide whether the operator-level diligence is worth doing.
The 2026 takeaway
RV parks look a bit like MHCs did years ago: fragmented ownership, strong lifestyle demand, and growing investor attention at the higher-quality end. But the messiness is part of the asset class.
The useful question is not whether outdoor hospitality is attractive in the abstract. It is whether this park, on these parcels, with this utility setup and these entitlements, deserves the next diligence step. County and state records can get you to that answer faster.
Treat every public-records data point as a claim with provenance, not a fact.
Research priority, not seller intent
Acren ranks commercial property research priority. It does not infer disposition, hardship, or willingness to transact.
Source evidence required
Every recommendation must carry supporting records, field-level rights status, and verification gaps.
Verification before action
Customers are responsible for verifying records before outreach, capital, or workflow decisions.
Display rules built in
Customer-visible, generalized, internal-only, and suppressed fields stay visible as product controls.