Congratulations to the 2025 Campspot Award Winners! See the List!
CAMPSPOT CUSTOMER STORY
Learn from Colorado-based Ramble on how they’re making nature-focused tent, van, and trailer camping available to everyone, starting with locations Ramble at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Ramble at Mesa Verde National Park.
We talked with Director of Customer Experience Scott O’Harris to dig into the success of their campgrounds. Find out what he had to say.
“We really want to elevate what tent camping is for folks. We wanted to get away from that overcrowded, overpopulated campground where you can hear everyone’s conversation at the campfire right next to you. So spacing is one thing, but overall—in terms of layout, amenities, culture—we try to elevate the camping experience.
“We don’t want to alienate anyone who travel in RVs, but we did want Ramble to be a place for traditionalist tent campers to come and feel like they had space and upgraded amenities compared to what’s typically offered at campgrounds. We also wanted to make it a good introduction for families to get into camping.”
2
Ramble Locations
42
Tent Sites
Pet-Friendly Sites
4
Types of Tent Sites
“Our campgrounds are a great entrance into the outdoors, especially for families and parents with younger children, because we take away some of the hassle of needing to bring everything. We do that with our amazing bathrooms, flushing toilets, showers, and camp store for anything you forgot.
“We even leveraged some partnerships with great outdoor brands to come together and offer these really cool amenities, such as Solo Stove fire pits and Camp Chef stoves at each campsite.
“As we set up more Ramble locations, we want to follow the ‘leave no trace’ outdoor attitude and promote the no-footprint, zero-carbon emission philosophy. We put a lot of thought into doing things the correct way. Even if it costs a little more or comes at our own expense, we might just have to do it because it’s only going to work out better for our campers out here.”
320
Acres of rolling sand dunes
4.9
Stars on Google Reviews
30
Minutes From Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
15
Minutes From Mesa Verde National Park
“We don’t have any physical structures to sleep in, so you do have to bring your own tent. We offer four different tiers of campsites at the grounds.
“Our Adventure campsite is our most primitive site. It’s usually for up to four people. Each site comes with one tent pad, four nice camping chairs, a table, some shaded structure, a Solo Stove, fire pit, a Camp Chef grill, and a Camp Chef stove.
“It goes up from there to our Signature sites. These sites include everything at the Adventure site, plus great Adirondack chairs and tables. They also have a cool shaded structure and an actual kitchenette, with a sink and water pump for dishes. It has that Camp Chef stove built directly into the kitchen. It’s got some storage, and then it also has power. We’ve got a completely off-grid solar system, so you have the ability to power some small devices at each campsite.
“From there, we have our Signature Plus site. As you go forward, you get more added amenities. The Signature Plus site, for instance, has more tent pads, accommodates bigger groups, has bigger shade walls. It gets crazy windy at San Luis Valley and the sand dunes, so we have a big shade structure wall to block some of that wind for people. Everything else is pretty much the same, minus hammocks and some fun amenities.
“Our Group site is for large nonprofit groups, corporate groups, or those who want to have a big campout down there. It accommodates up to 20 people. It’s like two of the sites plugged together.”
792
Days on Campspot
6%
Increase in Net Campsite Revenue from Year 1 to 2 on Campspot
6
Employees
8
Park Features & Amenities
“We just had our rainiest season yet. We’ve also experienced a little bit of flooding and crazy windstorms before.
“Our main location (the sand dunes) has a full 360-degree view of the mountains. You’re pretty much in this valley. You’ll see rain around the mountains, and it might not ever make it to the valley.
“So that’s why you see a lot of campers deciding, ‘Alright, I need to get some Sensible Weather Guarantees here.’”
“We have guests from all over. To educate them on the environment and weather, we have a large knowledge base of FAQs that I built out on our website—pretty much anything you could ever think to ask, in addition to other mentions of Sensible Weather.
“We don’t have a large team, so anticipating questions and needs of our guests is very important. We want to try and automate for efficiency but also keep a personal touch.
“Weather is also the first thing we talk about in the booking process through Campspot and in our confirmation emails. The Sensible Weather Guarantee shows up in the booking flow. We make sure guests are prepared and understand what to pack, because things can change pretty quickly; it can go from 80 degrees to 40 degrees in a couple hours. We have to make sure they’re prepared.”
“There are a lot of reporting options in Campspot to get the data you really need. I’m always in the analytics tool and pulling data on who’s coming, who’s leaving, and how we can better utilize our system to create a better experience.”
Scott O’Harris, Director of Customer Experience
“One of the main reasons people visit the area is to go to Great Sand Dunes National Park. There’s also a beautiful town 15 minutes from our campground on the other side. We try to highlight both attributes.
“We understand not everyone’s going to the national park. Maybe they’re just traveling through or want to check out the San Luis Valley, which is beautiful in itself.
“We’re called Ramble at Great Sand Dunes, so people understand we’re not in the sand dunes but relatively close. We highlight the perk that most of that driving is actually through the national park. You’ll get there in 20 minutes, drive another 10 through the park, and you’ll be right where you want to be in Madonna Creek or Zapata Falls, and all these really beautiful places.
“We communicate this within our knowledge base at the campground. We have ‘things to do in the area’ signage everywhere. On our website, we also highlight things to do around Alamosa County.”
“We’re completely contactless, so we have QR codes all over our website and campground. You can check in using a QR code at your site and roll in at your own pace. We also have rentable items to take to the dunes—sandboards and such—which you can scan out from our location and take with you.
“We really want to make it as simple as possible for guests. Not having to check in with somebody makes things easier. That said, we have on-site camp posts as well because people do need assistance.
“We operate completely on an honor system too. For instance, there’s no one monitoring the camp store; it’s all based on scanning QR codes, and guests can take what they need. Overall, we’re choosing to trust our customers, and I really like that.”
“Campspot is very user-friendly.”
“There are a lot of reporting options in Campspot to get the data you really need. I’m always in the analytics tool and pulling data on who’s coming, who’s leaving, and how we can better utilize our system to create a better experience.
“For me, the experience doesn’t just stop when they leave the campground. It’s a constant battle to figure out how frequently we’re going to reach out, how much we’re going to tie this into our marketing material, and so on. I’ve personally had nothing but really good experiences with Campspot’s reporting.
“I have quite a few starred reports: Daily Occupancy, Arrivals, and Departures; Online Store Add-Ons; Who’s in the Park; Year-Over-Year Revenue Comparison, and Year-Over-Year Site Comparison.”
“For us, growth is the name of the game. We’d like to get to 300 campgrounds in the next 10 years.
“There’s nothing I hate more than when a company grows and the customer experience is lacking. As a customer myself, I’m always focused on that experience.
“I’ll always go to places that make me feel good, that treat me well. Sometimes price may not even be the issue. I’m more focused on how I felt going in, how I felt coming out, and that human connection and touch.
“So I want to focus on keeping that alive and well—and frankly, over the top—at our campgrounds.
“We understand that in this day and age, it’s almost impossible to completely unplug. In our surveys and reviews, a lot of people will book strictly because we have Wi-Fi—because they want to go out there with their families, but they still need to work remotely.
“As many people have this hybrid lifestyle, it’s so important to have options. If you want to completely unplug, awesome. Turn your phone off. If you want to be completely ingrained in both worlds, you have the option to do so.”
“I stayed at the campground for about 45 days this summer and got to meet everybody on-site. You hear it from visitors’ mouths about what’s important, what they like, what they don’t like. Sending surveys and reading reviews are obviously very important, but there’s nothing better than hearing it straight from guests on-site.
“It’s easy for where we are right now as a company because I can take it all in and then execute quick changes. For example, we can quickly start giving out lighters because people always forget those. Or, let’s give them coffee for free; that’s really important for folks in the morning. I can make a quick impact with little things like that.
“This just takes away the laboring over long decisions that can happen when there’s many people involved. By running lean as a six-person company, we can make really quick decisions.”
“Our general hope is that we’re within an hour of every major city in the country.
“We dive deep into analytics and scrape across the internet to find out where campgrounds are located. We utilize the North American Camping Report to see what the trends are, where people are camping, what families are looking for, price points—all that good stuff.
“I want people to come and say that Ramble was the best campground they’ve ever stayed at. Not just because of the features and benefits, but because of how it made them feel, and the connection and stories they’re going to have with their families now. That’s what it’s all about for me.”
Get a Personalized Demo Today
Our team would be happy to chat and show you our platform in action. Fill out this short form to get started, and we’ll be in touch soon!
Email: sales@campspot.comPhone: 616-226-3135
