We just got home from our yearly 2 weeks at Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have been doing this trip in various lengths since 2009, before we retired, so shorter then but longer for the last 10 years.
We stay in and older, smaller, shorter sites, in park, campground so it is a good chance to see what the "not large" camper trends are over the years. Early on it was nearly all popups and tents, plus us in our Roadtrek. Small trailers and a few Cs are now in the mix also.
Class B vans had started to get very common around 2018 and all over the place by the end of Covid, but now, only a couple of years later, they seem to be seen much less often on this trip.
On the 600+ mile drive out to Custer we saw only a couple of Bs and very few RVs in general which was a very big surprise and different than normal. We wrote it off to the unsettled weather that had just passed, but may have been wrong on that.
We had no class Bs in the 23 site for the entire first week we were there. Maybe 3 or 4 the next week with them mostly 1 or 2 nights. That is way down from even last year when there had already started the trend down in numbers.
On the trip home we saw more RVs and probably 4-5 Bs which is still low compared to the past.
On the other hand, in Custer teardrops of both traditional and "box" versions were all over the place. There were 4+ in the campground almost all the time as they rotated through for various length stays. The owners looked to be on the ends of the age groups, young couples or retired/near retired couples. The trend started last year and now has gotten substantially bigger.
Perhaps the crazy high B pricing is driving the less affluent entry level campers to the teardrops as it is probably a much easier entry path. Lower price trailer and towable without having to buy a big pickup to do it with.
I have no idea if this is happening elsewhere, though, as Custer is in the heart of flyover country and a long ways from major population centers, so may be a totally different dynamic than other areas have.
I wonder what we will see next year?
We had one teardrop of the very small size two sites from us for a few days that had probably every matching accessory you could get for it. Huge attached tent with a tunnel to trailer with separate fly over it to waterproof the connection the trailer. Special umbrella on bracket to the rear hitch of the trailer to cover the outdoor kitchen. Piles of bags and storage boxes that matched the tent with several coolers also. It took them over 2 hours to set it all up and another 2 to take it all down and pack it up. Of course if it was windy and raining the kitchen was not usable unless you got really wet as the umbrella had to come down in it was windy.
Fewer class B vans, lots of teardrops
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