Campsites see boost from pandemic

FAIRFIELD – The coronavirus has caused a shift away from crowded, indoor activities to those that can be enjoyed in the great outdoors, where it's harder to catch the virus.

Camping has seen an uptick in activity in Iowa and around the country. Jefferson County Conservation Board Director Shawn Morrissey said that, throughout the Midwest, he's hearing that campgrounds have been noticeably busier than in an average year.

'A lot of state parks are full all the time,” he said. 'People who have tried to go to state parks realized they were full and came here,” referring to Jefferson County Park's campground.

Morrissey said picnic areas are getting more use than normal, bike shops are selling out, fishing gear is flying off the shelves, and more people are out hiking and jogging.

'It's a lot easier to get out in the open and feel like you're safe,” he said.

Earlier this spring, Jefferson County's cabins were closed, and a lot of hotels saw a decline in travelers. Morrissey said the pandemic and subsequent restrictions threw people's vacation plans out the window, except for camping, which the state never curtailed.

Morrissey said more indoor venues are starting to open, but noted that there are still a lot of restrictions at places like rec centers.

'Concerts and other fun things people like to do in the summer have been canceled,” he said. 'But camping is still available. All this outdoor stuff is still considered safe and mostly open, so people are turning to it.”

Morrissey said Gov. Kim Reynolds put into place restrictions on the use of cabins in March, but slowly lifted them until opening them fully in mid-May. Morrissey said the cabins are not especially busy in March because it's usually still too cold. He estimates the conservation board lost about a month's worth of revenue during that time, but it's making up for it with increased usage since then.

When Reynolds closed the schools in mid-March, Morrissey said he saw an uptick in the use of county parks and trails, and that accelerated as the weather got warmer.

'As the weather got nice, everybody started going to parks because it was their only option,” he said.

Morrissey said Jefferson County Park has been receiving a lot of 'explorers” from outside the area, who might be coming from bigger cities that are still locked down.

'People get online and pick a park to visit,” Morrissey said. 'We hear comments from them like, ‘We didn't know this was here. This is nice.'”

Morrissey said the county's other campgrounds, Mac Coon Access and Round Prairie Park, are seeing more use thanks to the dry weather. Mac Coon Access, on the Skunk River, has been busy because it's been able to avoid those heavy rains that make the campground unusable.

'This year, it's been usable about every weekend,” Morrissey said.

Chris Gammack was among those taking advantage of the nice weather Saturday to go camping in Jefferson County Park. Gammack traveled to Fairfield from his home in Hayesville, in Keokuk County.

Gammack said he camps about eight to 10 times a year, which is 'not often enough.” He usually finds local campgrounds to stay at, unless he's on a trip. Saturday was the third time he's camped at Jefferson County Park and the first time this year. He said the thing he likes most about the park is that it's quiet.

'I'm surprised it's not even fuller,” he said.

Gammack also enjoys camping at Lake Darling State Park outside Brighton, which he visits once or twice a year. He said if he could make one upgrade to Jefferson County Park, it would be to add sewer hook-ups like those at Lake Darling. He said Jefferson County has water and electric hook-ups, just not sewer.

Marge Stout from Sigourney was also spending the weekend at Jefferson County Park. She camps about twice a month, and her favorite places are Jefferson County Park, Lake Darling, Lake Belva Deer just northeast of Sigourney, and Roberts Creek West, an inlet of Lake Red Rock near Pella.

Stout said she likes Jefferson County Park because it's quiet and she's gotten to know so many of the other frequent campers. She said the park doesn't have nearly as many kids running around as other parks, though she doesn't mind them, because she herself likes to camp with her grandkids.

Stout said her recreational vehicle has just about every comfort a person could need, from a couch, recliner, television, refrigerator, furnace, toilet and hot water heater.

'I'm not missing much,” she said.

The only way in which the RV is different from a small house is that, as Gammack explained, there's no sewer hook-up at Jefferson County Park, so campers have to their sewage to a dump site.

Stout said her favorite camping activity is just sitting back and relaxing. She likes to visit Lake Darling, park the RV on the lakeshore and take in the surroundings.

'We sit around and rest. It's nice not to have to work,” she said. 'But we also go on walks and hold camp fires, too.”

Birmingham resident Tiffany Burchett was camping with her parents Saturday. Her parents are regular campers, going about three times a month, but this was just the second time camping this year for Burchett.

'Sitting around the fire is my favorite part of camping,” Burchett said.

Burchett likes to take her dog, a border collie named 'Bear,” on walks throughout the park's trails. A few weeks ago, she and Bear walked for 5 miles on the trails.

'I like how Jefferson County's trails are all connected,” she said. 'I especially like the swinging bridge in the park.”

Burchett said she and her husband, Avery, like parks so much they got married in one last September, when they wed at Lake Darling.