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Elkhart County Middlebury KOA, Indiana
Camp Indiana: Well, we are speaking with Hope today from Elkhart County Middlebury KOA. And how are you doing?
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Hope: I’m good.
Camp Indiana: Good. That’s good to hear. And so, kind of getting into our questions that we have for you, when was Elkhart County Middlebury KOA started?
Hope: It was built as a KOA campground in 1972 and I am currently the fourth owner.
The Elkhart County Middlebury KOA was founded in 1972
Camp Indiana: Okay. And so, it’s gone through a few owners, but definitely been around for a while.
Hope: Correct.
Camp Indiana: That’s awesome. And so, when people I guess are there for the weekend, what are the most popular activities that they like to do while in the Park?
Hope: In the campground, between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend, we have scheduled activities for families and whatnot, and we do have some themed weekends as well. We do socials, movies, crafts, and games. We have catch and release fishing, paddleboat rentals, fun cycle rentals, hunting trails. Basketball courts, playgrounds. Of course the swimming pool and an arcade and recreation hall. And I’m sure I’m forgetting something.
Camp Indiana: Well, there seems like there’s a lot to do for pretty much anyone at any age.
Hope:Correct. We have horseshoes as well and sand volleyball. Small homemade mini golf. 9-hole.
Camp Indiana: Great. And so, where is the campground located?
Hope: We are located in Northern Indiana. We’re in the heart of the RV capital of the world as well as the Northern Indiana Amish Country. And we’re just a mile and a half south of the 89 Interstate, so it’s real easy access.
Camp Indiana: Great. And so, I guess when someone’s there for the weekend and they’re maybe looking to venture out a little bit and explore, what are some of the kind of area attractions worth checking out?
Hope: Oh, well, we’re close to the RV Hall of Fame. We are in the, again, RV capital of the world. There’s about thirty plus RV factories in the area. Best time to go visit those would be the weekdays because they’re not open on the weekends. And then we’re also close to the second largest flea market in the nation is located here as well on Tuesdays and Wednesday, so that’s a great midweek adventure too.
Camp Indiana: Okay.
Hope: Unlike most campgrounds, we tend to actually be busier on the weekdays than on the weekends because of the flea market and the fact that people can’t go tour the factories on the weekends. They can pretty much only do that on the weekdays, so that actually brings a lot of people in during the week as well. And then of course the family activities and whatnot on the weekends. There are Amish I guess you could say museum, but information centers in the area as well, called (Unclear 3:08.7), which is in (Unclear 3:09.5), just seven miles from us. And then Amish Acres, which is in (Unclear 3:13.5), which is about 40 minutes from us.
Camp Indiana: Okay, cool. And then yeah, so kind of back to the campground, you have tent camping, RV, and cabins. Correct?
Hope: Correct. Yes, we’ve got everything right from the tent to the small pop-up travel trailer, big rigs. We’ve got rustic camping cabins and then we also have deluxe camping cabins.
Camp Indiana: Perfect. So, no matter how you like to camp, you’d be able to do it there.
Hope: Absolutely. We can pamper our guests. We have a fully stocked convenient store. We’ve got a 24-hour laundry facility as well.
Camp Indiana: Great. And yeah, so two more questions for you. If you could only spend one hour in the campground, what would you do?
Elkhart County Middlebury KOA
Hope: Oh, considering I spend a whole day here, I keep myself busy. But one of the things I enjoy doing, when at all possible, I like to take my dogs. I’ve got two little corgis and we like to walk around the campground and talk to the campers when we have the opportunity. That’s one of our favorite things to do.
Camp Indiana: Perfect.
Hope: We’re very a pet friendly campground. So, my dogs, their job is to do PR with the camper’s pets as I do PR with the campers.
Camp Indiana: I’m sure they enjoy their job very much.
Hope: Yes, they do.
Camp Indiana: And last question for you. If you could spend just one night at Elkhard County Middlebury KOA, what campsite would you choose?
Hope: What would I choose for the campsite? Well, I’ve got some big rig sites and we just put in three brand new big rig super sites, so we’re excited about that. That’s concrete parking pad and a patio. Patio furniture versus the standard run of the mill picnic table. So, I’d like to spend a night in a super site like that, or just any of our campsites really. I just like the area. I like to be able to walk the hiking trails and look over the view of the pond and gazebo and whatnot.
Camp Indiana: Yeah, absolutely. Well, no, thank you so much for sharing the information. It’s been really insightful.
