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Sonoran Desert RV Park Gila Bend
Effective September 1st, and after a successful five-year run, the award-winning Gila Bend KOA is leaving the Kampgrounds of America franchise network to become a Sonoran Desert RV Park. The current 122-site Sonoran Desert RV Park will continue to be developed into an attractive and affordable park in southwest Arizona.
“The decision to leave the KOA franchise network was not an easy one,” said Scott Swanson, who co-owns and operates the campground with his mother and business partner, Sandy Catalana.
“We are grateful to KOA for giving us an incredible opportunity to transform a neglected independent campground into one of the top five KOA campgrounds in North America. But we’re at a point now where we are ready to take our next steps with more creative control over everything from our website, reservation system and branding to the types of amenities we provide.”
The mother-son team have also acquired 20 acres of undeveloped land next door, which they plan to develop into an affordable seasonal park called Red Barn RV Park Gila Bend.
“We hope to have the first campsites at Red Barn RV Park Gila Bend ready by fall of 2022,” Swanson said, adding that the park will cater to part-time and full-time RVers who want a more affordable park with fewer amenities than the Sonoran Desert RV Park.
Swanson and Catalana previously co-owned and operated Leaf Verde RV Resort 35 miles to the North in Buckeye, which they co-owned with 16 other family members and sold in 2016. In 2015 the two purchased Augie’s Quail Trial RV Park in Gila Bend, which was largely undeveloped.
But after purchasing Augie’s, Swanson and Catalana quickly improved the park and were able to join the KOA network, which helped them tremendously with their initial marketing efforts.
“We knew we were taking a risk by purchasing this property in Gila Bend due to its remote location and its limited resources for visitors without even a grocery store in town,” Swanson recalled. “But with the KOA brand, logo, marketing, and KOA’s reputation, we were able to get our business off the ground.”
Swanson and his mother have spent close to $1 million in improvements at the Gila Bend KOA, which ranked 4th place in guest satisfaction reviews out of over 500 KOAs in North America, according to KOA’s 2019 market group report released to KOA owners, up from 5th place the year before. The Gila Bend KOA was also honored with KOA’s 2018 Rising Star Award, which is presented annually to a campground that has less than five years in the KOA system and is off to a fast start with growth, investment, high guest service scores and revenue.
Business has been so promising at the Gila Bend KOA that Swanson and his mother purchased a 20-acre parcel next door with plans to build the future Red Barn RV Park Gila Bend. “It will cater to the more budget-minded RV traveler with basically no amenities, just a place to park with full hook-ups,” Swanson stated, adding, “The Red Barn RV Park Gila Bend project was put on hold this past March when the pandemic hit, but we hope to get back together with our engineers and Town officials as soon as we are able to feel out the market during this unpredictable time.”
Sonoran Desert RV Park, for its part, has 122 full hookup RV Sites, four deluxe patio sites, two with private dog runs, The PEThouse Suite, and four deluxe tent sites. All of their pull-through sites are 100 feet long and 55 feet wide with the back-in sites being 85 feet deep by 55 feet wide. Among the park’s carefully thought out amenities are a heated swimming pool, a large recreation room, an outdoor Veranda, a 24-hour laundry room with a clothesline, a restroom/shower building, a putting green, a horseshoe pit, and a petanque court. There are two small outdoor fenced-in “solitary confinement” areas for a party of one to read, relax, or meditate. It is labeled as the Solitary Confinement — “a place to send your spouse when they need a time-out!” There is a large dog park with three separate corrals, including two with grass. The larger corral is for social dogs and the other two are for unsocial dogs and/or their unsocial owner. During the busy winter months, November thru March, the park offers organized activities with an activity staff.
Swanson just completed a rock and cactus garden for his guests to enjoy and re-homed a 20-foot Saguaro with eight arms. The garden has a variety of cacti as well as over 70 boulders arranged very artistically by a local landscape artist. The boulders include “kino blue boulders,” which are a very unique boulder with variations of reds, grays and bursting with vibrant blue and turquoise colors resulting from their high copper and mineral content. The new logo for the park is a desert agave, another native Sonoran desert cactus. The new park logo is a teal color that captures a combination of the blue-gray of the agave and the blue and turquoise of the kino blue boulders.
Swanson said he wanted to make it clear that he and Catalana are leaving the KOA franchise network on positive terms. “We have no hard feelings with anyone at KOA,” Swanson said, adding, “They have a winning formula, great support, and a loyal following of RV enthusiasts. I still plan to stay at KOAs when I continue my travels in my motorhome. Who knows what the future may bring? I may knock on their door and ask to come back in.”
For more information about Sonora Desert RV Park, please visit SonoranDesertRVPark.com. The park is affiliated with the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, which produces a statewide camping guide and a travel planning website at www.GoCampinginArizona.com.