S’mores, floating, and nature… oh my! Sounds like a great summer outing in Central Minnesota. And the best part? You don’t have to go far to experience it. Two Rivers Campground opened more than sixty years ago in the 1960s on a little peninsula where the Mississippi and Platte Rivers meet. Sometime along the way, the original owner began a tubing business along the Platte. The campground was sold in the early 2000s, and the owner expanded the campground up and out of the floodplain and added a large office, resort pools, a rec pavilion, and over 100 new full hookup sites.
“I always say the public (state and national) parks have the best natural settings while the private campgrounds have the best amenities. But Two Rivers is unique in that we provide both. We have this really special, serene, natural setting along these two gorgeous rivers, but if you’d like a resort experience, you can just walk up the hill where we have F&B service, two pools, planned activities, and numerous other amenities. We’ll pamper you if you want, but you can also absorb nature to your heart’s content. Also, the river tubing service we offer is pretty rare for a campground,” said Eric Kline, the current owner of Two Rivers.
Kline purchased the campground In December 2021. “We purchased [the campground] after the previous owner had been here for almost 20 years, and they built most of it and operated it as a fine-tuned machine. So that transition was intimidating, and we stubbed our toe in a few areas. But after a year or so of settling in we are very comfortable with the operation. The community has been awesome. Benton County and the local township of Langola are very easy to work with and have helped us grow in the areas we needed help with. The Benton Economic Partnership has been great at getting the business community together and has been a resource for us in finding workers and learning more about the challenges and initiatives taking place in the community.”
“I’m most proud of the team we managed to build at the campground. The current staff hails from New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, Arizona, Georgia, the local community, and…New Zealand. A wonderful collection of accents. Our rivers and amenities are top-notch, yes, but if you read our campground’s reviews, you will quickly see that the staff are what people are really blown away by, and I think will be a long-term differentiator for us.”
While the staff of Two Rivers come from far and wide (literally) a good portion of their customers are from our neighborhoods. Our communities are hard to beat! “People think an RV campground would draw business from many far-flung places from people traversing the country; while that’s true, over half of our customers and revenues come from within a 50-mile radius. In other words, the approximately 200k population of greater St. Cloud is more important to us than the 3+ million Minneapolis-St. Paul market just 60 miles away. I was shocked when I saw that analysis, but it’s true. The health and growth of this local community directly support our existence, so when that community is strong, so are we.”
If you have an RV, camper, or tent, consider Two Rivers Campground for your next adventure. Or, grab your SPF and head down for a day of tubing fun! Kline shared they’ve recently invested in a new set of tubes for the season. “We will provide a safe, friendly, and over-the-top fun experience for your friends and family.”
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