RV Park Feasibility Study in Utah

A destination state for campgrounds

Utah is one of the strongest RV park and campground markets in the SBA files. The state ranks 4 of 47 for the class, and the 2.43x location quotient shows these properties taking well over twice the weight they carry in the national mix, even though the class sits at 17 of 39 among Utah asset types. The median loan of $998,000 is 1.42x the national median, and the file holds 43 approvals totaling $61.0 million across FY2017 to FY2026. What defines the cell is the combination: a concentrated, tourism-driven market that also borrows larger sums than its peers. Cancellation and loss do not give a separate signal.

Two programs, working together

RV parks are land-heavy, and Utah borrowers use real estate financing more than most: 7(a) took 27 loans and 504 took 16, a ratio that would be unusual in a restaurant or retail class. Among 504 sponsors, Mountain West Small Business Finance has 11 loans and $8.7 million, while America First Federal Credit Union has 6 7(a) loans totaling $11.2 million, a very large average. Half of the approvals fall between $416,000 and $2.0 million, and franchising is 14.0% of loans. Washington County holds 9 loans, Garfield County 6 and Iron County 5, which points to the southern parks near the national parks. Volume peaked at 10 loans and $16.6 million in FY2023, and it fell to 2 loans in FY2024.

Cancellations account for 13.2% of the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals at minimum, and the ceiling is the same 13.2%. No Utah charge-off rate is published, because fewer than 30 early loans have funded. The gap is not a clean bill of health; a single large loan could change the picture.

One industry code covers RV parks and campgrounds, so tent camping, glamping and full-service RV resorts all fall in the same line. A reader cannot tell a basic campground from a resort with cabins, which is why a study should state the product.

What a Utah RV park study has to test

The first question is the season. Utah destination demand is strongly seasonal, and the study should show monthly occupancy, the average nightly rate and the shoulder-season plan, against the competing parks and public campgrounds nearby. Site work is the major cost, including utilities, water and sewer service, roads and pads, and the study should compare total development cost with a loan near $998,000 and justify anything far higher. Zoning, permits and utility capacity can stop a project, so each should be shown settled. The debt payment must also be covered in a weak season, and an appraiser will have to value a business that depends on land and a short operating season.