Situated on over 25 acres of land, Acorn Oaks RV Park in Francesville has much to offer guests who are looking to get away from it all for a few relaxing days. The park’s many amenities include 105 RV spots, wi-fi, a camp store, a wine and beer lounge, a playground, a rec hall complete with arcade games, and a snack shack with a variety of menu options. This November marks the second year that husband-and-wife team Christie Nicholson and Bill Nicholson have owned and operated Acorn Oaks. From the moment the pair purchased Acorn Oaks, they have worked tirelessly to outfit the park with upgrades that will improve their guests’ experience.
“My husband and I have been avid campers for years,” Christie Nicholson said. “We’ve done pitch camping, pop-up camping, trailer camping, and have even camped during multi-day river kayaking trips. We've stayed at dozens of campgrounds over the years, and we made a list of the things we liked and disliked about them. I hated staying at campgrounds where quiet time was not monitored. Everyone was partying and you couldn’t get any sleep. So we set out to make Acorn Oaks a safe, quiet, and family-friendly campground.
When Christie Nicholson and Bill Nicholson procured the nearly 80 year old RV park, it was in need of a facelift. They set to work upgrading the park’s fixtures and even added completely new ones. They constructed a laundry room and set up a dog park for their canine guests to enjoy. The couple also repainted the park’s bathhouse and replaced its toilets. This year, they secured a state permit to sell beer and wine, enabling them to open the park’s beer and wine lounge. While Christie Nicholson and Bill Nicholson have come up with their own ideas for upgrades to implement at Acorn Oaks, they also highly value the upgrade suggestions that their guests offer.
“We've tried really hard to stay in our niche of being a family-friendly park, so we take our guests’ feedback into account so we can learn what families are looking for,” Christie Nicholson said. “We try to pay attention to what attracts them to a certain feature of the park or something new they’d like to see. For example, we’ve had several people ask if we offer golf cart rentals, so we’ve added that to the list of upgrades we plan to implement. Some guests have even come to us with suggestions for new programs we can offer kids. Their feedback is a major factor when we’re deciding what features we want to add and change at Acorn Oaks.”
One of the biggest upgrades that Christie Nicholson and Bill Nicholson have implemented at Acorn Oaks this year is the dredging of the park’s pond to make it safe to swim in. They turned the pond’s shore into a beach and installed a well to maintain the proper water level. The couple is by no means finished upgrading, however, and plans to update the park’s electrical system to accommodate current and future upgrades and even outfit the park with a gym.
Christie Nicholson and Bill Nicholson strive to support and engage with the Pulaski County community in a number of ways.
“A lot of local families tend to stay at Acorn Oaks,” Christie Nicholson said. “It’s been nice getting to know them as they come here and camp. We also do our best to connect with the community by getting people involved in our operations and activities here. For instance, during holiday weekends, we have teenage girls from the community come and help out in our snack shack. When we held our big Halloween celebration a couple of weekends ago, we had the West Central High School drama club come out in full makeup and costume to participate in our haunted tractor ride. These have been great ways for us to get to know Pulaski County and its residents. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Christie Nicholson says that the upgrading process is a marathon rather than a sprint. She and Bill Nicholson believe that the slow and steady approach will enable them to offer their guests the best family-friendly camping experience possible.
“We want our guests to be excited to come back to Acorn Oaks,” Christie Nicholson said. “The biggest compliment they can pay us is to tell their friends about us and encourage them to come too. We made our best camping memories with our kids, and we want to help our guests make camping memories with their families. It’s great to see our guests’ kids running around by themselves because it shows that the parents are comfortable enough to let them play without being constantly supervised. They see that Acorn Oaks is a safe place where people of all ages can enjoy the outdoors, and that’s what we wanted to provide. My husband and I, our kids, and my in-laws all love camping, and now we get to do it every single day. We truly enjoy what we do, and I think our guests can see that.”
Please visit pulaskicountyonline.org to stay up-to-date on Pulaski County’s announcements and upcoming events. Check out acornoaksrvpark.com to learn more about what Acorn Oaks has to offer.
