Photo Credit: Georgia State Parks
Hard Labor Creek State Park is a popular destination approximately one hour east of Atlanta, Ga. The park features an 18-hole golf course, cabins, camping, horse stalls, multi-use trails, a lake with a swimming beach, and other recreational amenities. Annual visitation is more than 250,000, which includes overnight and day-use guests. During 2016, the park completed a major renovation of its campground, including adding sewer hookups and new shower facilities.
A 1979 map of the campground—carefully hand-sketched for copying purposes—showed 110 campsites in the same area that today holds 51. The sites were smaller, of course, due mostly to the camping demands of the day. By the 1980s and early 1990s, the professionally printed maps were showing fewer and larger campsites, and two comfort stations became four. A few RV pull-through sites appeared, though underneath a layer of soil and gravel they were still just two back-in sites. By the early 2000s, an asterisk here and there marked 50-amp electrical service at the camp host sites. Cable TV—all 13 channels of it—was at each site. Good enough was, well, good enough.
Customers Want More
By 2015, there were big campsites, small campsites, sites near the water, and sites with a view. It was an average state-park camping experience for most visitors. The Hard Labor campground was considered serviceable and a decent place to spend the weekend. However, the age of the infrastructure was beginning to show. Most of the sites were limited to 30-amp electrical service, sewer hookups were practically non-existent, and the comfort stations were relics from decades past. Business was still good, mainly due to the park’s proximity to the population centers of Atlanta, Athens, and Augusta, but many customers wanted more for their money than they were receiving. Competition from other camping facilities was putting a spotlight on the areas where Hard Labor Creek wasn’t making the grade.