Private, permanent-site campgrounds have been a strong business in the Bonesteel/Fairfax area for years. Shady Cedar Campground, located on Highway 1806 was one of the first and continues to expand.
Hillbilly Haven, located on Scalp Creek Road near Fairfax has been well established since 2014 and is expanding this year. Whetstone’s Edge Campground, located on Highway 1806 was built in 2017.
Shady Cedar Campground, owned by Kelly and Karen Janousek has seen a steady increase in interest since the summer of 2019.
“We had interest from a group of 4 and then the waiting list started and we moved forward with plans for 20 more spots,” Karen explains. Interest did rise with the pandemic in 2020. “At this point all but 3 have been spoken for.”
Shady Cedar currently has 52 spots total, all of them with full hookups. They hope to have a few spots available during the summer for weekend campers as well.
Hillbilly Haven, owned by AJ and Sherry Jensen, is adding 10 spots for the 2021 camping season. These spots will be located across the creek from their original campground.
The Jensen’s have definitely seen an increase in interest this past year. “We are hoping to add more in a different location, as the 10 we just added are already spoken for, and we have a waiting list,” says Sherry.
The additional 10 spots puts them at a total of 34 campsites. “We do feel that people are wanting to get out of the higher population areas, and camping in the middle of nowhere is perfect for that,” she adds.
Whetstone’s Edge, owned by Damon and Krystal Sehr, has a total of 30 sites, and expect for a few of those to open up for the 2021 season. At this time, they are not planning on an expansion.