By Margaret Hedderman
Not so long ago, RV life was the sort of thing you dream about for retirement. Then, sometime around the pandemic, it seemed like everyone (and their dog and cat) thought, why wait? Remote workers realized they could do their jobs from anywhere—even a campsite in the mountains. And for many, Colorado became the perfect destination.
In the summer of 2019, Taylor Johnson and her husband Scott hit the road, looking for a change. Taylor, a preschool teacher, and Scott, a real estate agent, turned their love for weekend camping into a two-and-a-half-year adventure. During this time, they discovered a need for better workspaces at RV campgrounds, which ultimately inspired them to launch The Camper’s Hub in Montrose, Colorado, a combination of a coworking space, RV campsite, and event center.
While we’re running this story in our Starting Up series, it’s also a great example of the many shapes ecosystem builders—startup champions, by another name—can take. Coworking and event spaces, and the people who run them, can connect entrepreneurs, resources, and local initiatives, creating a collaborative environment where innovation and economic opportunity can thrive. Since launching, Taylor has already begun leveraging The Camper’s Hub for local ecosystem development, including hosting a West Slope Startup Week Hometown Days event.
Necessity begets ingenuity
During their travels, the Johnsons criss-crossed America and found themselves increasingly frustrated by the lack of dedicated workspaces in RV parks and campgrounds. While many campgrounds offered communal spaces, these were often rundown buildings “that weren’t really a place you wanted to hang out,” Taylor said. Working out of their RV became difficult, especially with a dog and a cat sharing the tight quarters.
“It’s hard for both people to get work done all the time and actually be productive,” she said.
This lack of work-friendly environments gave rise to the idea for The Camper’s Hub. “It’d be really cool if there was a coworking space at a campground,” Taylor recalls thinking. Realizing that no such place existed, they decided to create their own. The couple started searching for a location.
While traveling, they regularly listened to The RV Entrepreneur podcast, which resonated with their idea of creating a coworking space at a campground. The now former podcast hosts, Heath and Alyssa Padgett, had already purchased land in Montrose with a similar concept in mind. The Johnsons attended one of their RV Entrepreneur Summits held at the site, which was still mostly undeveloped agricultural land.
“It really solidified that this is what we wanted to do, and the community we wanted to be involved with,” says Taylor.
A few months later after the summit, when Heath and Alyssa decided to step away from their project, they offered the Johnsons the opportunity to take over. They jumped on it.
Early Challenges in Launching the Business
The process of launching The Camper’s Hub came with significant challenges, particularly around funding.
“We’re two and a half years now into the journey,” Taylor said. “So that has definitely been our biggest challenge.”
Securing construction or SBA loans proved harder than expected, with long delays and uncertainty from the banks. The delay in receiving loans has backtracked many of their expansion projects, particularly additional campsite development. Recently, the couple has begun exploring different funding options to support further development of the property.
Building the RV park itself brought additional obstacles, especially given the land’s former use as agricultural property. Installing a modern sewer system for the RV sites was both expensive and time-consuming.
“Because we’re not within city limits, we can’t just attach to the city sewer,” Taylor explained. “We have to actually put in our own system and have leach fields.”
The rural location of Montrose also posed difficulties, particularly in finding available contractors and engineers.
“Finding engineers and contractors has been more challenging than we were hoping to because there’s just not as many to go around in a small town,” Taylor noted.
Despite these setbacks, The Camper’s Hub has been able to steadily grow and evolve since it opened in 2022. One of the most unexpected aspects of the business has been the success of its event space. Initially envisioned as a secondary function to the coworking and RV offerings, the event space has quickly gained popularity within the local community.
Since opening, The Camper’s Hub has already hosted numerous events. This includes everything from women’s entrepreneurial conferences to social media classes, and paint nights.
“The event side is actually taken off a little more than the coworking side of it, which we’re okay with,” she adds.
The local community is embracing The Camper’s Hub not only as a space for locals to gather but also as a bridge between residents and tourists. With the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park nearby, the campground attracts many visitors who are looking to explore the area.
“In the summertime, there’s actually a really good mix of the community with the tourist population,” Taylor said.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, the Johnsons plan to expand The Camper’s Hub’s amenities. They currently have 17 electric-only RV sites but hope to increase that number to 103 full-hookup sites. They also plan to add more restrooms, a laundry facility, and an outdoor pavilion to enhance the event space. “This winter, we plan to do our next two loops,” Taylor said. “We’re going to slowly build it out in phases.”
In addition to expanding the campground, the Johnsons are deepening their involvement with the Montrose community. They recently joined efforts to revive Friends of the Black Canyon, a nonprofit supporting the local national park. They also continue to host and promote events that bring locals and tourists together.
As Taylor reflects on the journey, she said, “The next big thing for us is to keep building, keep adding more to the park.” She added, “And we want to be more involved with the entrepreneur and community side of hosting events here.”
