South Carolina State Parks Working To Break Even

South Carolina has set a goal that no other states have been able to consistently achieve: creating a self-sustaining park system.

Gov. Nikki Haley asked Duane Parrish, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism director to get the Palmetto State’s 49 state parks running in the black, without the assistance of the general fund.

Parrish and Phil Gaines, the director of the State Park Service, are confident that by the end of 2013 that long-discussed goal will be reality.

For years, only the state’s five coastal parks brought in more money than they cost to run, but now that number is up to 10.

“We’ve been building toward this for a while, becoming less dependent over the last ten years. Now we’ve just taken that final step and focused and narrowed that goal by defining a finish line,” said Gaines, who became director in 2005 after 23 years in the park service.

Right now the parks make $20 million in revenue each year which is about 83 percent of their budget. The general fund accounts for the last $4 million. But that’s half of what tax payers contributed in 2002, when the $8 million accounted for 66 percent of the parks budget.

There have been staffing cuts in that time, but Gaines attributes recent headway to the online reservation system that launched in 2005 and lets people sign up for campsites and cabins more easily, while letting park rangers focus on helping the public in person.

From the start of the online program in 2005 to 2010, annual reservations jumped from 93,500 to 124,500. Plus, like any hotel, the parks are able to change prices based on demand, which according to Gaines makes self-sufficiency attainable.

“We’re set up to be flexible and market-driven and not all states are that way. When we talk about market-driven pricing people are concerned about us raising prices, but one of the most important things about it is it also allows us to run specials and reduce our prices when demand is not at its peak,” Gaines said.

That means if there’s a cancellation, instead of a cabin sitting empty all weekend, the parks department will reduce the rate and use social media to get the special out to eager campers.

But one fee has gone up. In January the cost of a statewide parks passport, which grants holders free entrance for the entire family for a year at any park, was increased to $75 from $50. The department also added an “in-land only” pass for $50 that excludes the five coastal parks.

Gaines said those prices won’t go up again in an effort to meet the goal, and noted that individual entrance fees are still $2 and are unlikely to increase in the next few years.

“While the price may have gone up, I really think that if you go to even a few of these places, it’s really the best value out there,” he said.

Campers like Mike Salters from Lexington tend to agree. He takes his family and their RV to one of the Midlands-area state parks nearly every-other weekend and said even if prices went up significantly more he’d still come.

“They’re a great deal. You can’t find a K.O.A. or anything else like that to beat the prices. So I mean it’s a great deal and if they go up and it keeps the campground improving, I don’t have a problem paying that,” Salters said. “They do an outstanding job for the most part. Keeping the campgrounds clean, making sure it’s mainly secure that people are not just wandering in and wandering out. It’s just nice to have that kind of security blanket.”

Gaines acknowledges that the parks cashed in on the Great Recession when people had less money to spend on vacations. But he thinks the new visitors were “surprised, impressed and want to come back.”

He said trying to get repeat visitors is more important to becoming self-sufficient than focusing on revenue. Different parks have the freedom to try creative ideas, like renting out space at the Caesars Head overlook on Fourth of July at night, when the park is normally closed, to view several Upstate cities’ fireworks shows.

Cheraw State Park offered free golf one slow weekend last year, but made a profit on lodging and the gift shop.

Plus the parks department just introduced its own Geocache Challenge. The popular scavenger-hunt-like game has players find hidden boxes with clues using GPS technology. Gaines said there are now geocaches in all 47 parks and the first few people to reach them all will get a prize.

He said exciting events like that are what make family memories and keep people coming back.

“We have to manage these state parks, not for the next quarter or fiscal year, but the next generation and we think this is a good model so that we can survive any economic downturn or challenges ahead,” Gaines said.