Balsam Cove Campground - for Sale in Orland, Maine

Seller Information

Property Description

Rare offering of lakefront campground near the road to Maine’s Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

Balsam Cove is a well-established campground on 38 private acres with 660’ of accessible frontage on pristine Toddy Pond. The strategic location of this park, combining the on-site amenities of private lakefront camping with convenient access to a broad range of year-round attractions appeals to a diverse camper market and offers potential for an extended camping season unique to midcoast Maine. Current owners have implemented a major expansion plan to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity by adding sites, services, amenities, and a steadily growing cash flow.

The campground’s main attraction is 660 feet of frontage on pristine Toddy Pond, a ten mile long lake with Class-A water quality. Toddy offers sandy-bottom swimming, boating, and game fishing for salmon, trout, and small mouth bass. Balsam Cove is fully-equipped with over 300’ of dock, rental fishing boats, pontoon boat, canoes, and kayaks. The campground has its own private sand beach and playground, and includes 15 lakefront rental sites. The current owners offer a full slate of activities on the shore including lobster bakes and barbeques with musical entertainment. Toddy has plenty of fishing shacks on the ice all winter, and ice boaters have reserved several weekends at the campground for the 2010-11 season.

Unlike campgrounds in more remote locations that depend solely on good weather and destination-bound traffic, Balsam offers a variety of indoor and outdoor activities within a short radius which helps to draw a diverse camper market over a longer season. The campground is located in the epicenter of the Penobscot Gateway Region. Within 45 minutes or less:

- Acadia National Park, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Cadillac Mountain- Drivable road system, bike and hike trails, free bus service, guided tours. Earliest sunrise in U.S.

- Bar Harbor village ­ shopping, concerts, whale watching, guided tours

- Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory ­ tallest rural observatory in US

- Fort Knox State Historic Site ­ Maine’s most-visited historic site

- Bangor Racino ­ Our Las Vegas style gaming complex with nearby race track

- Bangor Folk Festival ­ Annual event attracting 200,000 or more

- Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery ­ Oldest in US with indoor displays

- Great Pond Mountain Wildlands ­ 4,300 acre conservation land with trails

- Over 10 million square feet of retail shopping in Bangor alone

- Guided hunting and fishing

- World-class sailing waters of Penobscot Bay

- Ferry service to offshore islands

- Over 100 antique shops

- Six golf courses

- Five hospitals

Balsam is located less than two miles from US Rt 1, at about the half-way point between the New Hampshire border and Atlantic Canada, a logical stop for Maritime travelers, a convenient base camp for visitors to the area, and a good option for season-long RV campers living in any of the three nearby gateway cities of Bangor, Belfast or Ellsworth ­ all within a 25 mile radius. The potential for condominium RV site sales is being explored as part of the campground’s long term business plan.

In 2009, Balsam offered 77 sites including three cabins and two rental RV’s. Attached site maps illustrates location of 3-way service, pull-throughs, and tent sites all serviced by a common main access road, and upgraded water and septic systems. Feasibility and permitting for 125 planned sites is complete with 21 full service sites currently under construction bringing the total for 2010 season to 98.

In addition to site rentals, historic revenue sources include boat rentals, dock space rental, coin-op laundry, camp store (ice, souvenirs, sundries), and arcade games. A 25’ x 50’ pavilion building was added in 2009 opening the door for group events and day-use. The current operator’s business strategy is to continuously improve the quality of the camping experience, maximize the number of sites and ancillary revenue streams, attract groups and day-use, and extend the season to the shoulder seasons with some limited year round use.

The property includes a manager’s residence, shower house with men’s and women’s facilities and attached equipment storage room, a laundry building, pavilion, camp office and store, three rental cabins and an arcade building. The business is being offered turnkey, including computer reservation software, maintenance equipment, recreation equipment, docks, boats, picnic tables, and two rental RV’s.

www.balsamcovecampground.com

Financial records, pro forma and recent appraisal available subject to confidentiality agreement.

Park Information

RV Space Information

Amenities and Other