Beloved highway-side campground sold to P.E.I.-based group

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Woodstock’s largest family-owned campground and waterslides has been sold.

After 42 years, Peter and Janet Clark recently made the decision to sell Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp and Resort, in Lower Woodstock, to the Maritime Fun Group of Prince Edward Island.

Maritime Fun Group owns and operates several P.E.I. attractions, including Sandspit and Shining Waters, and Magic Mountain in Moncton.

President Matthew Jelley confirmed the sale to Brunswick News, saying the group was “pleased to purchase the well-established camping destination.”

“Peter and Janet have built a wonderful destination,” he said. “We are pleased they have agreed to stay on in a management capacity to help with the transition and we look forward to working with them.”

Jelley said the company does not plan to make immediate changes.

“We purchased Jellystone because we very much like the way things operate now,” he said. “We are known as people who invest and grow our businesses and it’s safe to say we will continue to invest in this park.”

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The Clarks, who also own and operate Clark Oil in Woodstock, say the campground sale will give them a peace of mind as they slowly lean into retirement.

“We have a succession plan now that we can see come to fruition,” Peter Clark said.

“When this opportunity arose, we considered it long and hard and definitely feel like it is the right thing to do,” Clark said. “(Maritime Fun Group is) no stranger to it. They will take it to the next level and look after it. When we are six-feet under and gone, this will still be here for families to enjoy, and that’s what we are looking for.”

Clark said he and his wife are looking forwarding to staying on as managers.

“We will be staying on for as long as we are having fun and enjoying it. It will be the best of both worlds.”

The Clarks purchased the campground in 1982 after the property was foreclosed on.

“It had sat vacant for three summers and it was nothing but high grass, weeds and garbage,” he said, adding for three years, he drove past on his way to work at the former Texaco Plant and would wonder if he could make a go of it. “It was really pretty decrepit.”

Clark, who grew up in a family of avid campers, was able to secure a bank loan to purchase the property in May of that year. The Clarks cleaned up the property and gave it a fresh coat of paint before opening for the first season one month later.

“We obviously had no money for advertising, so we would run out the side of the road and wave to people,” he said.

Then they offered free camping for a couple of weeks. That attracted a lot more attention, as word spread through CB radios.

“So, we had people arrive, and people generate more people, which is basically how we started,” he said. “Once people started coming, we tried to show them a hospitable stay at the campground, keep it clean and neat and friendly, and that has been our motto all these years.”

The campground quickly became the couple’s second home, with Clark proposing on site 70. Even their wedding date was set for Oct. 21, to make sure it didn’t conflict with camping season.

Clark said the campground sees about 52,000 people a year, and over the years they have had the fun of watching many families grow and welcome news generations who continue to visit.

The couple joined the Jellystone franchise in 1996 and have steadily added new attractions including waterslides and mini-golf, new washrooms and cabins over the years.

Clark said when they learned the four-lane highway would be built they approached the town of Woodstock to purchase an additional 55-acres of land that bordered their property, eventually purchasing eight additional parcels of land to extend the site to 80 acres.

He said they have been able to rebound after COVID restrictions forced closures in 2020 and he has been been noticing a steady increase in traffic since regulations were lifted.

“Camping in general has always been a resilient industry,” he said. “It is a great economical family vacation; you create memories and have good times as a family.”

Each year the Clarks hire 42 full time summer employees and have two full-time employees who work year-round and who they say are all like family.

They don’t plan to retire anytime soon, noting: “The people give us adrenaline to keep going.”

“We want to make sure this place continues to run and makes happy family for who knows how many years,” he said. “We like to say when you see a kid smile it makes it all worthwhile.”