Itís a great day, they say, at KOA.A KOA Holiday campground opened in November in Falcon, along Judge Orr Road across from the Big Red Barn, although it remains a work in progress.KOA has more than 500 campgrounds across North America, according to its website. Itís a franchise company; each KOA franchisee owns and operates their own campground while benefiting from KOAís marketing and operational support.The Falcon campground is owned by the same band of brothers who run Colorado Springs-based McDonald Paving; they are the sons of the late Martin ìPhilî McDonald, who founded the paving company. The brothers own other KOAs as well, said Dava Ramirez, general manager of the Falcon KOA Holiday; some of ìthe boys,î as she calls them, appear in a TV commercial for the new campground.ìWe have been growing,î Ramirez said. ìWe get calls every day.î Users of the campground range from people visiting the Pikes Peak region to see family or friends, to construction workers living in RVs as they work at temporary jobs, to folks living in an RV as they have a permanent home built in the area.ìWeíve even had people calling about tent sites for the winter, which surprised us,î Ramirez said. ìBut we got the tent sites ready because of some calls we received.îAlong with the handful of tent sites, the first phase of the campground will have more than 100 RV sites with water, electric, sewer and cable when finished; it also will have two cabins, complete with kitchenettes, which Ramirez expects will be ready in the spring. There is a playground, a bathhouse where campers can shower, and a laundry room in the office building. That building also has a general store, with snacks and drinks, RV supplies and more for campers.Upcoming amenities will include a splash pad, ìWhere the water comes out for the little ones to run through,î Ramirez said. The KOA will also offer bike rentals.There are also two fenced-in areas where dogs can frolic. ìWe are very, very dog friendly,î Ramirez said, noting the presence of Winston, the campground mascot ó he can be spotted in the commercial, too.Also, Ramirez said, ìWe are very, very high security here. We have cameras up everywhere because we have people who live here.îThe site also offers RV storage and U-Haul rental. The KOA is even a Tupperware dealer, with Tupperware for sale in the store.A second phase of the campsite will reach all the way to U.S. 24, Ramirez said. ìWe want to start on it in the spring, but this (phase one) has to be 100% completed before we even start think about getting started over there.îA much more established campground, Falcon Meadow RV Campground, is just a few miles away along U.S. 24; it opened in 1959 and is owned by Jim and Dee Ozburn. Ramirez said she doesnít view it as competition, and there is plenty of business for both campgrounds. In fact, she said, the Falcon Meadow campground has referred some campers to the KOA when their long-term sites were filled, and the owners came in and introduced themselves.ìThey are so kind, the owners there,î Ramirez said. ìItís been a blessing working with them.î
