BELFAST, P.E.I. — Josh Lindsay's chore list seems to follow him everywhere when he walks around his 160-acre property.
"It's an old campground – there's a lot of work to be done," he said.
He's only been operating Ben's Lake Campground & Adventure in Belfast for about two years. It opened in the 1980s, and one of its most popular elements is its fishing lake.
Lindsay has many fond memories of fishing there when he was young, so when the opportunity to take it over arose it was the perfect fit for him. He has since gained experience as an entrepreneur, such as by co-creating the Forktula fork accessory which appeared on CBC's Dragon's Den. He's also studied both wildlife conservation and sports and leisure.
Perfect amalgamation
"This is like the perfect amalgamation," he said. "(So) I just kind of jumped at it."
The campground, which opened on June 1, currently has 15 RV parking spots and is set to have eight tenting spots. With his background and skill set, he aims to make the campground into a truly outdoors experience, he said.
"We don't have a pool. We don't have an arcade," he said. "I want to really gear it towards the 'immersing people in nature' component."
One way he's gearing towards this is by having some of the tenting sites be in the forest and only accessible via kayaking along the river. That's the style of camping he prefers as it's more adventurous, and thus the style he wants to offer – hopefully this summer, he said.
He's also working on running programming and activities, such as a guided nature walk, and wants to construct a playground using only the natural materials he has kicking around. As well, he'd like for it to someday be used as an event grounds or even an outdoor wedding venue.
A challenge in getting these ideas off the ground is administration. For instance, he needs proper permits to construct tenting sites within a certain range of the watercourse, and it'd be required that campers have some sort of washroom facility accessible to them, he said.
"The paperwork side of things is my nemesis."
While there's still work to be done, he's gotten a lot of support from the surrounding community and has plenty of creative ideas to try and make his campground stand out. It's just about checking one chore off his list at a time, he said.
"(And) it's a never-ending list, so I have to remind myself to take a step back and chill out," he said, "and just appreciate the beauty of the property."
AT A GLANCE:
While Josh Lindsay is working to expand his campground, he's also staying true to one of it's biggest features.
"If you just want to come down and go fishing I'm all for that."
When he used to fish at Ben's Lake as a kid it was sometimes a costly venture because he'd have to pay for whatever he caught. But he's changed things so that customers can now catch and release the fish - so long as they use barbless hooks because it's easier on the fish.
"(And) if you don't catch anything it's free," he said.
Daniel Brown is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government. He can be reached at [email protected].
