Our Story
We started as "Yogi Bear Campground", on the southeast corner of Interstate 79 and PA Route 108 in Butler County, was developed in the mid 1970's near Slippery Rock Creek. A clubhouse was created, as well as electric service, water wells, and a wastewater treatment plant. Wiring and pipelines for water and sewerage were constructed at each site, and designs for about 1200 sites on 153 acres were finished. To gain access to a site, the camper signed a 99-year lease for a cost ranging from $2500 to $8000, as well as paying an absurdly low annual maintenance fee.
In 1985, the owner ran into financial difficulties and, facing a sheriff's sale in May of that year, was forced to declare involuntary bankruptcy by a newly established campers association afterwards known as Slippery Rock Campground Association.
That summer, these same campers organized a Pennsylvania business and gathered roughly $900,000, which they used to purchase the property and assets in an August bankruptcy sale, much to their chagrin. The Campground was renamed Slippery Rock Campground Association and is now incorporated as a Pennsylvania Non-Profit, Non-Stock Corporation made up of select campers that join and camp in the Campground. A certificate of exclusive use of a Campground site is granted to each Corporation member, and they share all shared facilities. (There is an annual renting scheme that allows campers to participate in all activities, but they have no voice in how the Corporation operates.)
The Corporation is run by an elected Board of Directors, one from each of the four parts (A, B, C, and D), who are elected for three-year terms each year. Each membership of record has one vote for the section Board member who will represent them and control the Campground's operations. There are a total of 12 Board members, with four new members joining each year for a three-year term, ensuring sufficient continuity. A full-time manager and maintenance supervisor oversaw day-to-day operations.
You'll hear about someone who has a site. This isn't entirely accurate because the Corporation owns all of the locations and land. The annual membership fee covers the running of the Campground and must be paid by all members of record. Every year, the members vote on this cost. The only additional charge is a golf cart fee, which must be paid annually.
The Board of Directors of the Slippery Rock Campground Association voted on April 25, 2005, to purchase 63 acres of the Cooper Farm, including mineral rights. This area is now owned by the Slippery Rock Campground Association, and a farmer was hired to plant it, preserving its agricultural status.
The Slippery Rock Campground Association has grown to a size of about 205 acres.