The Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Mt. Gilead, Ohio won a Park of the Year award from OHI, the outdoor hospitality industry association.
The recently expanded Columbus-area resort won the award for best campground in the nation in the medium size category, which is for parks with between 101 and 250 sites. The resort was one of five Jellystone Park locations that were finalists in OHI’s national awards competition.
The Jellystone Park Columbus North location, acquired by Great Escapes RV Resorts in 2021, features a stunning new resort-style pool and a beautiful swimming lake with a beach and a floating obstacle course. New upscale glamping cabins were added for the 2024 season and some RV sites were upgraded. In addition to Yogi Bear character interactions, the location features a water slide, a jump pad, train rides, wagon rides, a dog park and daily activities.
“Great Escapes RV Resorts, along with many other Jellystone Park franchisees, is making innovative investments that are moving our brand and the entire outdoor hospitality industry forward,” said Rob Schutter, president of franchisor Camp Jellystone. “We congratulate Great Escapes RV Resorts and its Columbus North team on winning this award.”
Two other Jellystone Park locations were also finalists in OHI’s medium size park category: the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Milton, New Hampshire and the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The Jellystone Park location near Houston in Waller, Texas was a finalist in two different OHI awards categories: Large Park of the Year, for campgrounds with 251 to 499 sites, and Plan-It-Green Friendly Park of the Year. The Plan-It-Green Award recognizes parks that demonstrate continued leadership, innovation, and commitment to running an environmentally friendly park.
The Jellystone Park Clay’s Resort location outside of Cleveland in North Lawrence, Ohio was a finalist for OHI’s Mega Park of the Year award, which is given to a park with more than 500 sites.
With more than 75 franchised locations across the United States and Canada, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts operates in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences.
OHI’s Park of the Year winners were announced Nov. 5 during the association’s Awards of Excellence Luncheon in Oklahoma City, Okla.
National recognition from OHI continues an ongoing series of accolades for the Jellystone Park brand. Recently, Jellystone Park locations near Dallas, Texas; Mill Run, Pennsylvania; and Jackson, Mississippi were all ranked among the top six RV parks in the United States in USATODAY’s 10Best 2024 Readers’ Choice competition. The Jellystone Park brand has also recently received honors and recognition from national media outlets such as Good Housekeeping, the Travel Channel, and U.S. News & World Report.
