The Tyler Texas campground, which was previously known as Whispering Pines RV & Cabin Resort, joined the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort network of family campgrounds on Jan. 1. The 30-year-old Texas campground, which has 133 RV sites and 18 park model cabins, has long been a Texas camping favorite. Families enjoy the campgrounds’s lineup of themed weekends and special events from Easter through Halloween.
kids splash in the family pool
Don and Jan Tardy, who acquired the campground in May of last year with Jan’s adult children, Colt and Bree Perrin, said they wanted to join the Jellystone Park chain to expand their marketing reach. “I like the concept of Jellystone Park and I want to emphasize the fact that we are a park that caters to families,” Don Tardy said.
Jellystone Parks are famous for offering fun, family activities that include everything from crafts and games to “hey rides,” birthday parties with the bears and daily appearances by Yogi.
The campground will celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with spa-like amenities that include special stations and supplies that will be set up so that kids can give their moms manicures, pedicures and massages. The park is also planning a mom and kids team tournament, a scavenger hunt, and craft activities, which give children the opportunity to create memorable gifts for their moms and other special people in their lives.
“You don’t even need a tent or RV to camp with us because we have cabins and other vacation rentals,” said Michele Wisher, a spokeswoman for Milford, Ohio-based Leisure Systems, Inc., which franchises Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts.
The Tardys, who run the park with Jan’s adult son, Colt Perrin, already have a head start on the family activities and nice amenities, including two salt water swimming pools and a fishing pond, which is stocked with perch, bass and brim. But they plan to make more improvements to the campground in preparation for the upcoming camping season.
“We’re about to add five more cabins,” Tardy said, adding that the new cabins should be in place by May 15. Whispering Pines also has four large meeting rooms with separate kitchens to accommodate large groups. Other amenities include basketball, horseshoe, ping pong, shuffleboard and volleyball courts, a camp store and a poolside cafe.
Tardy said his market primarily involves the area between Dallas and Shreveport, La.
If you are camping in Texas, visit one of five Jellystone Parks in the state. Other Jellystone Park Texas campgrounds are located in Burleson, Canyon Lake, Fredericksburg and Waller.
Several Castle Rock families, in fact, are staying in close contact with Jellystone Park owner Ian Steyn regarding the park’s new arrivals. “We’re really looking forward to going there and bottle feeding the baby goats,” said Jennifer Sturgeon of Castle Rock, who has taken her two boys, ages 6 and 9, to the park several times in recent months to interact with some two dozen goats that live on the property.
And by the time summer is here, Fredell expects to have a garden full of spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and herbs, which campground owner Ian Steyn hopes will inspire his guests to take an interest in organic farming, while learning more about how we grow our food. ”We want to start teaching our guests about the principals of good stewardship, of taking care of yourself and the things around you,” Steyn said.
“We’re just now getting into our busiest time of the year,” Dana Gabriel, co-owner of the 
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