Tentrr: Your Ticket for an Upstate Escape!

Upstater Magazine   |  By   |  Images provided by Tentrr

For every burned out city-slicker, there is a tent. At least, that’s the line Tentrr is pitching to landowners all along the Catskills and Hudson Valley Region.

Just going by the numbers provided by The Outdoor Foundation, they are not wrong. Camping is the second-most frequent outdoor activity, beat out only by biking. A total of 40 million Americans camped out in 2014, and just about a quarter of them live in the New England/Mid Atlantic. The hobby is alive and well, even thriving.

Tentrr hopes to tap into this market, giving seasoned and inexperienced campers a new way to enjoy the outdoors by offering them a variety of well-sited campgrounds and outdoor areas AirBnB style.

The success of Tentrr starts with landowners. When a landowner wants to create a revenue-earning campsite, they reach out via the Tentrr website, and both the property and the property owners are vetted. As a company, Tentrr scours every campsite to make sure that it offers campers only the best. They search the campground for areas with stunning views, privacy and consider nearness to local activities such as hiking paths, swimming holes or even the farmer’s market in the town twenty minutes away. After getting the company’s seal of approval, each campsite is outfitted by Tentrr, and the landowner becomes an official CampKeeper.

Landowners may make think to themselves, well they’re just giving us a tent and a bench, I could do that myself, but you would be underestimating the gorgeous canvas structure, the wooden platform that it sits atop of, and the fact that their cleverly designed storage box disassembles to reveal a table, seating and a cooking prep area. Not to mention that all areas are furnished with a fire pit and toilet. It goes beyond convenience, providing CampKeepers with amenities that become a draw, selling points that would turn even an “I only Glamp” city-lover into an outdoor regular.

Besides all of these on-site amenities, Tentrr also goes the extra mile online for its CampKeepers. The company provides a sleek, modern site that hosts a page for each campsite, including photos, reviews and descriptions of the local attractions. Their website also allows campers to book and pay for the campground easily and efficiently, as well as and provides comprehensive customer support for campers and insurance for landowners.

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Tentrr is a young company, founded in 2015, but it is steadily growing throughout the Catskills and expanding through the Mid-Atlantic region. Tentrr has 200 prospective sites already scouted and are preparing to give them all the Tentrr-treatment. Currently, there are open sites all along the Catskills. Each campground is beautiful, and often the CampKeepers looking to create a more interactive experience will offer guided tours and activities such as kayaking, horseback riding, biking for a small additional cost.

Getting to the cost, the average night will run you about $120, but sites are set up for more than one camper, and the tents set up can hold 6 adults comfortably. Grab three of your besties to split the bill and you’ve got a private getaway for less than the cost of a New York City entree. And for those times when you’re really feeling the outdoors, a significant discount is offered for week-long stays.

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If you’re a landowner reading this, I’ve got just one more piece of news. Tentrr is waiving the installation fee for 2016! Go on Tentrr.com and create your profile to get campers on your land during the summer camping craze. I’m sure the lovely people at Tentrr will be with you as soon as they’re back from their hike.

For everyone currently living in the city, crammed into small apartments, tiny roads, bitty offices and claustrophobic subways on a daily basis, you might want to consider a little fresh air. All you need is comfortable shoes, a love of the outdoors and maybe a little bit of wanderlust to create your own Tentrr experience.

Happy Tenting!

(If you have an addiction to outdoorsy, I-wish-I-were there, well-kept or even just plain cool Instagram accounts, let me direct you to Tentrr’s profile. If anything the the views will make you swoon.)

About Linda H. Codega

Linda Codega is a graphic designer and writer who loves clean lines, arrows, caps lock and talking about comic books. A Southern transplant, she now works for Luminary Media in Kingston, New York, despite the winters. Send her a message...linda@upstater.com

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