Why we're building Island Creek

Doug Grant on the property, the family-first plan, and what's coming when the doors open early 2027.

I've been walking the property in Wilmington for about a year now. Mostly weekends, mostly with a clipboard and a coffee, mostly arguing with the marsh grass about where the pond view sites belong.

People ask why we're building another RV park. The honest answer: because Wilmington doesn't really have one. Not a modern one. Not one built for the kind of family travel that exists in 2026 — the bigger fifth wheels, the longer pull-throughs, the parents who want pickleball after the kids go to bed.

The closest options around here are an aging KOA, a state park that books out months ahead, and a handful of older private parks built before the rigs got this big. Every one of them works. None of them is what I wanted to build.

The plan, in plain terms

Sixty-five RV sites. Hundred-foot pull-throughs — long enough that the biggest Class A's pull straight in with the tow car behind, slide-outs deploy without a negotiation. A few cabins. A few tent sites. A pool with a splash pad for the toddler crowd. Two pickleball courts. A playground built for actual climbing. A dog park that's bigger than a postage stamp. Food trucks on Friday nights.

The location is the part I keep coming back to. We sit about twenty-five minutes from Wrightsville Beach. Twenty from downtown Wilmington and the Riverwalk. Twenty-two from the Battleship. Eighteen from Airlie Gardens. One basecamp. Every Wilmington trip your family wants to take, you can take from here.

What "family-first" actually means

I'm tired of hearing "fun for the whole family." It doesn't mean anything. So we're trying to build the thing that does mean something:

• A pool that fits more than just kids — shaded seating for parents, splash pad next door for the under-fives.
• A real calendar of themed weekends, published 90 days out, tied to Wilmington's actual event calendar — Azalea Festival, July 4 on the Battleship, Halloween, the Holiday Flotilla.
• Pickleball, because the parents need their own thing.
• Bigger sites, not narrower ones — so the family across the way isn't ten feet from your awning.
• A dog park, a pet wash, a yappy hour on Wednesdays.
• Eight premium pond-view sites set aside November–February for snowbirds who want the mild coastal NC winter at a monthly rate.

I want this to be the park I would have taken my own family to. That's the bar.

Where we are right now

Construction is underway. Grading and infrastructure first — the unglamorous part. Hookups, water, sewer, power, the road network. The amenity build comes after.

The plan is to open in early 2027. That gives us the run-up to spring break, the Azalea Festival, and a full Wilmington summer. The reservation system on Campspot is already live, so if you want to be the first family on the property when the doors open, you can book a stay today.

I'll be writing here once a month or so with construction updates — what got built, what didn't go to plan, what we learned. The Camp Guide is also where the team is publishing trip ideas, packing lists, and Wilmington restaurant recommendations. Subscribe to the newsletter at the bottom of the homepage if you want to know when something new lands.

Thanks for being here this early.

— Doug