Agritourism (noun):

The practice of touring agricultural areas to see farms and often participate in farm activities. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition)

Agritourism is a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.[National Agricultural Law Center]

The RV Park at Black Dog Acres, LLC promotes agritourism in Stokes County, NC. In fact, it is our favorite part of the RV park!

When we purchased the farm, we were not sure exactly how we wanted to use it, but we did know that we had a son who loves doing outdoor activities and a daughter who loves animals, especially horses. So a functioning farm made the most sense! We began the steps to have the land we purchased recognized as a bona fide farm by the state of North Carolina. We started by having soybeans grown and harvested in the fields while we continued to plan the future. According to the state, the purpose of a bona fide farm is the production or activities relating to the production of crops, grains, fruits, vegetables, ornamental and flowering plants, dairy, livestock, poultry, etc. This pulled a heartstring for us. We then began planning for a garden that will allow us to share produce with others, an apiary that will teach our children about bees and the production of honey, and of course, horses and other livestock for our daughter to care for and enjoy. We also began to realize just how centrally located we were to amazing tourist attractions in Stokes and Surry Counties.

That is when we decided to combine all of the things we love as a family to share with others! As avid campers, an RV park that was part of a bona fide farm was the perfect idea! Now we could share with others all of the things we love and have been blessed with. So where does “agritourism” fit into this? Well, not only do we want to share our home, we also want to share our amazing area! Stokes County has such beautiful landscape, a wonderful state park, fun outdoor activities such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, tubing, rock climbing, zip lining, and lots more to offer. We wanted to play a small part in showing those off to visitors.

The RV park is only a small part of what we are working on for our future. We are continuing to add to our family farm to provide visitors to the park the experience of being a part of a working farm while we share some of our favorite reasons for living in Stokes County!