DAYTON, Ohio — As summer is about half over, many families are gearing up for summer vacation. But with the rise in gas prices and inflation, it’s making it more difficult to get away. Ohio’s newest campsite hopes to get kids outdoors a little closer to home. 

What You Need To Know

  • Camp Rye is Ohio's newest campsite about 15 minutes from downtown Dayton

  • The campsite includes glamping, which consists of a large tent with beds inside, as well as a bring your own tent private areas to rent

  • Lena White and Jason Archdeacon have been working on the property for about nine months and enjoy bringing their kids along to encourage them to get outside

  • The couple also hopes a closer-to-home option might be the perfect fit for families trying to save money on summer travel

It’s always an adventure at Rye Camp as Lena White and Jason Archdeacon, along with their kids, explore the campsite. The couple bought the eight acres just outside of Dayton about nine months ago, and now spend just about every day out in nature getting the area ready for visitors. 

“Coming here has become part of our regular routine," White said. "So when we don’t come out for a few days, we can feel it.”

The camp includes glamping—a more glamorous style of camping, with everything you need included. 

“You’re getting amenities," White said. "You don’t have to invest in your own camping gear, and you can just show up.”

For the more experienced camper, there are private sites to pitch a tent.

“This is BYOT or bring your own tent," White said.

But there’s more to just the business for this family; it’s about getting their kids back into the great outdoors again.

“That’s therapeutic play for kids too is to be out in nature and to entertain themselves and not have to be entertained by a screen," White said.

“Getting the younger generation of kids outside," Archdeacon said. "It means a lot because there are 13, 14-year-old kids that want to play video games and they want to stay inside where it’s nice and cool because especially with COVID, that’s what they got, that really all they had to do.”

The hope is to see plenty of kids on the grounds this year. Despite many people having to cut vacation funding this year, White hopes the new close-to-home camp will fit the bill.

“Families are now dipping into that just to get by every month," White said. "It’s really rough. And we would like to think that families can come here, they’re going to pay a fraction of the price of a hotel or buying equipment to go camping, and they’re going to have a wonderful time.”