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Oct 17, 2024

‘Glamping’ tent offers luxury outdoor experience at Lincoln campsite

Dave Queen, owner of Camp A Way, shows off the campground's new "glamping tent." The "glamping tent" at Camp A Way has a bathroom and a small kitchenette. A glamping tent at Camp A Way is seen on

Dave Queen, owner of Camp A Way, shows off the campground's new "glamping tent."

The "glamping tent" at Camp A Way has a bathroom and a small kitchenette.

A glamping tent at Camp A Way is seen on Thursday in Lincoln.

The campground site Camp A Way now has a new amenity.

A new "glamping" tent, opened earlier this month in partnership with Lincoln Parks and Recreation. Dave Queen, owner of the campground near the intersection of Interstates 80 and 180, said he was looking for something new.

“We want to be innovative,” Queen said. “We want to be ahead of the crowd, per se. And we knew that this was a market that hasn't been brought to Lincoln, and so we wanted to be the first to do that.”

Camp A Way is a campsite that takes reservations for RV spaces, tent sites and cabins. The campsite also hosts events, including a chili cookoff last weekend and an upcoming Fall Fest, according to its website. The new tent, called “The Woods by Camp A Way,” is available for booking at a rate of $179 per night.

The tent is furnished with a queen-sized bed, table, chairs and a refrigerator. It is climate controlled and also has a deck, bathroom and kitchenette.

Because of colder weather and the tent's status as a temporary structure, it will be open for bookings for about 180 days during the year, ending in mid to late fall, Dave Queen said.

The word glamping was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016 — combining the words glamor and camping — and has been a growing share of the vacation industry. In 2021, 17 million families took a glamping vacation, according to a 2022 Kampgrounds of America report.

Camp A Way has different activities like a water slide, trampoline and disc golf.

Jolene Queen, Dave’s wife, said that she sees the campground as a way for grandparents to connect with their grandchildren through the camping experience.

“Our heart’s desire is to see the different generations interact together,” Jolene Queen said.

Jennifer Ryan, the office manager for the campsite, said that she loves the customers who visit Camp A Way.

“We have regulars that come back every year, especially during football, and then people that are just visiting family,” Ryan said. “They want to stay here over staying in a hotel.”

Ryan said that many of the campsite’s customers have been interested in the new tent, and one person even altered their booking to stay in the tent.

The Queens have been involved in Camp A Way since 1995 and planned the tent with the Lincoln Parks and Recreation.

“When we were out here in December walking around, we said this was one of the ideas that we had to do is put up a glamping tent and it got accomplished,” Dave Queen said. “And you see how it turned out and it exceeded all our expectations.”

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Reach the writer at [email protected] or 402-473-7391. On Twitter @NealHFranklin

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