Should I make my own park map or hire someone?
A small park with simple loops can absolutely draw its own. A 120-site park with five loops and three site types usually cannot, not well.
Short answer
Draw your own if you have under about 30 sites in a simple layout, some patience, and a slow season. It costs your time plus printing, and a clear hand-drawn map beats no map by a wide margin. Hire it out if the park is larger, the layout is complex, or you want it printed and shipped without managing it. When local businesses sponsor the guide it costs the park nothing, which makes the comparison mostly about your time rather than money.
The comparison
| Draw it yourself | Hire it out | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Your time plus printing | Free when sponsored, or quoted |
| Your hours | 10 to 30 | About two |
| Printing | You arrange it | Included |
| Reorders | You arrange them | Free on sponsored maps |
| Result | Workable for a small park | Drawn to be read in a truck cab |
If you draw it yourself
Work from an aerial photo. Draw the roads first, then the site blocks, then the numbers. Make the numbers bigger than feels right. Add arrows for one-way loops. Leave a blank box for the guest's site number. Then print one and read it in your truck before printing three thousand. We wrote a longer guide to this here.
When to hand it over
More than about 40 sites. Multiple loops or site types needing colour coding. A layout that has grown oddly over the years. Or simply no spare hours, which describes most park operators in any month with an R in it.
The cost argument mostly disappears
When local businesses sponsor the guide, the park pays nothing, so hiring it out is not more expensive than doing it yourself; it is cheaper, because printing is included too. The real trade is whether you want the guide to carry advertising.
Related questions.
Can I draw my own RV park map?
Yes, and for a small simple park it works fine. Work from an aerial photo and make the numbers bigger than feels right.
What software should I use to draw a park map?
Anything you are comfortable with. Parks have sent us maps made in Canva, PowerPoint, and on paper. The tool matters less than legibility.
Is a hand-drawn map acceptable?
For a small park, yes, if the numbers are clear. Guests care about finding site 12, not about the artwork.
Does hiring cost more than doing it myself?
Usually less, because a sponsored guide costs the park nothing and includes printing and shipping.
More on doing it another way: Can I just use a satellite photo as my park map? · Do guests still use printed maps? · all questions
Want a map for your park?
Send a site list and an aerial photo and we will draw it. Free when local businesses sponsor it, or bought outright with no ads.