RV DEALERS
Bringing RVers to the Parks
How Blacksford Premium RV Rentals capitalizes on the popularity of the national parks.
By John McCurry
Photos courtesy of Blacksford Premium RV Rentals
Blacksford Premium RV Rentals touts its business as akin to borrowing a top-of-the-line, superbly outfitted RV from a friend. The luxury RV rental company has grown rapidly, and its owners have ambitious expansion plans.
Becky Goodell and her husband, David Greenberg, bought the company in 2021. Goodell, who serves as CEO, says the company’s unique business model pairs premium RV rentals with premium service. The pair didn’t enter the RV business in the usual way.
“We are not your typical RVers,” Goodell says. “We’re not the outdoorsy type, and we’re not mechanical. But during the pandemic, we were in South Carolina, and two of our kids and a business were on the West Coast, and so within six weeks of the world shutting down, I rented an RV for two months, so we could use it as a means of safely getting across the country.”
Goodell says RVing was a way of dealing with wanderlust during the pandemic. In the process, several friends became interested in RVing. They wanted to visit Yellowstone National Park.
“I was stressing out, trying to find three really nice and reliable Yellowstone RV rentals. I kept googling and found this little company called Blacksford. It was one location, in Bozeman, Montana,” she says.
Goodell arranged for her friends to rent Winnebago RVs from Blacksford. That good experience gave her an idea. She and her husband, along with other investors, bought the company. That was in 2021, and growth has been steady.
“We have professional management, including a general manager who’s fabulous. We have a lot of people from Enterprise Rental Car who staff our various locations,” she says.
Blacksford opened its Las Vegas location shortly after the Bozeman deal closed, and Phoenix was added near the end of 2024. The Seattle store opened in May of this year.
Blacksford’s revenue has more than tripled since the couple bought the company in 2021.
“Last year was a record year,” Goodell says. “This year, we’re a tiny bit up. We were flat earlier this year, but we’ve been killing it in April and May.”
Goodell touts her company as a rental company that offers premium RVs and premium service.
“I truly believe we are the only company that occupies the space we do,” she says. “Our RVs are new. They’re one or two years old, at most. We buy new and they’re higher end. We get manufacturer’s discounts, but what we buy would be $150,000 per vehicle at retail.”
Blacksford’s high-end service includes picking up clients at the airport and taking them back after their vacation. Clients are given a one- to two-hour tutorial to learn how to operate their RV. The company currently operates a fleet of 80 RVs.
Customer orientation is thorough.
“We go through everything. We have videos they can watch beforehand, or they can consult us later, but we hope they’ve watched the videos,” Goodell says. “It usually takes an hour to an hour and a half. For our bigger RVs, people want that.”
Clients also usually have groceries delivered to their Blacksford location the day before.
Blacksford’s Bucket List
All of the company’s RVs are Class Cs (60%) or Class Bs (40%). The majority are Winnebagos, with some THOR and Nexus units. Blacksford selects its RVs based on customer preferences. Goodell says their customer base is a mix of empty nesters and retirees and families with young children. She describes most customers as “RV-curious,” or having little to no RVing experience. They also have higher disposable income.
“They’ve done cruises. They’ve done maybe Disney. Now, they want to do the national parks, and they want a sort of soft adventure, with bathroom, shower and AC,” she says. “I’d say our customers represent the top 10% of the family income in the U.S. It’s a pretty high-income threshold. Most of them, I would say 85% of them, have never RVed.
“Some live in large eastern cities, such as New York City, and they want to do Yellowstone, but don’t want to drive all the way. Others are return customers, who might eventually decide to buy an RV. Some are ‘serial renters.’”
Blacksford rents by the day, with a rate of $400 per day, not including taxes and add-ons. A seven-night, eight-day rental would be $3,200, plus taxes and insurance. The company stocks vehicles with linens, cookware, camp chairs and other supplies.
Expansion is on the horizon. Goodell says she and her husband are looking for two locations to open next year. These sites will likely be on the West Coast.
“The overwhelming majority of our customers go to national parks. From Bozeman, it’s Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier. From Vegas, it’s the Utah Mighty Five, (the national parks in the southern half of the state: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches), the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.”
From Phoenix, renters can reach the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. The Seattle store, which just opened in May, has proximity to the North Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula and the Columbia River Gorge.
“These are all bucket list places,” Goodell explains. “For our next few locations, we want to make sure we are near national parks.”
Each of the current four locations have different operating seasons. Bozeman is a five-month market due to winter weather. Goodell says Seattle, which just opened in May, will probably have strong market in the spring, summer and fall. Las Vegas and Phoenix are year-round markets. Blacksford moves its fleets around as needed, including surging RVs to Bozeman to meet summer demand.
When repairs are needed, Blacksford staff can handle most minor issues. The company has a full-time mechanic who travels between locations, but it also relies on dealership service centers and mobile mechanics, as needed.
“The overwhelming majority of our customers go to national parks. ... These are all bucket list places.”
—Becky Goodell
A Maturing Market
Blacksford also has a sales business, putting its vehicles up for sale after one or two years in service. That segment has seen mixed results, but Goodell notes that the first half of 2026 has seen a rebound in sales, following a tough 2025.
Blacksford lists its RVs for rent on Outdoorsy and RVshare. It also works with agencies and travel consortiums. All Access with Andy Garcia, a public television program, recently featured the company. A big push in 2026 is getting regular travel agents to use Blacksford.
Bozeman sets the pace for the number of rentals at the four Blacksford locations, even though it has a shorter season of just five months. Goodells says that’s due to the proximity of Yellowstone National Park.
“People flock to Yellowstone,” she says.
The Las Vegas store is picking up momentum after three years of being open.
“People are making reservations further in advance,” she says. “We think that is showing it’s a mature market. It takes about three years for a market to mature.”
Goodell hopes to gradually have 20 locations around the U.S.
“At that point, it becomes a very profitable business, and self-sustaining. Then, we can look at other ways to grow the business,” she says. “Right now, we’re just focused on adding locations. We want to be the premium player in the country.”
After the U.S. expansion, Blacksford will turn its attention to Canada. Goodell says there’s potential for huge demand around the country’s national parks. She notes that some clients are already exploring Canada from Blacksford’s Bozeman and Seattle locations.
So, what does Goodell, an attorney and management consultant, enjoy most about her career in the RV world?
“Learning. I’m 61. This was completely new to us, and I love working with my husband,” she says. “We have extraordinary employees. They’re all people pleasers. It’s been an incredible thing to learn a new industry and a new position.”
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