In the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Kristy and Eric Freitag are chasing their passion and turning a beautiful piece of land into a welcoming campground at Heaven In The Hills Campground.
Located in Stokes County near Hanging Rock State Park, Heaven In The Hills is an 85-acre campground of wooded area, featuring creeks and a trail that runs between two state parks to offer a scenic, peaceful getaway for campers.
For Kristy and Eric, opening the campground was a few years in the making, an idea spawned from getting into hosting guests in a camper on their property.
“We started renting a camper on our property and were really busy and just absolutely loved it,” says Kristy. “We had that idea, and we just loved the hospitality part of it all. And then when we went camping together, we absolutely loved the campground atmosphere. It’s a nice place to relax, get away for a bit, and just enjoy life out in nature.”
That passion for camping and hosting became an idea for Kristy and Eric, and the couple began looking at properties near them to explore the possibility of venturing into entrepreneurship with a campground of their own. As they looked, the ideal opportunity presented itself.
“We had this crazy idea, and I started looking at properties around us. I found the perfect property,” says Eric. “It’s beautiful. It’s completely wooded. There are two creeks on the land. There’s a trail that runs from one state park to another that goes right through the property. It was just perfect.”
As they began the process of starting this small business, the Freitags met with an adviser at Surry Community College’s Small Business Center who helped them to navigate the early stages of the journey.
“The Small Business Center offered free help and business counseling,” says Kristy. “They helped us create a business plan, and that was instrumental in it all for us.”
Working with the team at Surry Community College, Kristy and Eric were referred to Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) as they sought capital to help turn Heaven In The Hills into reality. After connecting with CSBDF, they began the process of securing a loan.
“Working with CSBDF was a really good experience,” says Kristy. “They were very helpful, encouraging, and supportive. It was a stressful thing for us because it was something we had never done before. It was a lot of learning, but the team at CSBDF was really good about helping us through that and teaching us what we needed to know. Everyone at CSBDF truly believed in us and our business, and that was amazing to have.”
Through that process, Kristy and Eric secured a loan in July of 2024 that helped pay off the property while also providing capital to help with the upfront infrastructure costs of things like setting up a septic system, water hookups, and power for the property to make it ready for campers.
For the couple, having a resource in CSBDF that serves the whole state, even the rural parts, was a big boost.
“It’s been amazing,” says Kristy. “A lot of entrepreneurs are more city based, but being in a very rural county we’ve had an incredible amount of support. It’s not something we even knew existed before we started looking. When we were told about that funding, we were both surprised and very grateful that something like this would be available to someone like us.”
With that support, Kristy and Eric are looking to open Heaven In The Hills to the public in the first half of 2025, and their goals are for it to be more than just a campground. For them, having a place of community is important, and Heaven In The Hills can be a piece of community out in nature.
While they are hoping to add tent sites and expand on the resources available to people staying on their property, they also want Heaven In The Hills to be a place people can come together and even hope to host grief camps in the future.
“We lost our youngest daughter in 2017, and she was the inspiration for our first camper to begin with,” says Kristy. “We definitely want to use this space to host grief camps. Life changes so quickly, and we just want to be able to give back. We loved renting our camper because we loved getting to meet all of those great people and make great connections with others. That was a huge thing for us. We just really loved watching others have a good time while connecting with each other. We want this space to be for that.”