GENEVA, Ohio — Visitors are beginning to trickle into Northeast Ohio for the total solar eclipse, and many of them are coming by RV.
According to the RV Industry Association, more than 14 million Americans plan to travel with an RV to the path of totality. That figure amounts to nearly a quarter of the total number of people planning to leave home for the eclipse.
“In my lifetime it won’t happen again. In my granddaughter’s lifetime it will, but in my lifetime it won’t,” said Cindy Reedy, who traveled from Youngstown to set up camp with an RV at Geneva State Park Wednesday.
Three generations of the Reedy family are planning a celestial celebration for the eclipse, which happens to fall on the youngest member’s 6th birthday.
“I kind of really want to see the darkness,” said Georgiana Reedy.
Several other RVs had secured their spots at the state park by Thursday afternoon.
“[It’s on my] bucket list for the eclipse,” said Pat Eacho, who drove seven hours from Maryland to attend the event.
“I didn’t even know it was happening until she said [it was],” Eacho’s friend Susie VanGieson added. “We camp a lot and she says, ‘I’ve been wanting to go.’ So I say, ‘OK, let’s plan it.’”
The pair of friends each hauled their own RVs to the campsite along the Lake Erie shore.
“We figured we don’t have to move. We can just put our chairs out [during the eclipse],” VanGieson said.
The campground was relatively empty Thursday afternoon, but many of the spots will be occupied by Friday or Saturday, as RVing has proven a popular option for the eclipse.
“We’re up more than $660 for RV bookings compared to Memorial Day, which is usually the start of high bookings for the summer,” said Maddi Bourgerie, the senior director of communications at RVshare.
The company, which was founded in Akron, allows travelers to rent RVs from owners who aren’t using them. In Ohio alone, Bourgerie said bookings for eclipse weekend are up 1,000% from the same time last year.
“They could potentially move around if there was some cloud coverage or something. I’ve definitely heard of that use case,” she explained. “I think there’s another handful of people who maybe are coming in from outside of the path and trying to get into the path of totality.”
If you’re looking for last-minute accommodations, RVshare recommends looking for RV rentals outside of the path of totality and then traveling for the event, though Bourgerie cautioned it may be difficult to find overnight RV parking options.
