Hagers sell Upper Iowa Resort and Rental, find ideal buyers in Cresco-area family


Campground congratulations ... Ownership of Upper Iowa Resort & Rental changed hands as of January 4 of the new year. Pictured above, left to right, former owners Kristi and Bob Hager of Waukon congratulate new owners Colton and Tessa Willie of Cresco. Submitted photo.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

When Bob and Kristi Hager of Waukon decided it was time to sell the campground they’d owned for 22 years, they knew they wanted more time to travel and to visit family; they also knew they wouldn’t sell unless they found the right people to take over the business they’d nurtured for more than two decades.

“I said that if we sell our campground, I would like to find a nice, hardworking young family to continue building a wonderful business,” Bob says. “Colton and Tessa Willie and their two boys fit that standard better than I could have imagined. They are going to continue to operate Upper Iowa Resort with high standards; and they will bring many new ideas to make the campground even better.”

Colton and Tessa Willie of Cresco took ownership of Upper Iowa Resort and Rental January 4, 2021. The 29-acre resort includes cabins, campsites, rentals and a spring-fed swimming pool with a beach and is located along the banks of the Upper Iowa River between Dorchester and Waukon. The new owners have dropped the “Rental” from the business’ name, but will still provide canoe, kayak and tube rentals.

An online reservation option is now available for camping and cabins - two of which are available year-round. A remodeled farmhouse-style cabin with a view of the river sleeps up to seven people; and a log cabin overlooking the Upper Iowa River sleeps up to six.

LIVING THE DREAM
The Hagers bought Upper Iowa Resort and Rental - which, at the time, was called Lonnings Landing - in March of 1999. “I’d always wanted to have my own business - specifically, a campground,” Bob says. “Our family had camped at Lonnings Landing and known the Lonnings for years.”

Bob, a self-described “jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none,” says he enjoyed doing all the diverse work that came with operating a campground. “But mostly I enjoyed all the different relationships that we built,” he says. “After being there 22 years, we were seeing people we saw as kids now bringing in their kids to enjoy the place where they’d made memories.”

Bob and Kristi, who is a nurse, have three daughters - two in the Air Force and one working in Davenport - and two grandchildren. They now plan to turn part of their own residence into an Air BnB and start a small landscaping business.

NEW OWNERS
Colton and Tessa Willie have owned Complete Tree Service of Cresco for five years and were looking to buy another tree company, when a conversation with their banker put them on another path.

“I said, ‘what he really wants to do is build a campground,’” Tessa - who also works at Helping Services for Youth and Families - recalls. Their banker happened to be the realtor for Upper Iowa Resort and Rental.

“We visited the property, met Bob and Kristi, and knew it was a perfect campground for us,” Tessa says. “We are looking forward to learning, growing, and being able to enjoy the outdoors as a family while at the campground for many years to come.”

The Willies have two boys - Raylen, 6, and Harlan, 4.

For more information about the campground, visit www.upperiowaresort.com or look for them on Facebook.