Ruff and ready for a historic year at rural Sterling campground

STERLING — When it looked like there was a chance that a popular campground might be facing a rough road, Molly and Matthew Habben stepped in make things smoother.

After all, the campground was more than just a part of their own family’s life, but countless other families too.

Ruffit Park has given the camping community a place to call a home away from home for more than 50 years, offering people a place for some R&R&RV’s. Located a few miles west of Rock Falls, where U.S. Route 30 crosses the Elkhorn Creek just north of Como, Molly’s great-aunt and uncle, Chuck and Maxine Gaumer, opened the campground in 1965 and ran it for decades.

But after Maxine died in December 2021, four years after Chuck, the business faced an uncertain future. Some saw a campground whose heyday had come and gone, but Molly and Matthew saw a mission: Keep the business part of the family, and start a whole new heyday.

Hearing people’s memories of Ruffit Park — “I lived out here growing up,” “I was out here all of the time with my grandparents,” “My kid learned to ride their bike out here,” “I learned to swim in the pool” — hit home with the Habbens, so in the summer of 2022, they decided to step up and take over the campground. This year marks their third full camping season since taking Ruffit’s reins — and it also marks a milestone: the campground’s 60th anniversary.

Since taking over, the Habbens have been hard at work updating the park, making improvements, and smoothing out the rough edges — but not the Ruff edges. Those are what gives the campground its charm.

“We had heard from a lot of people about how much they loved it here when it was in its heyday, and how it was a great place for the people of the Sauk Valley to come and get away from town and disconnect, and for the kids to run around and just be kids,” Molly said. “We thought it would be awesome if we could get it back to what it was.”

The 26-acre campground can hold up to 50 seasonal campers, with nearly just as many spots available for weekend use. Electric hookups are available for both tent campers and RV’ers. Most of the seasonal dwellers have prime spots away from the highway and deep in the woods — “the down below section,” as Molly calls it — under plenty of shade and close to the creek. Along with campground events that the Habbens organize, the seasonal campers also organize some of their own private events for fellow campers, such as golf cart poker runs and kids activities, creating a community of like-minded outdoor lovers.

“When people drive by on the highway, they can’t see all of that back there, and they don’t realize how many campers are back there,” Molly said. “It’s a nice part of the park back there with the Elkhorn Creek that runs through. It’s very shady, and the noise of the road calms down a lot. It’s pretty down there … and there’s usually some wildlife. People like to be away from the road.”

The number of RV’s the park can accommodate has shrunk somewhat since the park first opened, as bigger campers have become more commonplace through the years — but when the first family set up camp there, there was more than enough room.

Chuck and Maxine were the first people to camp on their land. They had originally intended to build a one-story home on the property and live there with their four boys: Charles III, Max, Rex and Alex. Until the home was built though, they had to “rough it” and stay in an Airstream trailer on site until the house was finished — and that got them thinking.

Why not turn the property into a place where other people could rough it too? And that’s just what they did. As the park grew, a store was added, a pool was built, and Ruffit became a favorite spot for seasonal stays and weekend getaways for people who would settle in to get away from things for a while. Chuck passed away in 1997, and Maxine and their four children kept the park going. Chuck’s spirit lives on in a memorial tree at the campground, and Maxine’s lives on the memories she created for families through the years.

Maxine became popular with the youngest campers, and was known as “the Candy Lady” for the nickel and dime treats she’d sell from behind the store counter. Molly grew up in nearby Como, but still would visit on occasion.

“I would usually come over with my grandma to visit Maxine, and what I remember about being here is that it was very busy,” Molly said. “Maxine was always talking with the other kids that were running around, and the kids seemed to know her and really like her. There was a lot of people here and a lot of activity.”

These days, Molly has even met some of those kids — all grown up now — who tell their own children about the days when they could buy candy for pocket change, and watch Maxine smile as they told her about all the outdoor adventures there were having.

“Now I love when people come and I get to hear, ‘I grew up coming out here as a kid,’ and now they’re coming here and bringing their kids, or sometimes their grandkids, out here now,” Molly said. “It’s fun to see it come full circle with them coming here as parents or grandparents having their children run around here now.”

The pool had long been a popular hangout at the campground, but it closed in 2012. Since taking it over, the Habbens have worked to get the pool restored, and had it open by Memorial Day weekend. “We’re excited to bring that back, and have people who may not necessarily camp but could come out for the day and swim and spend the day outside,” Molly said.

Another public event has already brought people to the park. The Fall Fest public event in late September hosts local crafters, vendors, food trucks and kids activities, and helps wrap up the camping season, which officially ends Oct. 31. The event has also helped bring more business to Ruffit, with visitors becoming campers, and campers becoming vendors.

For those who are looking for some indoor fun, the campground has that as well: a pool and foosball table, domed hockey table and a couple of arcade games are inside the general store. Supplies and camping-specific foods also are sold, and coin operated washers and dryers are available to campers. Weekend kids activities also attract campers inside for fun aside from what they experience outdoors.

Want to take in the camping experience, but don’t own a trailer? The campground has a rental trailer available for most weekends. With past renters, Molly has found that it also works well for traditional tent campers who are transitioning to trailers, she said.

The campground also is home to Kokomo’s Shaved Ice, which had been in Rock Falls on Route 30 until Molly and a friend, Kayla DeWald, bought it and moved the it to the campground in 2022.

In addition to reopening the pool, the Habbens also are thinking about building sand volleyball courts and expanding some of the campground spots in the future.. This year’s activities calendar is already in the works, and events will be promoted on Ruffit’s website and Facebook page.

“It’s been a tradition to a lot of people in the Sauk Valley,” Habben said. “The goal was to bring it back to what it was, and for it to be a destination for Sauk Valley residents to just get out of town, be outside, and do the things that you want your kids to be doing: not being on electronics, but running around and getting dirty and playing.”

In today’s hustle and bustle of life, Molly hopes Ruffit Park can be a place where people can disconnect and reconnect with each other, and make memories that will last a lifetime. It’s a goal not unlike Maxine and Chuck’s, who, Molly says “wanted kids to be kids, play outdoors, get dirty, and go to bed tired.”

“It’s the family stuff, that’s the whole goal of this place is to be a family environment,” Habben said. “It doesn’t matter what age you are; the parents can enjoy sitting around a fire, grilling their food and relaxing, and their kids can safely run around and play. That’s what this place is to me, and what I want it to be.”

Ruffit Park is located at 24832 West Rock Falls Road/U.S. Route 30 in Sterling.Find it on Facebook, go to ruffitpark.com, email ruffitpark22@gmail.com or call 779-861-0339 for camping availability or for more information.