What to do with 50 acres of rural land

[Nichole Kinard]

We own 50 acres of wooded landed in a rural setting. Eventually, we’d like to build a few houses for ourselves and extended family but that will be a lot later. In the meantime, it’s a beautiful plot of land with a nice creek running through it. It’s rural but within about 45 minutes drive of three bigger towns. Ideas to make it income-producing we have that would comply with current zoning are an event center (wedding venue, etc) and a campground (cabins and primitive). We don’t want to strip it for timber. What are some other creative things others have done with this type of land? The goal would be to have the land at least pay for itself.