Hide your picnic baskets.

Beaver Trails Campground & RV Park has joined the Yogi Bear Jellystone Parks franchise, the second largest chain of campgrounds in the United States, boasting more than 70 campgrounds with more than 15,000 campsites in 27 states and Canada.

Jellystone Park Camp-Resort at Beaver Trails, seven miles east of Austin off Interstate 90, is scheduled to open April 15, with the slide pool opening around Memorial Day weekend. 

“We’d like to increase our revenue Sunday through Thursday, so hopefully this will do it, and we can keep growing and changing and give people what they want,” owner Laura Tolner said.

Beaver Trails has been an Austin tradition for three decades and is open from April through October.

Cheryl Corey, executive director of the Austin Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said having a local Jellystone is good for Austin, especially at a facility such as Beaver Trails that already has a strong reputation.

“Jellystone might give them a little more brand exposure,” Corey said. “I think it’s a good thing.”  

Tolner said during the first year of transition, campers will see mostly cosmetic changes to the park.

Vacationers will be able to buy Yogi Bear merchandise, for instance, and see signs with Jellystone characters on them.

“This park has always been a leader in the industry,” she said. “It’s already doing many of the things a Jellystone does, so most of our changes will be cosmetic, and we’re going to be ‘Yogi-ized.’”

Jellystone Park Camp-Resort at Beaver Trails sits on 82 acres, features more than 300 camping sites and accommodates both RV and tent camping. 

Park amenities include three waterslides in the slide pool, a separate swimming pool and a kiddie pool. Fishing enthusiasts can enjoy stocked ponds, while campers can spend their hours playing miniature golf, throwing horseshoes or embarking on a hay ride.

“We’re extremely excited,” Tolner said. “That’s what we do, we entertain. We do what we do to make everyone else have a great time.”

The first weekend of the 2009 season at the Austin camp will start with a party called Welcome Back Rake & Bake. The first 25 guests are invited to stay the weekend, Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, for free in exchange for helping sprucing up the grounds (painting, cleaning, raking, etc.) to get everything ready for the season. Guests will be treated to a free hayride and dinner for their help. 

Jellystone Parks was launched in 1969 by D.M. Haag and boasts locations throughout the United States, mostly east of the Mississippi.

Jellystone Park Camp-Resort at Beaver Trails is the only Jellystone facility in Minnesota.

The camp’s phone number is (800) 245-0281 and the Web site is www.beavertrailsjellystone.com. Camping rates start at $30.