Jacob Hagofsky brought the future of camping to Butler County.

Hagofsky, manager of the Buttercup Woodlands Campground in Renfrew, led the installment of campersAPP, a nationwide smart phone application, in the campground.

“The campersAPP slogan is 'the future of camping,' and it's so true because everything is digital now and right at people's fingertips,” Hagofsky said. “It's just something that's fast and easy for campers to use if they're traveling or in a spacious area in one park.”

The Buttercup Woodlands Campground is the first in the county to implement the application, and has gained nearly 200 users since it was installed in January.

CampersAPP provides campers an overview of the campground, details of campground events and nearby restaurants and events such as the Big Butler Fair and the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.

The application also lists the phone numbers and websites of these nearby locations. Hagofsky said most people use campersAPP to stay current on campground and local activities.

“Everybody wants to know what's nearby when they're traveling to the area,” he said.

The application can be used to plan and carry out camping trips, but also is a useful safety tool. An alert feature updates campers on severe storms, power outages and missing children in the area.

When a tornado touched down in Prospect in April. Hagofsky let campers know they were safe.

“We got a lot of feedback that (it) makes people so much more comfortable knowing that right away there was nothing to report,” he said.

CampersAPP is free to download, and all campers need is the campground's login username. Hagofsky said the application is more useful than the campground's website because he can update the application faster.

“The general feedback has been phenomenal, just because (campers) love the accessibility of it,” he said. “They love that it's so current.”

Campers need to turn on the activities reminder capability on their phones to be able to receive notifications and alerts. Hagofsky said that while camping was once a way for people to take a vacation from technology, the digital age has made campersAPP relevant.

“You were going camping to relax, to get away from the technology, but anymore (the application) is what people want because they want to stay connected,” Hagofsky said.

Hagofsky wants to see campersAPP used not just at Buttercup Woodlands Campground, but all across the United States.

“I'd like to see this application grow, not even just for us but nationwide because of the feedback that we've received from it,” he said. “It's their slogan; it's 'the future of camping.'”