Tourism groups and Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic and Community Engagement partnered to give a boost to outdoor tourism in the Mount Rogers region, including Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington, and Wythe counties as well as the cities of Bristol and Galax.
The region has several well-known hotspots, like Grayson Highlands and Hungry Mother state parks and the Blue Ridge Parkway, but is also home to what the groups called hidden gems.
“When people think of Mount Rogers, they think of hiking to the highest point in Virginia or seeing the wild ponies at Grayson Highlands State Park,” Virginia Tech economic development specialist Eli Travis said. “They’re not going to the smaller, lesser-known towns, such as Troutdale or Independence. We wanted to find a way that all the communities in the Mount Rogers region benefited from tourism.”
Entrepreneur Karen Hester has three stores in the region as well as homes she rents out to tourists. She said the plan will make it easier to develop travel itineraries for her customers. “Tourism is an economic driver for the region, so plans like these are important to help the area grow,” she said.
Other suggested projects included zip lines, additional trails, and accessible parking lots and observation decks. And although a timeline for implementation will vary for each locality, some projects are already gaining traction. The Virginia Department of Transportation and Smyth County, for example, have applied for funding to develop the brickyard project.
“We wanted to come up with some unique, exciting activities for the area,” Hammes said. “When you think of outdoor recreation, you typically think of activities like mountain biking, horseback riding, kayaking, or hiking. But being out in the woods playing paintball, riding a four-wheeler, or zip-lining across a ravine are as outdoors-oriented as anything. They’re just a little different.”
The region also will receive new branding and marketing plans from Arnett Muldrow & Associates, a South Carolina firm that helps communities with planning strategies. “These communities are the gel that holds this entire region together,” partner Aaron Arnett said. “Our goal is to help these individual communities tell their story in context with the entire Mount Rogers experience.”
