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Biking around Kerr Scott helps economy by small turns
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Published: June 30, 2009
WILKESBORO -- Carl Stearns and Jazmin Varela didn't exactly look like cogs in an economic engine Saturday afternoon standing next to their Subaru wearing bike shorts and T-shirts.
On their way to Boone for the weekend, they stopped at the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir for a few hours of free, escapist fun riding their mountain bicycles on the miles of trails at the lake.
They hadn't given much thought to their small economic footprint -- perhaps they spent $40 on a tank of gas, snacks and Gatorade -- or how much of a financial impact a few miles of well-groomed trails might have on an area.
But when asked to consider it, they did a few quick mental calculations and realized how big a wallop a relatively small endeavor targeting one specific group of enthusiasts had brought with it. Multiplied by thousands, the $40 a mountain biker might drop in nearby convenience stores, restaurants and gas stations goes a long way.
"We wouldn't have stopped if this wasn't here," Varela said. "We would have waited until we got to Boone to ride. Having this here makes a difference being here."
Small but busy
Anybody who's lived in Northwest North Carolina for any length of time knows a little something about Kerr Scott.
Completed in 1963, the dam was built for flood control in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin. Wilkes County and Winston-Salem each contributed $600,000 in 1959 to help pay for the $8.5 million project. For its share, Winston-Salem claimed the rights to 30 feet of water -- about 11 billion gallons -- in the new lake, a tremendous act of foresight by forward-thinking officials and an amazing hedge against drought.
Any economic gains derived from recreation from the 55 miles of shoreline and the 14 parks and wildlife management areas were happy side benefits. Fishermen, campers and boaters were quick to take advantage of the lake.
No hard-and-fast data about the number of visitors exists, but park rangers use traffic counts to estimate that hundreds of thousands come to the park every year. Typically those visitors include overnight campers, locals who make frequent short visits to hunt and fish as well as out-of-towners such as Varela and Stearns who stop in for a quick day trip.
"We talk to people who've come from Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro or Winston almost every day," said Chad Eller, a park ranger. "Even though we're a small lake, we're busy."
Adding to that usage is the more recent emergence of the mountain-biking trails around Kerr Scott Lake. A group called the Brushy Mountain Cyclists Club starting building trails in partnership with the Corps of Engineers in 2002, and has completed about 24 miles next to (and above) the lake with the help of more than 7,000 volunteer hours put in by cyclists, Boy Scouts and civic groups.
"The number of cyclists using the trail has grown exponentially every year," Eller said. "The Brushy Mountain club must be thanked for that."
Large benefit
The popularity of the trails -- and their growing reputation among a dedicated network of cyclists -- can be attributed partly to the power of the Internet and races that can draw hundreds to the park over a weekend.
"Singletracks.com has rated us as high as 25th in the world among mountain-bike trail systems," Eller said. "That was huge and not just us saying it."
That off-the-beaten path marketing reached Varela and Stearns in Durham. They heard about the Kerr Scott trails through friends and built a trip into their weekend itinerary.
Self-described aficionados of "self-propelled" sports such as biking and kayaking, they seemed happy to consider their small contribution to the economic well-being of an area they were enjoying on a hot summer afternoon.
"The Army Corps of Engineers provided the dam and the land, and BMCC provided the trails," Stearns said. "It's a great example of how a public-private partnership can provide a large benefit to a lot of people."
No one is likely to take the time to measure the economic impact of a specialized recreational activity on the area, but these days, every day-tripper who drops $40 counts for something.
■ Scott Sexton can be reached at 727-7481 or at ssexton@wsjournal.com.
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