Elizabethton City officials are going rafting.
They have planned a weekend trip to Bryson City, N.C., to take a rafting trip down the Nantahala River. It will not only be a fun trip but an information-collecting outing to learn how that region utilizes its river for recreation.
This past Sunday county officials dedicated the new Green Bridge Landing Park across from Hampton High School. The park not only features a walking trail, but is a place for rafters to launch their rafts and canoes into the Doe River for a trip downstream.
There’s no doubt that Carter County’s whitewater rafting is not only one of the community’s best kept secrets, but is also one of the most exhilarating activities. For some time, Teresa Nidiffer at Watauga Kayaking has been encouraging people to grab a paddle, buckle their life jackets and splash their way down the Watauga River. She and other outfitters have been rafting commercially down the Watauga for several years, and are eager to share fun facts and secrets of whitewater rafting down the Watauga. Even outfitters from Banner Elk, N.C., have been bringing whitewater enthusiasts to Carter County for a number of years to enjoy rafting and canoeing on the Watauga.
It’s encouraging to see our city officials explore the idea of rafting as a means of promoting local tourism and to improve the local economy. Elizabethton’s Doe and Watauga River provide many possibilities for similar recreation. City officials hope that their field trip to Bryson City will help them obtain new ideas and seize new opportunities to promote tourism in Elizabethton.
The past couple of years the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department has been working with the Surf Betsy Task Force, a group of whitewater rafting and kayaking enthusiasts who have been working to encourage local rafting.
Mike Mains, director of the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department, said there has been a lot of interest in developing more outdoor recreation in Elizabethton to help promote tourism, and said the city has a lot of whitewater rapids that could be developed.
Whitewater rafting has a lot of potential as a tourist industry in Carter County and Elizabethton.
Tourism is vitally important to the local economy and it is good to see it become a local priority.
Contrary to what some wistfully proclaim, there is no real advantage to being a “best kept secret.” In fact, Elizabethton’s attractions should be no secret at all, especially to people who would find these river offerings enticing enough to visit and enjoy — and particularly if this community wants to reap the rewards our rivers offer.
Our mission is to get the word out. We are more than Roan Mountain, Sycamore Shoals, and Watauga Lake. We need to work to promote our state parks more as well as Watauga Lake. But, we need to take a good look at what we do have and promote it — whitewater rafting, hiking trails, fishing, camping, etc.
We have the great outdoors all around us. Now, is the time to use it to our advantage and tell others about it. There is no greater opportunity than now.
Elizabethton City officials are going rafting.
They have planned a weekend trip to Bryson City, N.C., to take a rafting trip down the Nantahala River. It will not only be a fun trip but an information-collecting outing to learn how that region utilizes its river for recreation.
This past Sunday county officials dedicated the new Green Bridge Landing Park across from Hampton High School. The park not only features a walking trail, but is a place for rafters to launch their rafts and canoes into the Doe River for a trip downstream.
There’s no doubt that Carter County’s whitewater rafting is not only one of the community’s best kept secrets, but is also one of the most exhilarating activities. For some time, Teresa Nidiffer at Watauga Kayaking has been encouraging people to grab a paddle, buckle their life jackets and splash their way down the Watauga River. She and other outfitters have been rafting commercially down the Watauga for several years, and are eager to share fun facts and secrets of whitewater rafting down the Watauga. Even outfitters from Banner Elk, N.C., have been bringing whitewater enthusiasts to Carter County for a number of years to enjoy rafting and canoeing on the Watauga.
It’s encouraging to see our city officials explore the idea of rafting as a means of promoting local tourism and to improve the local economy. Elizabethton’s Doe and Watauga River provide many possibilities for similar recreation. City officials hope that their field trip to Bryson City will help them obtain new ideas and seize new opportunities to promote tourism in Elizabethton.
The past couple of years the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department has been working with the Surf Betsy Task Force, a group of whitewater rafting and kayaking enthusiasts who have been working to encourage local rafting.
Mike Mains, director of the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department, said there has been a lot of interest in developing more outdoor recreation in Elizabethton to help promote tourism, and said the city has a lot of whitewater rapids that could be developed.
Whitewater rafting has a lot of potential as a tourist industry in Carter County and Elizabethton.
Tourism is vitally important to the local economy and it is good to see it become a local priority.
Contrary to what some wistfully proclaim, there is no real advantage to being a “best kept secret.” In fact, Elizabethton’s attractions should be no secret at all, especially to people who would find these river offerings enticing enough to visit and enjoy — and particularly if this community wants to reap the rewards our rivers offer.
Our mission is to get the word out. We are more than Roan Mountain, Sycamore Shoals, and Watauga Lake. We need to work to promote our state parks more as well as Watauga Lake. But, we need to take a good look at what we do have and promote it — whitewater rafting, hiking trails, fishing, camping, etc.
We have the great outdoors all around us. Now, is the time to use it to our advantage and tell others about it. There is no greater opportunity than now.