ELIZABETHTON â The further development of a mountain bike riding park brought together leaders from Elizabethton and Carter County on Wednesday afternoon for an exploratory session.
Over the past several years, Elizabethton has slowly developed a small system of bike trails in a 238-acre hilly watershed property the city owns in Hampton. Although the property is several miles from Elizabethton, the city owns it because the springs flowing in the area provide over half of the cityâs drinking water. The watershed above the springs were purchased to protect the area from development and pollution.
The cityâs Parks and Recreation Department has begun developing mountain bike trails on the property, and has expanded the trails by renting 52.75 acres of undeveloped land from adjacent Doe River Gorge Ministries. The result is the potential development of several miles of bike trail on elevations ranging from 1,800 feet to 3,100 feet that could be made into loops easy enough for children and other loops that challenge experts.