The Virginia Creeper Trail contributes more than $61 million per year to four Southwest Virginia counties and supports 582 full-time jobs, a new Virginia Tech study has found.
In 2023, the trail attracted more than 112,600 visitors. Total trail usage by local residents and visitors totaled 348,400 trips — nearly 1,000 users per day — according to the study. Local officials have said recently that the trail draws about 250,000 users each year.
Visitors traveling from outside the region spend an average of $545 per trip on lodging, food, equipment and other local goods and services, according to the study, which focused on impacts to Washington and Grayson, the counties it runs through, and nearby Smyth and Russell counties.
The study started just days before Hurricane Helene hit Southwest Virginia in September 2024 and decimated half of the recreation trail. Researchers say the effort was hampered by the destruction.
Researchers weren’t able to go out on the trail and talk to users in real time. Instead, they had to rely on online survey responses, which reflected past visits and may have somewhat skewed the results, the report states.
Still, the researchers decided to proceed rather than postpone the analysis because the work had already started — and they thought that getting new numbers showing the trail’s economic impact could help make the case for the needed repairs, according to Sarah Lyon Hill, director of research for the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement. The center conducted the study in partnership with the Virginia Tech Southwest Center in Abingdon.
The purpose of the survey was to better understand the trail’s role in the regional economy, and the effort to get those numbers took on a new urgency after the storm hit, according to a Virginia Tech news release.
Once the trail fully reopens, the study recommends that surveys of trail users be conducted in the spring, summer and fall, Lyon Hill said. She added that she hopes that this can be done by the same team that conducted the new study. No reopening date has been announced.
Both Damascus Town Manager Chris Bell and Lisa Quigley, executive director of the Virginia Creeper Trail Conservancy, said they hope those surveys will take place and the numbers adjusted if warranted.
But Bell said he thinks it would be good to wait a while after the trail reopens to do the surveys, possibly in 2028.
“I would venture to say you’d want to wait until a year after it opens again anyways, because maybe we’ll get a bump just because of the hype and the press when we reopen and everybody wants to come see what the Forest Service did and what the new trestles look like; whereas the second season of it opening past the restoration might be more indicative of what visitor levels will be like. Are they increasing, decreasing, maintaining?” he said.
Damage and destruction
The 34-mile recreation trail is a draw for bikers, hikers and those riding horses. It starts in Abingdon, runs through the town of Damascus and ends at Whitetop Station near the North Carolina line. The second leg of the trail is popular because the ride is downhill and features plenty of scenic beauty.
The remnants of the hurricane hit on Sept. 27, 2024. The town of Damascus, known as Trail Town USA, and its surrounding communities sustained the most damage.
Several weeks passed before the extent of the damage to the Creeper Trail was known because of downed trees and debris on more remote sections.
The heavy rain and wind devastated the section of the trail that runs from Damascus to Whitetop, destroying more than half of the trestles and washing away whole sections of the path.
The destruction to a 1.5-mile, two-lane section of U.S 58 in Damascus also slowed efforts, but the road was repaired by the Virginia Department of Transportation well ahead of schedule, which aided efforts to repair the Creeper Trail.
That downhill half of the trail remains closed. The first half had only minor damage, and it reopened just a few days after the storm.
Last November, Kiewit Corp. was awarded a $240 million contract to rebuild and repair the damaged trail. During a community meeting later that month, Luke Silvus, a project manager with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co., said the design and reconstruction project will involve 18 miles of trail, repairs to 17 slope failures along the trail and the replacement or repair of 33 trestles.
Design work is underway now, and crews have been clearing the area and readying it for construction, which is expected to ramp up this spring and summer, he said. Kiewit must complete the rebuild in one year.
Trail users have been encouraged to use the trail between Abingdon and Damascus, and Bell said the number of users on that section is currently 30% to 40% of what it would have been if the whole trail were open. He noted, though, that it’s a slow time of year and he hopes the numbers will increase with warmer weather and spring.
How the study was conducted
The Virginia Tech report is the first economic impact study of the trail since 2004. The last one was conducted as a thesis by a graduate student from the University of Georgia, Joshua Gill. His study, which included interviews with more than 1,000 users on the trail, found that it had an annual economic impact of $1.6 million 22 years ago. His primary focus area was Washington and Grayson counties.
The new study was conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement in partnership with the Virginia Tech Southwest Center in Abingdon.
It was commissioned by the Wellspring Foundation, a regional philanthropic organization that works to enhance the health and well-being of residents in the four counties covered by the study. The nonprofit paid nearly $47,000 for the study.
Between February and April 2025, invitations to take an online survey were sent through the Virginia Creeper Trail Club electronic mailing list, and surveys were also placed at some Damascus businesses.
The surveys detailed users’ overall experiences, and the information gathered was used to estimate the average spending pattern of trail visitors who spend a single day and those who were there for several days.
Data from 2023 was used to gauge the total number of annual visitors prior to Hurricane Helene. Estimates came from the Creeper Trail Club’s electronic counters along the trail and Abingdon’s Placer AI data.
Moedling software called IMPLAN was used to estimate the impacts of spending in the region by trail visitors. IMPLAN models how new money circulates within a given economy, generating new economic activity and money through indirect effects, business spending and induced effects.
Those conducting the study also visited Damascus, Abingdon, Whitetop and the broader communities in Grayson and Washington counties to interview businesses, local officials and people affected by the hurricane. These interviews provided perspective of trail impacts and how a lengthy trail closing could affect businesses.
Bell said the hurricane damage to the trail and the study underscored the need for the town’s economy not to rely so heavily on one “asset.”
“We need to spread the wealth and make sure we highlight not only this one asset we hold on to so dearly, but really highlight the other reasons to come visit and stay and play in Damascus. We need to highlight our fishing, mountain biking and other natural assets, evolving into a well-rounded outdoor destination,” he said.
Toward that end, town officials have started several new events, including Trout Days and the Damascus Adventure MotoDAM 200, an adventure motorcycle ride into the mountains surrounding the town, to attract more and different visitors.