Across the country, cities and regions often switch from being almost unknown to being an outdoor hub in a matter of years. Take Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart Headquarters. After receiving funding from the Walton family to support recreational activities in the town, it quickly gained the title of “Mountain Biking Capital of the World.”
While not to the scale of Bentonville, Athens and the surrounding area have also become a recreation hotspot in recent years thanks to the Baileys Trail System. The trails are managed by the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, or ORCA, in partnership with the Wayne National Forest.
ORCA is a coalition of local governments in Athens County with a mission to “develop outdoor recreation opportunities across governmental boundaries that create sustainable and equitable economic development, inspiring communities throughout Appalachian Ohio.” It has also partnered with 18 other counties in southern Ohio.
Delia Palmisano, the director of communications and philanthropy at ORCA, said providing access to outdoor spaces is the motivating factor driving the organization.
“Our ultimate mission and goal is to work within the whole region around developing outdoor recreation assets and really using those as catalysts to boost the economy,” she said.
ORCA was formed in 2019 as a way to bring economic and social benefits to traditionally underserved communities in southeast Ohio through the outdoors. Though the idea for the Baileys has been around since 1993, the first 14 miles of trails were not completed until 2020. Now, 58 miles of trails are complete with 30 more to go.
Joe Crowley, an assistant professor of instruction at Patton College of Education, said the work ORCA does is needed in the region.
“What this area has is this innate natural beauty,” he said. “So this idea of being able to leverage something that's already there and might just need some development to support access, it's not something that's been done with this amount of effort and vigor in this portion of Appalachia.”
The Baileys is the only large-scale project the council manages, but it plans to expand to projects outside Athens County and Ohio in the next few years. Palmisano said staffing limitations are the biggest factor in expansion.
“We have a full-time staff of four, two AmeriCorps and a couple interns,” she said. “It'd be really hard for our staff at this point to do anything else of that size, but we are working.”
According to the Center for American Progress, roughly 70% of low-income communities did not have access to outdoor spaces. Crowley said he believes everyone should have the chance to enjoy nature.
“People should have the right to access the outdoor spaces that we have, especially those that are publicly managed lands,” he said.
Even for being a council of governments, anyone can get involved with their mission. Palmisano said the public can support ORCA’s work in a variety of ways.
“We do memberships,” she said. “That's a great, easy entry point for people to support the organization. It starts at $30 (annually) and you get a couple special merch things and a sticker, but also the knowledge that you're helping support the operations to maintain the trails.”
Membership comes in three tiers; Contributor at $30, Supporter at $50 and Advocate at $125. All are billed annually. Opportunities to volunteer and help maintain trails are posted on the Baileys website. ORCA has also partnered with Outdoor Pursuits to rent mountain bikes.
Marco Deshaies, a mountain biker from Rockbridge, is a regular at the Baileys. He mentions being grateful to have nearby access to quality trails.
“I feel lucky that the Baileys is (here) and I’m hoping they'll continue to be supported,” he said. “It's a benefit to the area.”
On October 12, the Baileys will be hosting the second annual Baileys Dirt Fondo and Fundraiser. Volunteering positions are open for the event as well as registration, which can be found at bikereg.com.
