Clinch Water Revival: Ecotourism on the River

By Kimber Ray

No one could fail to notice Clinch River Adventures. Just off the banks of the Clinch River, this tubing, canoeing and kayaking outfitter is housed in a bright red caboose with the town’s name, St. Paul, painted on the side. But the colorful building is far from the most prominent attribute people have been noticing about local resident Terri Anne Funk’s business. Instead, the main conversation has revolved around her operation’s remarkable success.

A summer day spent floating down the Clinch River carries visitors past historic mountain towns, rare aquatic wildlife and an abundance of natural beauty. Photo by Patsy Ingles

Funk grew up in the area and always loved to go out on the river — just not the Clinch River. Instead, she would leave town and go somewhere else — somewhere more seasoned to tourism. But about two years ago as she was returning to Saint Paul with her husband, she saw a van stacked with tubes. “Hey,” she said, with her hometown in mind, “not a bad idea.”

Business flourished once Clinch River Adventures opened last summer. Although only operating for about 30 days that season, Funk’s fledgling enterprise filled an opening much larger than anyone in the community had expected. Despite the region’s acclaimed biodiversity, Funk is the only outfitter in her area who operates from a business building and offers tubing. By the season’s close, even with days after days of rain, Funk had hosted more than 800 people from 14 states and three countries.

Funk’s business isn’t the only thing flourishing in Saint Paul — the whole town has been cultivating itself as a hub for regional ecotourism. The riverside Matthews Park, where Funk’s caboose is located, is being redesigned to include native plant gardens, walking trails, a river pier and interpretative murals. Just outside of Clinch River Adventures, a food vendor will be selling barbeque from his local farm. Already the park boasts new playground equipment and a skatepark, and is directly connected to the picturesque Bluebell Island Trail.

In addition to her work on the featured Bluebell Island Trail and improving regional water quality, local wonderwoman Lou Ann Wallace was also a founder of the town’s open-air farmers market, which began in 2009. “But because this side of the river is coal country,” Wallace says, “there aren’t a lot of farms here. I had to convince farmers from outside coal country to come in, that they would be successful here.”

A local couple sells root vegetables at the Clinch River Farmers Market in Saint Paul, Va. The market opened in 2009 and also hosts live music, clogging and cooking demonstrations. Photo by Erin Savage

Five years later, the farmers market is thriving. Vendors only sell products sourced from southwest Virginia, and there’s live music, workshops on topics such as clogging, gardening and cooking, and free coffee and baked goods from the community. Just down the street is Saint Paul’s first hotel, Saint Paul Suites and Cottages, a collection of newly opened rentals that locals have justly boasted ought to be featured in Southern Living magazine.

Expanding Business

This summer, Funk plans to extend Clinch River Adventures’ season by opening a month earlier, on May 30, and also offering Thursday hours. Last year, 90 percent of her patrons were tubers. But considering that she started off with 50 tubes, four kayaks and two canoes, the percentage isn’t a surprise. Funk is expanding her inventory, and that additional stock will be help because last summer tubes sold out nearly every weekend.

With a long, calm stretch to gently float down the Clinch, and just a few small rapids to stir things up, it’s not surprising that tubing is such a popular activity. Walter Smith, a biology professor at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, says the river’s attractive features are likely related to the lack of major dams on the Clinch until after it reaches Tennessee. “People don’t need to portage around dams so it’s good for paddling,” he says. “And there are fewer disturbances taking away habitats so it’s good for wildlife diversity.”

Funk expects that many new visitors will take advantage of those special features this summer after she unveils her latest experiment: waterproof iPads, clipped onto kayaks, that provide a virtual audio tour of the river. The content will be narrated by a professional storyteller, and music from Empty String Bottle Band — a local bluegrass group — will play during the interlude.

The iPad links to a custom-made GoogleEarth map and, since most of the river is Wi-Fi accessible, the map will use GPS technology to highlight nearby points of interest. Tour topics include flora and fauna, natural features and ecology, and the impact and history of coal mining in the region. There will also be logistical information such as locations for public river access points, hiking trails convenient to the river, nearby communities and where to eat or stay.

As far as Funk is aware, the map, designed by a student-led citizen science initiative at UVA-Wise, may mark the Clinch as the first river apart from the Amazon to attempt a virtual tour guide project. While the tour will ultimately be offered publicly and to small business owners across the region, a trial run is being conducted with Clinch River Adventures.

“At first, people were coming for the state parks and federal park, then checking out the rest of the area,” says Funk. “Now, people are coming to this area for what we’re doing.”