Gas prices hurting trail towns

[Blue Jay]

While hiking the AT this year I've noticed severe economic damage to many trail towns. For example, Atkins Virginia used to have two gas stations/convenient stores, now there is one. The Dairy Queen is closed and both the motel and diner appear to be barely holding on. The owner of the store in Unionville NY told me his business is down. The places I have frequented in Palmerton PA in the past also told me they are doing OK but have been hurt. I keep seeing threads on White Blaze about various other places that have closed or are for sale. Hearing that The Inn at the Long Trail is for sale has me in a panic as it is one of my favorite places. Please, please, if you live any where near a trail town, and you can afford it, please spend money there, if you are hiking or not. These places are vital to our enjoyment of the AT. Since most of you NEED to fear something, please fear this, it's real.

[Lone Wolf]

While hiking the AT this year I've noticed severe economic damage to many trail towns. For example, Atkins Virginia used to have two gas stations/convenient stores, now there is one. The Dairy Queen is closed and both the motel and diner appear to be barely holding on. The owner of the store in Unionville NY told me his business is down. The places I have frequented in Palmerton PA in the past also told me they are doing OK but have been hurt. I keep seeing threads on White Blaze about various other places that have closed or are for sale. Hearing that The Inn at the Long Trail is for sale has me in a panic as it is one of my favorite places. Please, please, if you live any where near a trail town, and you can afford it, please spend money there, if you are hiking or not. These places are vital to our enjoyment of the AT. Since most of you NEED to fear something, please fear this, it's real.

The Dairy Queen in Atkins has been closed for 4 years and the Exxon attached to it has been opened and closed several times. Nothing to do with gas prices really. Since when is the Inn at the Long Trail for sale? Did you mean the Whistle Stop?

[Lone Wolf]

gas prices aren't hurting damascus. creeper trail riders are still coming in droves and lots of section hikers are coming here too

[Wise Old Owl]

I agree with LW, I work directly with small business, and frequenty its the owners short sightedness & strategy directly affects how well they do, not the gas prices. In a small percentage some are just choosing to retire at this time or put the business up for sale, creating a cool turnkey operation.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Not directly on the trail, but in the area of the trail - tourism in Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge (in TN near the Newfound Gap / US 441 crossing in the GSMNP) and tourism in Townsend area (near Russell Field and Spence Field shelters) are both down about 25% this year per the motel owners. It would not surprise me to find that tourism is down due to the added cost to reach these and other destinations.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

While hiking the AT this year I've noticed severe economic damage to many trail towns. For example, Atkins Virginia used to have two gas stations/convenient stores, now there is one. The Dairy Queen is closed and both the motel and diner appear to be barely holding on. The owner of the store in Unionville NY told me his business is down. The places I have frequented in Palmerton PA in the past also told me they are doing OK but have been hurt. I keep seeing threads on White Blaze about various other places that have closed or are for sale. Hearing that The Inn at the Long Trail is for sale has me in a panic as it is one of my favorite places. Please, please, if you live any where near a trail town, and you can afford it, please spend money there, if you are hiking or not. These places are vital to our enjoyment of the AT. Since most of you NEED to fear something, please fear this, it's real.

I'm not quite sure why Dairy Queens, Gas Stations and Inns are vital to enjoying a trail through the woods. Times are tough everywhere and the economy isn'y going to rebound with just clean thoughts and fairy dust. This ain't the west where towns sprang up along the railroad, the towns were there first then the AT came along.
The spirit of your post is good, but a few bucks from hikers ain't gonna fix the economy

[4eyedbuzzard]

I'd have to split the difference here somewhat. A lot of small rural businesses like inns in New England change hands about once every ten years. That's about the time it takes for the new owner to lose interest in it and find another buyer, who usually loses interest in it after a few years... Sometimes they simply close if there's no one interested in running it. Profit margins in these businesses often are less than what someone would net had they invested the money and simply worked a regular job. Most are pretty much always just barely making it.

I think gas prices are having an effect though. People aren't traveling as much due to high prices and also knowing that heating and other costs are going to get worse in the future. Pretty bleak outlook right now and people are cutting back spending in anticipation.

[Ron Haven]

I didn't see a big difference in hikers who came to Franklin this year so far,although the fuel cost hurt us a lot in keeping up the demand.
We are seeing a large drop in summer tourism.Mant tourist come here to go to the gem and mineral mines in which I have been told was 50% or more off than last year.

[Bulldawg]

I can honestly say that gas prices have kept my hiking and other activities closer to home. I have taken my kids to Helen, GA for entertainment more this summer than the previous 8 years combined already. Helen is a 14 mile drive for me.

[wilconow]

As LW says, The Inn at Long Trail is NOT for sale. It's the Whistle Stop Cafe.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36959

[minnesotasmith]

And were probably doing so before gas prices went up over the last year.

The # of thruhike attempts has been trending down for around a decade. The # of thruhikers is minor compared to the # of shorter-distance hikers, yes, but it dovetails as a mine canary with the studies showing less and less use of most recreation areas/state and national parks & forests, if not close to population centers.

I wouldn't buy into most trail businesses myself.

[take-a-knee]

It has influenced my hiking plans to a degree, also some of my fishing/paddling trips. I'm less inclined to drive 70-80 miles each way (with two vehicles) to paddle. Trips a little closer to home and more overnighters. I'm still going to hunt, fish, paddle and hike.

[A-Train]

Gas prices have pretty much halted my hiking for the past couple months. I used to drive up to Harriman whenever I got the itch. Now I keep to my bigger trips and day hikes and local trips don't really happen.

[Frosty]

I think gas prices are having an effect though. People aren't traveling as much due to high prices

I live in NH, same as you, and I haven't seen any less traffic running up and down I-93 or Rte 16. Highways are still full of cars, trucks, and SUVs. People are whining and complaining, but they are still driving and buying gas just like always. Anyway, I was in Quebec last week, and after a buck and a half per LITER, $4+ a gallon seems cheap to me.

[Pedaling Fool]

...Anyway, I was in Quebec last week, and after a buck and a half per LITER, $4+ a gallon seems cheap to me.

...And they have tons of it and a population just over 30 million

[Tennessee Viking]

Most of the trail towns are acting like any other town by raising costs. If you haven't seen increases in cost at stores, hostels, outfitters, and shuttle services yet, you will see it next year. I can definitely see some of the local for profit businesses raising prices.

I have been mostly watching where I day hike recently. Last year, I was all over SW VA, the Blue Ridge, Smokies, and KY. This year I been concentrating around my club's and neighboring sections & forest service trails.

[Odd Thomas]

...And they have tons of it and a population just over 30 million

Most of what they have is messy and locked up in oil shale and tar sands, and the extraction is energy intensive. Some methods try to vibrate the stuff out, other methods require solvent to wash it out. It's expensive, but it'd be interesting to know how high $gas has to go before it's worth doing.

[Pedaling Fool]

Most of what they have is messy and locked up in oil shale and tar sands, and the extraction is energy intensive. Some methods try to vibrate the stuff out, other methods require solvent to wash it out. It's expensive, but it'd be interesting to know how high $gas has to go before it's worth doing.

This is a subject I don't know much about, but I've heard that. However, I've also heard we (U.S.) get most of our oil from Canada, so I'm not sure how much of their oil resources are of the type that require such extensive extraction techniques.

[Odd Thomas]

This is a subject I don't know much about, but I've heard that. However, I've also heard we (U.S.) get most of our oil from Canada, so I'm not sure how much of their oil resources are of the type that require such extensive extraction techniques.

I've heard that a lot too, "we get most of our oil from Canada" but when looking up the data it turns out we just get more oil from Canada than from anywhere else.



What's interesting is how much oil we produce domestically, when compared to how much Canada produces domestically.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/en...oil-production

We produce more than double the amount Canada does.

I can't find reliable information as to Canada's oil reserves, the graphs range from not listing canada at all, to canada having more sand-oil than Saudi Arabia, to everything in between.

[kayak karl]

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