An event that’s focused on promoting the area’s abundant outdoor recreation activities and how to enjoy them responsibly will put down stakes this weekend.
The third annual Georgia Mountain Trail Fest will take place at Reece’s Cider Company, 9110 Highway 52 East, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 20.
The event, which is presented by the Georgia Mountain Trails Partnership (GMTP), will feature educational presentations by various speakers and an array of vendors, noted Robert Ferguson, GMTP CEO. The trail fest is free to attend and open to the public, although donations to benefit the GMTP are accepted.
“This is our big event each year. When Gilmer County was designated a Georgia Appalachian Trail Community, one of the things about that was to have a trail fest to celebrate that designation every year,” Ferguson said. “We want to focus not just on hiking and the AT, but on everything the county has to offer (including) its three rivers and mountain biking.”
The event promotes and educates “about all the ways you can hit a trail, whether it’s hiking, water or equestrian,” Ferguson said.
“We’re focused on all of it a little bit. We’ve got education on the (different types of trail recreation), and we’ll have kind of half and half nonprofit and for profit (vendors including) two food trucks,” he added.
The day’s speakers and presentations will start at 10 a.m., and the venue will have live music inside starting at 1:30 p.m., noted Ferguson.
“(One of our guest speakers is) Brent Binion, who’s an expert with Leave No Trace. He’ll be going over the principles of that program, which is important for all trails. It’s (based on) if you take it in, you take it out as if you were never there,” said Ferguson. “We will also have Anne Van Curen returning as Grandma Gatewood. People are commenting about wanting to see her again. Emma Gatewood was the first woman to solo hike the AT, and Anne tells her story.”
This year, the GMTP will also be sponsoring the local Team Cartecay youth mountain biking club, while working toward getting a youth hiking program going, Ferguson noted.
“We’re also going to be working with our beautiful Carters Lake on some stuff. Friends of Carters Lake, which is kind of a newer organization, will be at the trail fest with a table and a presentation,” he added.