News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A new study found more rock climbers than ever are visiting the Obed River Park and spending more money at local businesses.
Chief of Interpretation and Education Daniel Banks said the park has seen an increase every year for the past ten years. Banks said the study showed that more than 12,000 rock climbers visited the park last year.
“We did a press release specifically for this because we are extremely proud that we had so many people over the past year for this,” Banks said. “The number is a big number for us.”
According to the study, $768,000 was spent by climbers in 2023. The economic impact of their spending included short-term housing rentals at 43 percent, gasoline at 21 percent, dine-in restaurants at 19 percent, fast food, groceries, and snacks at 10 percent, camping at 4 percent, and hotels at 3 percent. Banks said the rock-climbers have been a big part of the increase.
“Within the rock-climbing community they communicate a lot amongst themselves,” Banks said. “So I think over the years that we have been doing this the word of mouth has kind of traveled and we’ve become a destination park for that kind of thing.”
Banks said the park made efforts many years ago to improve the rock climbing experience to attract more rock climbers.
“We have been focusing on rock climbing for now well over a decade and we are starting to see the benefit of that just as an individual park,” Banks said. “We have put a lot of effort into making the rock climbing areas better.”
Banks said the park has received grants to start rock climbing programs. One of the programs offers rock climbing opportunities for those who are missing a limb. Banks said he expects the numbers to stay with the upward trend and increase over the next couple of years.
