April 24, 2009

“With 2 ½ months to go before the end of this fiscal year on June 30th, we believe we will have 100,000 visitors at our three parks by the end of the year,” said Catawba County Parks Manager, Blair Rayfield. “It feels good to be able to offer this service to our residents during these hard economic times.”

For the year that ended on June 30, 2008, 75,797 people visited Catawba County parks. 90,426 had visited as of April 18, 2009, a 19% increase.

“Looking at individual parks, Riverbend Park attendance has increased slightly, by about 300 visitors,” Rayfield. “But Bakers Mountain Park visitors have increased by an astounding 31%! St. Stephens Park, which just opened last December, has already received over 4,000 visitors.”

Catawba County’s Parks Division is relatively young. Having begun in 1999, it is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of providing passive recreation. The County operates three parks: Riverbend Park, Bakers Mountain Park and St. Stephens Park. Both Riverbend and Bakers Mountain Parks were created using matching fund grants from the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF). The grants assist local government by providing funds for the development of recreational activities. Local governments such as Catawba County must match these grants on a 50/50 basis. This reduces the financial burden on the local tax base for development of recreational opportunities. In 1997, the Catawba County Board of Commissioners set aside funds that could be used to match PARTF grants in the future.

Riverbend Park, which opened in 1999, is located in the northern part of the county off Highway 16, east of the Oxford Dam on the Catawba River. The 450-acre park provides opportunities for canoeing, fishing, twelve miles of hiking trails, 7.8 miles of trails for mountain biking, picnicking, shelter and grills, a two-acre fenced dog park, wildlife habitat, bird feeding viewing areas, an ADA-accessible observation platform, and indoor and outdoor educational programming.

Bakers Mountain Park was opened in 2002, preserving 189 acres on Catawba County’s most prominent point, located in the western part of the county on Bakers Mountain Road just off Old Shelby Road. Featuring the County’s largest mature forest, the park’s diverse vegetation, pristine streams and terrain is very similar to that found in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.

A six mile trail system at Bakers Mountain Park offers a wide range of difficulty, from a one-quarter mile paved ADA-accessible trail to other trails that are more strenuous. An observation platform is located at the top of the mountain and the park also has picnic areas, grills and shelters, a gazebo, a bird feeding observation area, and outdoor educational programming.

St. Stephens Park is located next to Clyde Campbell Elementary School, at the end of 36th Ave. NE near Hickory. It reopened in December 2008 as a County park after being closed for about three years.

In the late 1970s, the St. Stephens Recreational Corporation requested assistance from Catawba County to secure a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. A $75,000 grant was approved in 1979, and the 9.1-acre tract was deeded to Catawba County. A pool, bathhouse and picnic shelter were constructed and St. Stephens Recreational Corporation operated and maintained the pool and park until the corporation was dissolved in 1985. The City of Hickory assumed responsibility for park operations until the summer of 2005, when the pool was found to be in need of extensive repairs.

The goal of Catawba County’s Parks Division is to provide passive recreation and natural preservation. The Catawba County Board of Commissioners approved a renovation plan for the park, and it reopened on December 12, 2008 as a passive park. It features a 1/3 mile loop trail, picnic shelter, outdoor concrete sitting and picnic area, children’s playground, horseshoe pits, a bird feeding observation area, a one-acre fenced dog park and educational meeting room.

“Our dog parks, located in both Riverbend and St. Stephens Parks, have been extremely popular,” Rayfield said. “They give pet owners the opportunity to bring dogs to an area where they can run without being leashed. Both facilities are designed with a double gate entrance. A dog owner enters the first gate, removes the dog’s leash, and may then safely enter the main area of the dog park. The dog parks are a great place for dogs and their owners to socialize with others, where the animals can run free in a large open area. We invite everyone to visit our parks and dog parks soon!”

Dog owners must obtain a permit before their pets will be allowed into the dog parks. Rules and dog park permit applications may be obtained at any of the parks, or online. Permits cost $20 per dog, and verification of vaccination must be shown at the time of permit purchase.

For more information, you may visit the Catawba County Parks web pages or call 828-256-9157.