Tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Martinsville reveals itself as an unexpected paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. Anna Wheeler and Brian Williams from the Dan River Basin Association share their intimate knowledge of this small city with its outsized adventure potential.
The Smith River Blueway provides 45 miles of accessible paddling and world-class trout fishing on the crown jewel of Martinsville. Just beyond city limits, Philpott Lake offers 25 miles of undeveloped shoreline with camping, paddling, and hiking opportunities.
Bring your bike or borrow one for free and ride the Smith River Trail System, a network of local trails, including the 11-mile paved Dick & Willie Passage Trail, that serves as both recreation corridor and community connector.
Anna and Brian also highlight local museums, culinary gems, and fascinating history to add to your must-do Martinsville bucket list. Let’s Go!
This is Part 2 of a two-part episode.
Follow VAOA Podcast:
Instagram I Facebook I Newsletter Sign Up
Support the Show! Buy Me A Coffee
Shop the Virginia Outdoor Adventures Merch Store!
VAOA Podcast is Sponsored by:
Visit Martinsville Henry County
Virginia Association for Parks
Mentioned in this Episode:
Visit Martinsville Henry County
Connect with Anna Wheeler and Brian Williams:
Dan River Basin Association I Facebook I Instagram
Dick and Willie Passage Rail Trail
Fan Mail - Send Jessica a Text Message
Contact show host, Jessica Bowser:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessica Bowser (00:00):
Announcer, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia. I'm your host. Jessica
(00:23):
Bowser, tucked into thefoothills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, Martinsville revealsitself as an unexpected paradise
for outdoor enthusiasts. ANNAWheeler and Brian Williams from
the Dan River Basin Associationshare their intimate knowledge
of this small city with itsoutsized adventure potential,
(00:44):
the Smith River blue wayprovides 45 miles of accessible
paddling and world class troutfishing on the crown jewel of
Martinsville, just beyond citylimits, Philpott lake offers 25
miles of undeveloped shorelinewith camping, paddling and
hiking opportunities. Bring yourbike or borrow one for free and
ride the Smith River TrailSystem, a network of local
(01:07):
trails, including the 11 milepaved dick and Willie passage
trail that serves as bothrecreation corridor and
community connector. Ana andBrian also highlight local
museums, culinary gems andfascinating history to add to
your must do Martinsville bucketlist. Let's go. So let's move on
(01:29):
to Beaver Creek Reservoir. Talka little bit about that.
Unknown (01:33):
That's a interesting place. It is another beautiful
lake, another hidden gem. It isthe Martinsville city water
supply. So it's got about 12miles of shoreline, and no
motorized craft are allowedthere. You can take a boat with
a motor on it, you just can'tuse the gas powered motor. You
have to use electric motor. Oryou can rent a canoe or a kayak
(01:55):
there. And the city ofMartinsville runs that. There's
a nice boat ramp. We have trailson either side. We have the Rock
Ridge Trail on one side, and onthe other side is the Patrick
and Henry Community College, andwe have a trail there as well.
We'd like to get a traileventually, all the way around
the reservoir. That's one of thethings that is in the master
plan. That's a beautiful lake.
Max depth is about 60 feet overnear the dam, but it's a finger
(02:18):
lake, so it runs up into theselong coves and long fingers. And
when you're standing there atthe boat ramp, you just see the
big part of the lake, but youdon't see actually how big that
lake is. You get out there andstart paddling or run it with an
electric motor, and then yourealize just how big it is.
There is all kinds of stuffthere. We've got Eagles there.
(02:39):
We've got cormorants. We've gotlarge mouth bass and brim and
they have catfish tournamentsout there. There's even been a
muskie caught out there before.
They've stocked some interestingthings in there. But it's a very
convenient place to go. Mybrother lives over in Georgia.
When he comes in town, one ofthe first places we go to fish
(02:59):
is Martinsville reservoir. Soit's it's so close, there's no
houses on it. Is another one ofthose mountain type lakes where
you're going to be out there andyou're going to be very
secluded, Beaver Creek thatactually runs into there's
several creeks that run into it.
Beaver Creek is the largestcreek that runs into it. And we
were up there in the wintertimefishing, and the beavers had
created a new dam across BeaverCreek. It was absolutely
(03:22):
beautiful, so it was interestingthat the beavers were working on
Beaver Creek there. But it's agreat place. It's never too
crowded, even though it's gets alot of use and it's a gorgeous
thing, and we like to keep it,you know, clean, because it is a
water supply for the city andthe county does a real good job
(03:42):
of it. All of myfriends that paddle it are
always like, wow, it doesn'tfeel like it's five minutes away
from the city, you know. So justhow, like we're all talking
about how close things are inthe community, just five minutes
away from Uptown Martinsville,is this beautiful reservoir that
feels like you're in the middleof nowhere, but are so close to
all of the amenities and thingsthat you may need in the
(04:04):
community. The first time I wentto Beaver Creek Reservoir, I saw
a hog nose snake. So that wasreally cool.
Jessica Bowser (04:11):
Oh, that is really cool. It's like my
favorite snake. How did you knowthat? Anna, well, now
Unknown (04:15):
you know even Brian was upset he wasn't even there.
Yeah,what a shame. Yeah, it's known
for that. Actually, that's oneof the places that we find
Hognose Snakes around here. Andfox squirrels too. There's a big
population of fox squirrels outthere, so there's, there's a lot
of wildlife there. And like Annasaid, it's so close. I mean,
it's right next to the HenryCounty administration building,
and on the other side is PatrickHenry Community College. But you
(04:37):
paddle out a few strokes and youfeel like you're in the middle
of nowhere. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (04:42):
they do have canoe and kayak rentals there,
which is fantastic, right on thewater, which is great. And I'm
glad that you mentioned thatit's so much bigger than you
realize, because I was sosurprised to find out just how
big it is, because when you pullup to the parking lot and you
see the lake, yeah, it's big,but, like. Said, you don't
realize that there's all thesefingers that stretch up beyond
(05:04):
where you can see. And sothere's a lot of exploring to be
done there.
Unknown (05:08):
Yeah, it's and it is good fishing too. I mean, the
further further back you get inthere, away from the main area,
but you can catch fish rightthere, because they do have
tournaments there as well. Andlike I said, we have trails
there, and we'd like to get moretrails there, but if you're not
even paddling, you can just gothere and hike a trail. But you
can find out more information onthe city of Martinsville
(05:29):
website. It's listed there,
Jessica Bowser (05:31):
yes, okay, there's just a couple more
things that I want to touch onbefore we dive into lodging,
dining and attractions, and oneof those is the Smith River
sports complex. Now I got a tourof this, and this is where the
dick and Willie passage trailends, right? Yes,
Unknown (05:47):
currently, this one terminus of the dick and Willie
passage and the sports complex.
We started in maybe 2007 I can'tremember, but I would like to
mention we have a localfoundation here, known as the
harvest Foundation, and they'rereally good about funding things
like this that help with anactive lifestyle, because one of
their directives is to help thecommunity become healthier. So
(06:09):
the sports complex was a bigpart of that was some funding
from the harvest, and theycreated a Sports Authority
complex that took care of it,but now that belongs to the
Henry County. They eventuallyturned it over. So Henry County
actually runs that as well. It'sa fantastic place for
everything. It's got a wonderfulplayground. I used to bring my
(06:32):
grandkids up here all the time.
This first place we go is thatcool playground? Soccer fields.
They do soccer field, hockey,you name it, they play it out
there. It's got an access boatramp. The Dick and Willie trail
runs into it. It has a allnatural dog park. It's a fenced
in two acre place where you cantake it. There's trails inside
(06:55):
it, but you can go inside thefence, let your dog off the
leash and let him run aroundwhile you walk the trail through
the whole thing. We have majorevents out there. That's where
we hold the Smith River Festevery year in August. And Henry
County Parks and Rec does agreat job with it. There's also
a driving range. And what elseam I missing out there? There's
Jessica Bowser (07:15):
like, workout facilities. The outdoor exercise
Unknown (07:18):
arena is out there, which is really cool,
yeah, and you can walk, youknow, there's a trail, a
concrete path, all the wayaround the sports complex. Tons
of people go out there, likepeople used to walk in the malls
all the time. They go out thesports complex, because you can
walk around the whole fields andget some good exercise. There's
a little retention pond that thetrail goes around that, and
there's places to sit and relax,and then that's where you can
(07:40):
pick up the dick and Willietrail and go all the way into
town on the dick and Willietrail. And the Smith River
Sports Complex sits on the SmithRiver. So we hold our Smith
River Fest there every year. Andthere's free tubing. You can
grab a tube and walk upstreamand jump in the Smith River. We
have a Smith river boat race. Wehave the helger might hustle Mud
Run. Dan River Basin startedSmith River Fest in 2008 and we
(08:03):
used to do it up in Basset andit got so big, we started
partnering with the county andthe city and moved it down to
the sports complex. And so Iusually run the river race and
help with the Helga might hustleMud Run. So even though we love
to do this stuff ourself, wedon't get to participate because
we're doing all this otherstuff, but we also have a big
demo pool there that we fill up.
We put a liner in the ground, inthis little pond, and we put
(08:26):
paddle boards and kayaks on it,and people can come and try out
a kayak or a paddle board. So weDan River Basin Association
volunteers and board membersstill run that every year. So
we're heavily involved. We'vealways been involved in it, and
we still are. And that's athat's a big event for us here.
It's a great summertime event.
Jessica Bowser (08:44):
Yeah, I saw the little fenced off dip in the
ground where you fill it withwater and do that. Yeah, that
was really neat. And I also wasimpressed that there's both an
accessible fishing pier and anaccessible kayak launch. I think
those are starting to becomemore popular all around Virginia
and probably all around thecountry, but it was really great
to see that in Henry County.
Yeah,
Unknown (09:05):
we've never had anything like that here. And we
have a what we call an ecoAmbassador council with Dan
River Basin and theircorporations around here, Frith
Corporation, Lester, they allget together and they support
different projects. So they allput a pot of money in so we're
not running around, going toeach Corporation, begging for
money all the time. These guyshave created their own Council,
(09:29):
and they're in charge of it, andthey just say, Hey, give us a
list of projects, and we'lldecide what we want to do with
it. And one of them was the allaccessible deck that you saw
down there, that we justcompleted last year. And we
wanted to design something thatpeople could roll right out of
the car, on a wheelchair orwhatever, and get right to the
water and fish. So we're lookingat doing that more. It's really
(09:49):
tough to do that on a river.
It's easier to do that on alake, because a river moves up
and down so much. But we'restill developing areas like
that. At the great road, we havean out. Outdoor Education
pavilion that has a very longaccessible deck where you can
roll up there. We use that forthe kids a lot, but anybody's
Welcome to use it. So each timewe're building projects, we're
(10:10):
trying to think about theaccessibility issues as well.
Jessica Bowser (10:14):
And speaking of projects, there is a brand new
state park in Henry Countythat's in development the
Unknown (10:21):
future Mayo River State Park in Virginia, is something
that the Dan River BasinAssociation has been quite like,
entangled with for a really longtime. We assisted with the first
property purchase for thatproperty, so we kind of had our
first ribbon cutting along withthat a couple years ago with the
Eco Ambassador council that wejust talked about, about some
(10:42):
mayo river trails that are outthere right now. So if you're
curious about what the futureMayo River State Park in
Virginia may look like, just goout there and take a peek at it.
It's it's very undeveloped rightnow, just because they're still
working on the master plan forit. But in partnership with a
few people, including fairystone state park staff. We have
(11:03):
a huge gratitude for them forhelping maintain it. There are
trails and the river isaccessible there, so we have a
little parking lot, somerestrooms and about what would
we say, like, three or fourmiles of trails right now out
there? Yeah, and it does connectto the North Carolina Mayo River
State Park. The last triangle atthe end of the trail is the
(11:24):
North Carolina Mayo River StatePark. And DARPA was also super
integral to that project comingto completion as well. And so
we're hoping that that statepartnership for a bi State State
Park would you know continue.
The Virginia side is locatedalong the north and south Mayo
which are both considered scenicsections of river, and there's
(11:45):
six or seven miles of both ofthem are scenic rivers for
Virginia, and they come togetherto Confluence. The north and
south come together to form themayo river property. And as Ana
said, right where they cometogether, that's actually in
North Carolina. So you can walkfrom Virginia down to the
Confluence and be in NorthCarolina. You can hike along the
(12:05):
bird's ledge trail and see thisreal famous place where William
Byrd, who surveyed Virginia andNorth Carolina, they had an
encampment there, and they callit bird's ledge. We have paddle
events down the North Mayoriver. We do them in the winter
times. Kind of crazy. It'scontiguous with the North
Carolina State Park, and Anaworks very closely with both
Virginia and North CarolinaState Park personnel. We release
(12:30):
Roanoke log perch there down inthe North Carolina side. We do
muscle surveys on the mayoRiver, which is a beautiful
river, and so basically, oncethe Virginia master plan gets
done, you'll be able to paddle.
You can do it now, but you'vegot to do it from a bridge, but
they'll have an access where youcan paddle from Virginia in down
and get out of North Carolina.
(12:52):
And once you do that, you'regoing into a section of river
when has a really famous rapidcalled the boiling hole that we
utilize a lot. And it's it'sneat. It's on the far western
corner of Henry County, andwe're super excited to have it.
The people at fairy stone are incharge of the state park right
now. So as Anna said, the EcoAmbassador Council helped us pay
(13:15):
for a parking lot and build sometrails and put some basic
infrastructure there. So we'repushing to try to get that open.
The State Department, DCR isworking right now on the master
plan, and we hope by sometimenext year, they should be
finished with that master plan,and then they can go before the
General Assembly to get somemoney to help us build some
infrastructure there. But thegood news is you can drive down
(13:37):
to the end of Pratt road hike.
You can hike all the way to theconfluence of the north and
south mayo, and it's a beautifulpiece of property. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (13:44):
I had a tour of mayo River State Park maybe two
years ago now, and it isabsolutely beautiful, especially
once you get down to the water.
So I'm very excited for themaster plan to be finished and
for the amenities to start to bedeveloped. Right now, it is just
like a parking lot and a portapotty at the entrance, but if
you're cool with that, then thatyou can really enjoy some
(14:05):
beautiful hikes at that park.
Unknown (14:08):
Yeah, and Dan River Basin Association. Our founding
members were very influential inestablishing the North Carolina
side and the Virginia ourfounders were in love with this
region. They lived here alltheir lives, and they wanted to
see it protected. And that's oneof the things that they looked
at the north and south mayo andsaid, we really got to do
something here. So they reallypushed North Carolina to get
(14:30):
that North Carolina State Park,and it's been going great guns,
and Ana's on that stakeholderscommittee. And the good thing
is, we've put the statestogether. That's one of the
things that we do with Dan RiverBasin is build partnerships.
Since we're a bi stateorganization, our main office is
in Eden, North Carolina, andthen honest has an office in
Henry County, Virginia, so wecan work across state lines,
(14:53):
whereas sometimes states reallycan't do that, and sometimes
they don't even talk to eachother about stuff. So one of the
cool. Things that we've done hasbeen able to say, hey, the Smith
River, the north and south mayo,the Dan. It stitches our two
states together. You know, it'san emerald ribbon of tourism,
and you guys need to worktogether. Hey,
Jessica Bowser (15:12):
adventure seekers, can you believe I
traveled 10,043 miles acrossVirginia last year? Yep, over
10,000 miles to bring youstories from Virginia's most
incredible adventure towns. Ifyou've enjoyed discovering these
hidden gems and want to hearmore, consider supporting the
podcast through my buy me acoffee page. Your contribution,
(15:33):
whether it's a one time tip or amonthly membership, helps cover
the cost of creating theseepisodes and keeps the adventure
going every bit helps fuel thejourney, plus members get some
awesome perks. So head to my buyme a coffee page by clicking on
support the show. In your shownotes, shout out to the newest
members of Virginia outdooradventures. Anne from
(15:55):
Fredericksburg, Matt fromRoanoke, Barb from Chesterfield,
Lori from Norfolk, Raphael fromFalls Church, Kevin from
Richmond, and Allison from clearBrook. Thanks for helping me
share Virginia's wildest, mostinspiring places one adventure
at a time.
Unknown (16:14):
We've got the beaches to the Bluegrass, which is a DCR
trail system that runs all theway from the coast all the way
to the other end, and that'sstill in development, and it
just basically connects allthese existing trails together.
And years ago, the folks fromDCR came down and sat with us in
the office and said, Hey, thisis you've got more trails on the
(16:36):
ground than anybody along thiswhole stretch. Now, South Boston
and Pennsylvania County, they'vegot some trails too. So all
that's tying together, and thenwe developed a master plan to
actually tie the beaches to theBluegrass to the mountains to
the sea trail in North Carolina.
So we see these networks ofrivers and trails as very
integral to the way that peopledo plan their trips and do
(16:58):
recreation. You know, fromcampgrounds to paddling to
hiking, and then having thoseamenities, whether you want to
stay in a bed and breakfast, wehave Airbnbs around here, and
then, you know, availablerestaurants. So it's all, all
part of the big package, andit's, it's a underutilized area,
you know, we don't want it toget overcrowded, but we do want
(17:19):
you to come visit and enjoy whatwe do have to offer. Speaking
Jessica Bowser (17:25):
of amenities, this seems like a good segue
into lodging, dining andattractions around Martinsville,
where can visitors grab a biteto eat or a morning coffee? I
Unknown (17:35):
guess it depends on where you start. But Jessica,
I'm gonna say we're startingwhere you were. So we're gonna
wake up maybe at one Starlingbed and breakfast, and then head
to perhaps the ground floor inUptown Martinsville, go on a
paddle. Maybe it's in Bassett,going to the railway cafe. Super
great place has got my favoritething is the barbecue chicken
(17:56):
sandwich. So let them know. Annatold you to order it. And then,
along with that, you know, forsweet treats, go to dippers, ice
cream, cocoa trails inCollinsville on the way back.
Anything for dinner. There's somany options. You can look them
up, but our favorite is Hamletkitchen. It's a food to go
place, and so you can get thebest of both worlds in one
place. Take it out somewhere andgo sit by the river and have a
(18:17):
little picnic with it. I'd alsorecommend, you know, some local
breweries, renewal, scuffleHill, are great places to stop
by and, like, grab some reallygood local beer. It's award
winning out here. And then, youknow, for other options,
Jessica, like you are, like alot of people have vegetarian
options. One of our favoriteplaces is the dew drop Inn. And
it's actually a gas station, butnobody would know, because it is
(18:39):
the best place for Indian foods.
Jessica Bowser (18:41):
It was so good.
Oh my gosh,
Unknown (18:45):
great. Yeah. And you know, things are opening up and
changing all the time aroundhere. So take a peek on visit
Martinsville website, and youcan find so many options. And we
have an entrepreneurialcommunity down here, so there's
always something going on andsomething getting added. So take
a peek. Thereplenty of places to eat, plenty
of unique places. When I gosomewhere, I want to eat
something hometown that's there.
(19:07):
I'm not looking for a McDonald'sor an olive garden. We do have
some chain restaurants here, andthat's fine, if that's what you
like. But generally, even whenon and I go all somewhere, we're
constantly looking for thatlocal ice cream shop or the
local place to eat, because Iwant to experience what the food
there is. And so you can get,you know, good southern cooking
here. You can get Indiancuisine. You can get hibachi or
(19:30):
whatever. There's Mexican food,there's there's a ton of variety
here. So it, it doesn't reallymatter what you what you want,
you're, you're going to be ableto find it somewhere here. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (19:39):
Brian, I could not agree more, the local food
scene is what makes a town Ifeel like and it's those places
that you remember when you'rethinking back on your visit and
how much you enjoyed it, thoseare the things that stand out.
Like was it renewal brewingwhere we walked in and you go
down the steps, it's like aspeakeasy set. Thing. And I was
(20:01):
like, No way. I cannot believethis place is here. It was so
cool. And I was like, What? Whatis this doing here in
Martinsville? And so it's thatkind of experience that I'm not
gonna forget, right? 100%
Unknown (20:15):
everything around here is so unique, and we try not to
be like the others. We'vegot so much good local talent
here too, and a lot ofentrepreneurials, just like the
studio we're sitting in here,Rudy's girls media, who allowed
us to use the studio for thispodcast, and people that are
really thinking way ahead, andso they're they're thinking
about new ideas, new ways toengage tourism and the local
(20:36):
folks too. You know, we we'vegot people here that never were
able to experience some of thethings that we've had in the
last 10 or 15 years come in.
We've also got people that haveleft the community and come
back. You know, we alwaysencourage kids. We do a lot of
work with kids, and we say, hey,grow up. Go see the world, get
(21:00):
knowledge, bring it back here,and we love to see that. And
that happens a lot now. Ithappens a lot more than it used
to, and we're thrilled to seeit. Let's
Jessica Bowser (21:08):
talk about some of the museums, because I was
also quite impressed with themuseum offerings in
Martinsville. Yeah.
Unknown (21:14):
Well, Jessica, you got a few, one on one tours of a lot
of locations. So I'm sure youhave a lot to say, but the
Virginia Museum of NaturalHistory is the State Museum for
natural history, and it'slocated in Martinsville,
Virginia, it's so interesting.
Has a lot of different optionsfor natural heritage in their
exhibits, and I'd add that theyhave a lot of events throughout
(21:35):
the year, on the weekend, so ifanybody's interested in going to
reptile fest or Dino fest.
They're open every weekend, andthe events for the weekends are
listed throughout their website.
Piedmont arts is a local artexhibition that brings art all
the way from around the world toMartinsville, Virginia. Piedmont
arts is a free option, and it'spart of the Virginia Museum of
(21:58):
Fine Arts, and it has abeautiful art scene. They also
have host events throughout theyear, and something that they
host is called dancing for thearts, and it's really fun.
Brian, do you want to addsomething? Yes,
a lot of competed last year, anddancing for the arts. And one no
Jessica Bowser (22:15):
or team one, wait a minute. I didn't hear
this story.
Unknown (22:18):
Oh yeah. It happens every two is it every two years,
that's their big fundraiser.
It's called dancing for thearts. And they get local
celebrities, of which Ana is,they team them up with someone
else, and you raise money forthe event, get people to donate,
and then we have a big show, andit's just fantastic. There's
eight teams, something likethat, and everybody gets two
dances, and it's just a wholelot of fun. Piedmont Arts is
(22:39):
fantastic. They have all kindsof events and the museum as
well. You know, we Dan RiverBasin partners real closely with
both of these organizations. Wehelp out with reptile fest. Just
a couple of days ago, I was atfairy stone state park with
Virginia Museum of NaturalHistory. We had a bio blitz
there, where we go out and wetake kids and look for
salamanders and snakes and do aneducational program there. We've
(23:00):
been working with the Museum ofNatural History for as long as
I've been here. We have a trouttank there that showcases our
Trout in the Classroom program.
It's full of brook trout. It's asmall town, so everybody kind of
knows everybody, and everybodyworks together. And that's
that's one of the things thatmakes it really unique. So if
(23:21):
you walked into Piedmont artsand said, What is there to do
around here? They're going totell you, yeah, if you did the
same thing at the museum orwhatever, you've not got like a
corporation that's from out oftown that is only interested in
making money and doesn't knowanything about what's going on
around here. If you walk intoany, almost any of our
establishments and say, Hey, howdo I get on the river? Where can
(23:42):
I go to get on a trail?
Somebody's going to know, andthey're going to tell you,
because they're proud of we'reproud of it. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (23:48):
I did get behind the scenes tours of pretty much
every museum. One of myfavorites was the African
American Museum and CulturalCenter that was so fascinating,
and what I thought was reallyinteresting that I think a lot
of people would know, because Icertainly didn't know this was
how many big name celebritymusicians came through
Martinsville, like in the early1900s and I was just like, wait,
(24:11):
what Fats Domino was here? Like,what is I mean, there's just so
many neat things, and the allthe items that they have on
display, just tell the story sowell of the role that
Martinsville played in theAfrican American community and
and what a strong community theyhad in Martinsville. Saw that
was one of my favorites. Andthen the Virginia Museum of
(24:31):
Natural History, I almost lostmy mind in that museum. I could
have been in there for a month.
It was just so cool. So we got atour from Marshall, and the
first thing I asked him was, isthe skeleton from the
prehistoric cat that they foundin the cave in Lee County in
this museum? And he went, Oh,Petra. And he just waved me into
the back and we got to go wherethe archeologists were actually
(24:54):
working on it. He walked in theroom. He's like, Hey, where's
Petra? And they're like, Oh,she's right there. And. They
point out the table, and here'sthe skeleton. And I've talked
about this skeleton in a pastepisode I did about caving, and
I have met the cavers whodiscovered the skeleton, and I
know the cavers who are part ofthe process to remove it from
the cave and bring it to themuseum, and I know the folks at
(25:16):
DCR who were involved in it. Andso I feel like this whole story
is something that I've justbeen, like, totally fascinated
with. So to walk into the museumand actually see it there on the
table like I almost lost mymind. And then they took me into
the back where they pulled theskull out of a drawer, like they
had, you know, where they storeall the different preserved
animal parts and skeletons. Andshe just opened the drawer, and
(25:40):
she pulled the head out, and theskull is just sitting there on
the table. And she's like, Yeah,look, you can see, like, you
know, little bat bones insidethe eye cavity and all. And I
was just eating up every bit ofit. It was amazing. That's
Unknown (25:53):
cool that you knew about Tetra Yeah, we had the
grand opening down here. A lotof my friends, I caved too. So a
lot of them worked in Bursa caveon that project, and we're
excited to have it down here. Itreally is unique. There's a lot
of other unique stuff in theretoo. I've been there a million
times, and I can still spendforever, you know, going through
the collections and the Fayettearea historic initiative that
(26:16):
you mentioned, the fahe we callit for short, here, the African
American Cultural Museum isfantastic. People don't realize
that this was actually a prettyfriendly area for black
musicians to come through. Sothat's why a lot of big names
had come through here during thejazz area. Martinsville is old.
You know, we're older thanAtlanta and places like that.
(26:37):
It's a very old community luckyto have that influence over near
fielddale, we have the town ofWaller. Before field crest
cannon was ever started, was ahistoric African American
community that had a mill overthere that's still standing. So
there's a lot of history here.
Lot of descendants fromeverybody still live here.
That's what you have when youhave a small community like
(26:58):
that. So it's, it's really agood mix, good diversity of
different folks here, mainlypeople that have lived here all
their lives. On and I are bothtransplants. I've only lived
here 19 years, so I'll always bean outsider, but I feel like
I've lived here forever, and Ilove it, and I don't plan to go
anywhere. You know, we'rebuilding a new house here. You
(27:19):
know our dream house up on someproperty, and we love it.
Jessica Bowser (27:23):
Are there any other attractions you want to
mention before we close up? Alot
Unknown (27:28):
of people probably know Martinsville from the speedway
that's here. So if you have aNASCAR lover in your life,
that's exactly what everybodyelse asked me, oh, you moved to
martinsville? Like, have youbeen to a NASCAR race yet? So if
you have people who areinterested in that, we do also
have the Speedway, and you cancome for a weekend, and, you
know, go to a race one day andgo hike the next day. So it can
(27:49):
be the best of both worlds.
Along with that, we do have oneof the love work signs at the
sports complex, if you guys wantto go take a peek at that. And
then something that, you know,gives homage to some of our
furniture. Capital of the Worldstuff is the big chair in Uptown
martinsville. So that wascreated by Bassett furniture
industries to celebrate the100th anniversary of the
industry. And so you can go andtake a peek at that, also along
(28:11):
that it has history about all ofthe textiles and furniture
industry in the community, yeah,if you're interested in racing.
And you know anything about thehistory of it? You know, we have
the paper clip here. We call it.
And of course, NASCAR racing gotstarted from moonshining, and we
are the moonshine capital of theworld. Here. People like to say
(28:32):
Franklin County is that's fine.
We'll give it to them. It's thecounty to the north of us. Every
single Creek has an old still onit somewhere, even in within the
park. If you hike up in the parkand salt house branch, you can
see remains of old stills. So wedo celebrate that heritage here,
since the NASCAR and the moonshining was hand in hand,
Franklin County always known asthe wettest county in the
(28:54):
country. Actually, Henry Countyproduced more moonshine back in
those days, but we'll let themhave that. But they they are
working on the moonshineHeritage Trail as well. So all
of this stuff ties in together.
And Martinsville is one of theoldest, I think it is the oldest
Speedway on the NASCAR circuit.
So it draws a big crowd from thetruck races to the major circuit
races.
Jessica Bowser (29:17):
Are there any popular lodging options in town?
Unknown (29:20):
The Hampton Inn is a conventional hotel, but we also
have plenty of Airbnbs andverbose so take a peek around
there. You know, you can findanything from like somebody's
above car garage apartment tosomething like the Oakdale inn
or one Starling, which are fullbed and breakfast locations.
Take a peek at what you want.
Also RV camping at the SmithRiver RV and Indian heritage,
(29:41):
and then camping along placeslike fairy stone or Philpott
Lake.
Yeah, it's neat. The Indianheritage RV park is right there
below Martinsville dam, soyou're right on the river.
That's one of our accesslocations. You can paddle from
there to the sports complex, andthen Smith River RV park. Park
is up in Stanley town, so youcan paddle up in Bassett and the
(30:04):
upper part of the river abovemartinsville. So good camping
options. And of course, Philpotfairy stone, their campgrounds
closed right now for renovation,so you got to go to Philpott.
But as Ana mentioned before, alot more Airbnbs than we've ever
had before here, and thenconventional motels like the
Hampton man Jameson inn, and wehave a couple of other motels
around here too, so we can hookyou up with whatever, whatever
(30:27):
kind of place you like to stayin.
Jessica Bowser (30:29):
Fantastic. And for people who like to plan
trips around upcoming events,what's on the calendar? The
first
Unknown (30:35):
thing coming up is a rooster walk at pops farm, which
is May 22 to the 25th huge listof amazing artists, including
trampled by turtles this year,which will be really awesome.
We're excited about that. Franksand drinks at Piedmont Arts is
July 18, another amazing time tojust hang and spend time with
friends and family and stop byPiedmont arts. Dino festival is
(30:57):
coming up at the Virginia Museumof Natural History On July 25
and 26th very friendly familyevent. So stop by one day at the
museum, and then go the otherday to go hiking or whatever.
And then we also have the SmithRiver Fest at the sports complex
on August, 23 that will be allthe fun outdoor rec people that
anybody wants to have. So comejoin us there. And then also the
(31:18):
Henry County Fair at thespeedway, which is September 24
to 27th and that's, you know,just all the good time, fair
stuff, and you can take a peekat the speedway while you're
there. Excellent.
Jessica Bowser (31:28):
All right, so I think we're gonna land this
plane here pretty soon. Do youhave any parting advice to
future visitors
Unknown (31:34):
for anything tourism related? Go to visit
martinsville.com and you'll getup to date information anytime.
And they have a great staff thatis willing to answer any
questions for you.
Yeah, you can find informationjust about anywhere. You can go
to the Dan River BasinAssociation website. We have an
interactive map. Yes,Martinsville has an interactive
map. Smith River, blue way,Henry County Parks and Rec city
(31:58):
of Martinsville, there's plentyof good information out there.
Just no lack of informationimportant people can get. So we
encourage people to come. Likeyou said, you can plan your trip
around an event, but you don'teven have to do that. You can
come into town, and I guaranteeyou will find something fun to
do here. The river is beautiful.
It's my favorite thing. I'vebeen working on the river for
years, since I've been here. Ilove to fish. I love to paddle
Philpot Lake. The hikingopportunities are outstanding.
(32:21):
People used to always say, Well,what do we have here? We don't
have a beach. It's like, yeah,we're not Myrtle Beach, and we
like it that way. We are thefoothills of the Blue Ridge, and
it is a gorgeous place to be.
It's temperate. You're not goingto get too hot, you're not going
to get too cold. It's a greatplace to do just a little bit of
(32:41):
everything you want to do, andenjoy some culture and some arts
as well. What
Jessica Bowser (32:46):
is the best way for listeners to connect with
you two? You can connect
Unknown (32:50):
with us through the Dan River Basin association. So if
you look us up via that, you canfind anything on a search engine
like that. Our Instagram is atDan River Basin our Facebook is
Dan River Basin Association, andDan river.org is our website,
and you can find any contactinformation on there as well.
There's a ton of information onthere about the river, about
(33:11):
safety, about the environment,about our trails. It's a really
good resource, and you can getin touch with Ana that way. I
personally am retired, so
Jessica Bowser (33:22):
I will link all of those websites that you
mentioned in the show notes sopeople can find them easily. I
will certainly link at the verytop visit Martinsville, so that
all of the lodging, dining andattractions and the outdoor
recreation opportunities will beat everyone's fingertips. So
Anna and Brian, thank you somuch for being guests on
(33:43):
Virginia outdoor adventures, butalso thank you so much for
everything that you do forconservation and tourism and
outdoor recreation in SouthsideVirginia. Well,
Unknown (33:54):
thank you. And we enjoyed having you down here to
visit and paddle and bike withus, and we hope we can get you
back down here again, we'll see
Jessica Bowser (34:01):
you next time adventure on Virginia, outdoor
adventures is inspired by andsupported by listeners like you,
which is why your messages andfeedback mean so much to me. You
can text me directly by clickingon Send me a text message in
your show notes. I answerquestions, respond to comments
(34:21):
and share your feedback on theshow. Never miss an update. Get
even more information andinspiration by signing up for my
newsletter. Click on newsletter.
Sign up in your show notes orvisit virginiaoutdoor
adventures.com thanks forlistening until next time.
Adventure on Virginia is foroutdoor lovers, and you'll love
(34:41):
everything Martinsville, HenryCounty has to offer you.
Announcer, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia. I'm your host. Jessica
(00:23):
Bowser, tucked into thefoothills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, Martinsville revealsitself as an unexpected paradise
for outdoor enthusiasts. ANNAWheeler and Brian Williams from
the Dan River Basin Associationshare their intimate knowledge
of this small city with itsoutsized adventure potential,
(00:44):
the Smith River blue wayprovides 45 miles of accessible
paddling and world class troutfishing on the crown jewel of
Martinsville, just beyond citylimits, Philpott lake offers 25
miles of undeveloped shorelinewith camping, paddling and
hiking opportunities. Bring yourbike or borrow one for free and
ride the Smith River TrailSystem, a network of local
(01:07):
trails, including the 11 milepaved dick and Willie passage
trail that serves as bothrecreation corridor and
community connector. Ana andBrian also highlight local
museums, culinary gems andfascinating history to add to
your must do Martinsville bucketlist. Let's go. So let's move on
(01:29):
to Beaver Creek Reservoir. Talka little bit about that.
Unknown (01:33):
That's a interesting place. It is another beautiful
lake, another hidden gem. It isthe Martinsville city water
supply. So it's got about 12miles of shoreline, and no
motorized craft are allowedthere. You can take a boat with
a motor on it, you just can'tuse the gas powered motor. You
have to use electric motor. Oryou can rent a canoe or a kayak
(01:55):
there. And the city ofMartinsville runs that. There's
a nice boat ramp. We have trailson either side. We have the Rock
Ridge Trail on one side, and onthe other side is the Patrick
and Henry Community College, andwe have a trail there as well.
We'd like to get a traileventually, all the way around
the reservoir. That's one of thethings that is in the master
plan. That's a beautiful lake.
Max depth is about 60 feet overnear the dam, but it's a finger
(02:18):
lake, so it runs up into theselong coves and long fingers. And
when you're standing there atthe boat ramp, you just see the
big part of the lake, but youdon't see actually how big that
lake is. You get out there andstart paddling or run it with an
electric motor, and then yourealize just how big it is.
There is all kinds of stuffthere. We've got Eagles there.
(02:39):
We've got cormorants. We've gotlarge mouth bass and brim and
they have catfish tournamentsout there. There's even been a
muskie caught out there before.
They've stocked some interestingthings in there. But it's a very
convenient place to go. Mybrother lives over in Georgia.
When he comes in town, one ofthe first places we go to fish
(02:59):
is Martinsville reservoir. Soit's it's so close, there's no
houses on it. Is another one ofthose mountain type lakes where
you're going to be out there andyou're going to be very
secluded, Beaver Creek thatactually runs into there's
several creeks that run into it.
Beaver Creek is the largestcreek that runs into it. And we
were up there in the wintertimefishing, and the beavers had
created a new dam across BeaverCreek. It was absolutely
(03:22):
beautiful, so it was interestingthat the beavers were working on
Beaver Creek there. But it's agreat place. It's never too
crowded, even though it's gets alot of use and it's a gorgeous
thing, and we like to keep it,you know, clean, because it is a
water supply for the city andthe county does a real good job
(03:42):
of it. All of myfriends that paddle it are
always like, wow, it doesn'tfeel like it's five minutes away
from the city, you know. So justhow, like we're all talking
about how close things are inthe community, just five minutes
away from Uptown Martinsville,is this beautiful reservoir that
feels like you're in the middleof nowhere, but are so close to
all of the amenities and thingsthat you may need in the
(04:04):
community. The first time I wentto Beaver Creek Reservoir, I saw
a hog nose snake. So that wasreally cool.
Jessica Bowser (04:11):
Oh, that is really cool. It's like my
favorite snake. How did you knowthat? Anna, well, now
Unknown (04:15):
you know even Brian was upset he wasn't even there.
Yeah,what a shame. Yeah, it's known
for that. Actually, that's oneof the places that we find
Hognose Snakes around here. Andfox squirrels too. There's a big
population of fox squirrels outthere, so there's, there's a lot
of wildlife there. And like Annasaid, it's so close. I mean,
it's right next to the HenryCounty administration building,
and on the other side is PatrickHenry Community College. But you
(04:37):
paddle out a few strokes and youfeel like you're in the middle
of nowhere. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (04:42):
they do have canoe and kayak rentals there,
which is fantastic, right on thewater, which is great. And I'm
glad that you mentioned thatit's so much bigger than you
realize, because I was sosurprised to find out just how
big it is, because when you pullup to the parking lot and you
see the lake, yeah, it's big,but, like. Said, you don't
realize that there's all thesefingers that stretch up beyond
(05:04):
where you can see. And sothere's a lot of exploring to be
done there.
Unknown (05:08):
Yeah, it's and it is good fishing too. I mean, the
further further back you get inthere, away from the main area,
but you can catch fish rightthere, because they do have
tournaments there as well. Andlike I said, we have trails
there, and we'd like to get moretrails there, but if you're not
even paddling, you can just gothere and hike a trail. But you
can find out more information onthe city of Martinsville
(05:29):
website. It's listed there,
Jessica Bowser (05:31):
yes, okay, there's just a couple more
things that I want to touch onbefore we dive into lodging,
dining and attractions, and oneof those is the Smith River
sports complex. Now I got a tourof this, and this is where the
dick and Willie passage trailends, right? Yes,
Unknown (05:47):
currently, this one terminus of the dick and Willie
passage and the sports complex.
We started in maybe 2007 I can'tremember, but I would like to
mention we have a localfoundation here, known as the
harvest Foundation, and they'rereally good about funding things
like this that help with anactive lifestyle, because one of
their directives is to help thecommunity become healthier. So
(06:09):
the sports complex was a bigpart of that was some funding
from the harvest, and theycreated a Sports Authority
complex that took care of it,but now that belongs to the
Henry County. They eventuallyturned it over. So Henry County
actually runs that as well. It'sa fantastic place for
everything. It's got a wonderfulplayground. I used to bring my
(06:32):
grandkids up here all the time.
This first place we go is thatcool playground? Soccer fields.
They do soccer field, hockey,you name it, they play it out
there. It's got an access boatramp. The Dick and Willie trail
runs into it. It has a allnatural dog park. It's a fenced
in two acre place where you cantake it. There's trails inside
(06:55):
it, but you can go inside thefence, let your dog off the
leash and let him run aroundwhile you walk the trail through
the whole thing. We have majorevents out there. That's where
we hold the Smith River Festevery year in August. And Henry
County Parks and Rec does agreat job with it. There's also
a driving range. And what elseam I missing out there? There's
Jessica Bowser (07:15):
like, workout facilities. The outdoor exercise
Unknown (07:18):
arena is out there, which is really cool,
yeah, and you can walk, youknow, there's a trail, a
concrete path, all the wayaround the sports complex. Tons
of people go out there, likepeople used to walk in the malls
all the time. They go out thesports complex, because you can
walk around the whole fields andget some good exercise. There's
a little retention pond that thetrail goes around that, and
there's places to sit and relax,and then that's where you can
(07:40):
pick up the dick and Willietrail and go all the way into
town on the dick and Willietrail. And the Smith River
Sports Complex sits on the SmithRiver. So we hold our Smith
River Fest there every year. Andthere's free tubing. You can
grab a tube and walk upstreamand jump in the Smith River. We
have a Smith river boat race. Wehave the helger might hustle Mud
Run. Dan River Basin startedSmith River Fest in 2008 and we
(08:03):
used to do it up in Basset andit got so big, we started
partnering with the county andthe city and moved it down to
the sports complex. And so Iusually run the river race and
help with the Helga might hustleMud Run. So even though we love
to do this stuff ourself, wedon't get to participate because
we're doing all this otherstuff, but we also have a big
demo pool there that we fill up.
We put a liner in the ground, inthis little pond, and we put
(08:26):
paddle boards and kayaks on it,and people can come and try out
a kayak or a paddle board. So weDan River Basin Association
volunteers and board membersstill run that every year. So
we're heavily involved. We'vealways been involved in it, and
we still are. And that's athat's a big event for us here.
It's a great summertime event.
Jessica Bowser (08:44):
Yeah, I saw the little fenced off dip in the
ground where you fill it withwater and do that. Yeah, that
was really neat. And I also wasimpressed that there's both an
accessible fishing pier and anaccessible kayak launch. I think
those are starting to becomemore popular all around Virginia
and probably all around thecountry, but it was really great
to see that in Henry County.
Yeah,
Unknown (09:05):
we've never had anything like that here. And we
have a what we call an ecoAmbassador council with Dan
River Basin and theircorporations around here, Frith
Corporation, Lester, they allget together and they support
different projects. So they allput a pot of money in so we're
not running around, going toeach Corporation, begging for
money all the time. These guyshave created their own Council,
(09:29):
and they're in charge of it, andthey just say, Hey, give us a
list of projects, and we'lldecide what we want to do with
it. And one of them was the allaccessible deck that you saw
down there, that we justcompleted last year. And we
wanted to design something thatpeople could roll right out of
the car, on a wheelchair orwhatever, and get right to the
water and fish. So we're lookingat doing that more. It's really
(09:49):
tough to do that on a river.
It's easier to do that on alake, because a river moves up
and down so much. But we'restill developing areas like
that. At the great road, we havean out. Outdoor Education
pavilion that has a very longaccessible deck where you can
roll up there. We use that forthe kids a lot, but anybody's
Welcome to use it. So each timewe're building projects, we're
(10:10):
trying to think about theaccessibility issues as well.
Jessica Bowser (10:14):
And speaking of projects, there is a brand new
state park in Henry Countythat's in development the
Unknown (10:21):
future Mayo River State Park in Virginia, is something
that the Dan River BasinAssociation has been quite like,
entangled with for a really longtime. We assisted with the first
property purchase for thatproperty, so we kind of had our
first ribbon cutting along withthat a couple years ago with the
Eco Ambassador council that wejust talked about, about some
(10:42):
mayo river trails that are outthere right now. So if you're
curious about what the futureMayo River State Park in
Virginia may look like, just goout there and take a peek at it.
It's it's very undeveloped rightnow, just because they're still
working on the master plan forit. But in partnership with a
few people, including fairystone state park staff. We have
(11:03):
a huge gratitude for them forhelping maintain it. There are
trails and the river isaccessible there, so we have a
little parking lot, somerestrooms and about what would
we say, like, three or fourmiles of trails right now out
there? Yeah, and it does connectto the North Carolina Mayo River
State Park. The last triangle atthe end of the trail is the
(11:24):
North Carolina Mayo River StatePark. And DARPA was also super
integral to that project comingto completion as well. And so
we're hoping that that statepartnership for a bi State State
Park would you know continue.
The Virginia side is locatedalong the north and south Mayo
which are both considered scenicsections of river, and there's
(11:45):
six or seven miles of both ofthem are scenic rivers for
Virginia, and they come togetherto Confluence. The north and
south come together to form themayo river property. And as Ana
said, right where they cometogether, that's actually in
North Carolina. So you can walkfrom Virginia down to the
Confluence and be in NorthCarolina. You can hike along the
(12:05):
bird's ledge trail and see thisreal famous place where William
Byrd, who surveyed Virginia andNorth Carolina, they had an
encampment there, and they callit bird's ledge. We have paddle
events down the North Mayoriver. We do them in the winter
times. Kind of crazy. It'scontiguous with the North
Carolina State Park, and Anaworks very closely with both
Virginia and North CarolinaState Park personnel. We release
(12:30):
Roanoke log perch there down inthe North Carolina side. We do
muscle surveys on the mayoRiver, which is a beautiful
river, and so basically, oncethe Virginia master plan gets
done, you'll be able to paddle.
You can do it now, but you'vegot to do it from a bridge, but
they'll have an access where youcan paddle from Virginia in down
and get out of North Carolina.
(12:52):
And once you do that, you'regoing into a section of river
when has a really famous rapidcalled the boiling hole that we
utilize a lot. And it's it'sneat. It's on the far western
corner of Henry County, andwe're super excited to have it.
The people at fairy stone are incharge of the state park right
now. So as Anna said, the EcoAmbassador Council helped us pay
(13:15):
for a parking lot and build sometrails and put some basic
infrastructure there. So we'repushing to try to get that open.
The State Department, DCR isworking right now on the master
plan, and we hope by sometimenext year, they should be
finished with that master plan,and then they can go before the
General Assembly to get somemoney to help us build some
infrastructure there. But thegood news is you can drive down
(13:37):
to the end of Pratt road hike.
You can hike all the way to theconfluence of the north and
south mayo, and it's a beautifulpiece of property. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (13:44):
I had a tour of mayo River State Park maybe two
years ago now, and it isabsolutely beautiful, especially
once you get down to the water.
So I'm very excited for themaster plan to be finished and
for the amenities to start to bedeveloped. Right now, it is just
like a parking lot and a portapotty at the entrance, but if
you're cool with that, then thatyou can really enjoy some
(14:05):
beautiful hikes at that park.
Unknown (14:08):
Yeah, and Dan River Basin Association. Our founding
members were very influential inestablishing the North Carolina
side and the Virginia ourfounders were in love with this
region. They lived here alltheir lives, and they wanted to
see it protected. And that's oneof the things that they looked
at the north and south mayo andsaid, we really got to do
something here. So they reallypushed North Carolina to get
(14:30):
that North Carolina State Park,and it's been going great guns,
and Ana's on that stakeholderscommittee. And the good thing
is, we've put the statestogether. That's one of the
things that we do with Dan RiverBasin is build partnerships.
Since we're a bi stateorganization, our main office is
in Eden, North Carolina, andthen honest has an office in
Henry County, Virginia, so wecan work across state lines,
(14:53):
whereas sometimes states reallycan't do that, and sometimes
they don't even talk to eachother about stuff. So one of the
cool. Things that we've done hasbeen able to say, hey, the Smith
River, the north and south mayo,the Dan. It stitches our two
states together. You know, it'san emerald ribbon of tourism,
and you guys need to worktogether. Hey,
Jessica Bowser (15:12):
adventure seekers, can you believe I
traveled 10,043 miles acrossVirginia last year? Yep, over
10,000 miles to bring youstories from Virginia's most
incredible adventure towns. Ifyou've enjoyed discovering these
hidden gems and want to hearmore, consider supporting the
podcast through my buy me acoffee page. Your contribution,
(15:33):
whether it's a one time tip or amonthly membership, helps cover
the cost of creating theseepisodes and keeps the adventure
going every bit helps fuel thejourney, plus members get some
awesome perks. So head to my buyme a coffee page by clicking on
support the show. In your shownotes, shout out to the newest
members of Virginia outdooradventures. Anne from
(15:55):
Fredericksburg, Matt fromRoanoke, Barb from Chesterfield,
Lori from Norfolk, Raphael fromFalls Church, Kevin from
Richmond, and Allison from clearBrook. Thanks for helping me
share Virginia's wildest, mostinspiring places one adventure
at a time.
Unknown (16:14):
We've got the beaches to the Bluegrass, which is a DCR
trail system that runs all theway from the coast all the way
to the other end, and that'sstill in development, and it
just basically connects allthese existing trails together.
And years ago, the folks fromDCR came down and sat with us in
the office and said, Hey, thisis you've got more trails on the
(16:36):
ground than anybody along thiswhole stretch. Now, South Boston
and Pennsylvania County, they'vegot some trails too. So all
that's tying together, and thenwe developed a master plan to
actually tie the beaches to theBluegrass to the mountains to
the sea trail in North Carolina.
So we see these networks ofrivers and trails as very
integral to the way that peopledo plan their trips and do
(16:58):
recreation. You know, fromcampgrounds to paddling to
hiking, and then having thoseamenities, whether you want to
stay in a bed and breakfast, wehave Airbnbs around here, and
then, you know, availablerestaurants. So it's all, all
part of the big package, andit's, it's a underutilized area,
you know, we don't want it toget overcrowded, but we do want
(17:19):
you to come visit and enjoy whatwe do have to offer. Speaking
Jessica Bowser (17:25):
of amenities, this seems like a good segue
into lodging, dining andattractions around Martinsville,
where can visitors grab a biteto eat or a morning coffee? I
Unknown (17:35):
guess it depends on where you start. But Jessica,
I'm gonna say we're startingwhere you were. So we're gonna
wake up maybe at one Starlingbed and breakfast, and then head
to perhaps the ground floor inUptown Martinsville, go on a
paddle. Maybe it's in Bassett,going to the railway cafe. Super
great place has got my favoritething is the barbecue chicken
(17:56):
sandwich. So let them know. Annatold you to order it. And then,
along with that, you know, forsweet treats, go to dippers, ice
cream, cocoa trails inCollinsville on the way back.
Anything for dinner. There's somany options. You can look them
up, but our favorite is Hamletkitchen. It's a food to go
place, and so you can get thebest of both worlds in one
place. Take it out somewhere andgo sit by the river and have a
(18:17):
little picnic with it. I'd alsorecommend, you know, some local
breweries, renewal, scuffleHill, are great places to stop
by and, like, grab some reallygood local beer. It's award
winning out here. And then, youknow, for other options,
Jessica, like you are, like alot of people have vegetarian
options. One of our favoriteplaces is the dew drop Inn. And
it's actually a gas station, butnobody would know, because it is
(18:39):
the best place for Indian foods.
Jessica Bowser (18:41):
It was so good.
Oh my gosh,
Unknown (18:45):
great. Yeah. And you know, things are opening up and
changing all the time aroundhere. So take a peek on visit
Martinsville website, and youcan find so many options. And we
have an entrepreneurialcommunity down here, so there's
always something going on andsomething getting added. So take
a peek. Thereplenty of places to eat, plenty
of unique places. When I gosomewhere, I want to eat
something hometown that's there.
(19:07):
I'm not looking for a McDonald'sor an olive garden. We do have
some chain restaurants here, andthat's fine, if that's what you
like. But generally, even whenon and I go all somewhere, we're
constantly looking for thatlocal ice cream shop or the
local place to eat, because Iwant to experience what the food
there is. And so you can get,you know, good southern cooking
here. You can get Indiancuisine. You can get hibachi or
(19:30):
whatever. There's Mexican food,there's there's a ton of variety
here. So it, it doesn't reallymatter what you what you want,
you're, you're going to be ableto find it somewhere here. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (19:39):
Brian, I could not agree more, the local food
scene is what makes a town Ifeel like and it's those places
that you remember when you'rethinking back on your visit and
how much you enjoyed it, thoseare the things that stand out.
Like was it renewal brewingwhere we walked in and you go
down the steps, it's like aspeakeasy set. Thing. And I was
(20:01):
like, No way. I cannot believethis place is here. It was so
cool. And I was like, What? Whatis this doing here in
Martinsville? And so it's thatkind of experience that I'm not
gonna forget, right? 100%
Unknown (20:15):
everything around here is so unique, and we try not to
be like the others. We'vegot so much good local talent
here too, and a lot ofentrepreneurials, just like the
studio we're sitting in here,Rudy's girls media, who allowed
us to use the studio for thispodcast, and people that are
really thinking way ahead, andso they're they're thinking
about new ideas, new ways toengage tourism and the local
(20:36):
folks too. You know, we we'vegot people here that never were
able to experience some of thethings that we've had in the
last 10 or 15 years come in.
We've also got people that haveleft the community and come
back. You know, we alwaysencourage kids. We do a lot of
work with kids, and we say, hey,grow up. Go see the world, get
(21:00):
knowledge, bring it back here,and we love to see that. And
that happens a lot now. Ithappens a lot more than it used
to, and we're thrilled to seeit. Let's
Jessica Bowser (21:08):
talk about some of the museums, because I was
also quite impressed with themuseum offerings in
Martinsville. Yeah.
Unknown (21:14):
Well, Jessica, you got a few, one on one tours of a lot
of locations. So I'm sure youhave a lot to say, but the
Virginia Museum of NaturalHistory is the State Museum for
natural history, and it'slocated in Martinsville,
Virginia, it's so interesting.
Has a lot of different optionsfor natural heritage in their
exhibits, and I'd add that theyhave a lot of events throughout
(21:35):
the year, on the weekend, so ifanybody's interested in going to
reptile fest or Dino fest.
They're open every weekend, andthe events for the weekends are
listed throughout their website.
Piedmont arts is a local artexhibition that brings art all
the way from around the world toMartinsville, Virginia. Piedmont
arts is a free option, and it'spart of the Virginia Museum of
(21:58):
Fine Arts, and it has abeautiful art scene. They also
have host events throughout theyear, and something that they
host is called dancing for thearts, and it's really fun.
Brian, do you want to addsomething? Yes,
a lot of competed last year, anddancing for the arts. And one no
Jessica Bowser (22:15):
or team one, wait a minute. I didn't hear
this story.
Unknown (22:18):
Oh yeah. It happens every two is it every two years,
that's their big fundraiser.
It's called dancing for thearts. And they get local
celebrities, of which Ana is,they team them up with someone
else, and you raise money forthe event, get people to donate,
and then we have a big show, andit's just fantastic. There's
eight teams, something likethat, and everybody gets two
dances, and it's just a wholelot of fun. Piedmont Arts is
(22:39):
fantastic. They have all kindsof events and the museum as
well. You know, we Dan RiverBasin partners real closely with
both of these organizations. Wehelp out with reptile fest. Just
a couple of days ago, I was atfairy stone state park with
Virginia Museum of NaturalHistory. We had a bio blitz
there, where we go out and wetake kids and look for
salamanders and snakes and do aneducational program there. We've
(23:00):
been working with the Museum ofNatural History for as long as
I've been here. We have a trouttank there that showcases our
Trout in the Classroom program.
It's full of brook trout. It's asmall town, so everybody kind of
knows everybody, and everybodyworks together. And that's
that's one of the things thatmakes it really unique. So if
(23:21):
you walked into Piedmont artsand said, What is there to do
around here? They're going totell you, yeah, if you did the
same thing at the museum orwhatever, you've not got like a
corporation that's from out oftown that is only interested in
making money and doesn't knowanything about what's going on
around here. If you walk intoany, almost any of our
establishments and say, Hey, howdo I get on the river? Where can
(23:42):
I go to get on a trail?
Somebody's going to know, andthey're going to tell you,
because they're proud of we'reproud of it. Yes,
Jessica Bowser (23:48):
I did get behind the scenes tours of pretty much
every museum. One of myfavorites was the African
American Museum and CulturalCenter that was so fascinating,
and what I thought was reallyinteresting that I think a lot
of people would know, because Icertainly didn't know this was
how many big name celebritymusicians came through
Martinsville, like in the early1900s and I was just like, wait,
(24:11):
what Fats Domino was here? Like,what is I mean, there's just so
many neat things, and the allthe items that they have on
display, just tell the story sowell of the role that
Martinsville played in theAfrican American community and
and what a strong community theyhad in Martinsville. Saw that
was one of my favorites. Andthen the Virginia Museum of
(24:31):
Natural History, I almost lostmy mind in that museum. I could
have been in there for a month.
It was just so cool. So we got atour from Marshall, and the
first thing I asked him was, isthe skeleton from the
prehistoric cat that they foundin the cave in Lee County in
this museum? And he went, Oh,Petra. And he just waved me into
the back and we got to go wherethe archeologists were actually
(24:54):
working on it. He walked in theroom. He's like, Hey, where's
Petra? And they're like, Oh,she's right there. And. They
point out the table, and here'sthe skeleton. And I've talked
about this skeleton in a pastepisode I did about caving, and
I have met the cavers whodiscovered the skeleton, and I
know the cavers who are part ofthe process to remove it from
the cave and bring it to themuseum, and I know the folks at
(25:16):
DCR who were involved in it. Andso I feel like this whole story
is something that I've justbeen, like, totally fascinated
with. So to walk into the museumand actually see it there on the
table like I almost lost mymind. And then they took me into
the back where they pulled theskull out of a drawer, like they
had, you know, where they storeall the different preserved
animal parts and skeletons. Andshe just opened the drawer, and
(25:40):
she pulled the head out, and theskull is just sitting there on
the table. And she's like, Yeah,look, you can see, like, you
know, little bat bones insidethe eye cavity and all. And I
was just eating up every bit ofit. It was amazing. That's
Unknown (25:53):
cool that you knew about Tetra Yeah, we had the
grand opening down here. A lotof my friends, I caved too. So a
lot of them worked in Bursa caveon that project, and we're
excited to have it down here. Itreally is unique. There's a lot
of other unique stuff in theretoo. I've been there a million
times, and I can still spendforever, you know, going through
the collections and the Fayettearea historic initiative that
(26:16):
you mentioned, the fahe we callit for short, here, the African
American Cultural Museum isfantastic. People don't realize
that this was actually a prettyfriendly area for black
musicians to come through. Sothat's why a lot of big names
had come through here during thejazz area. Martinsville is old.
You know, we're older thanAtlanta and places like that.
(26:37):
It's a very old community luckyto have that influence over near
fielddale, we have the town ofWaller. Before field crest
cannon was ever started, was ahistoric African American
community that had a mill overthere that's still standing. So
there's a lot of history here.
Lot of descendants fromeverybody still live here.
That's what you have when youhave a small community like
(26:58):
that. So it's, it's really agood mix, good diversity of
different folks here, mainlypeople that have lived here all
their lives. On and I are bothtransplants. I've only lived
here 19 years, so I'll always bean outsider, but I feel like
I've lived here forever, and Ilove it, and I don't plan to go
anywhere. You know, we'rebuilding a new house here. You
(27:19):
know our dream house up on someproperty, and we love it.
Jessica Bowser (27:23):
Are there any other attractions you want to
mention before we close up? Alot
Unknown (27:28):
of people probably know Martinsville from the speedway
that's here. So if you have aNASCAR lover in your life,
that's exactly what everybodyelse asked me, oh, you moved to
martinsville? Like, have youbeen to a NASCAR race yet? So if
you have people who areinterested in that, we do also
have the Speedway, and you cancome for a weekend, and, you
know, go to a race one day andgo hike the next day. So it can
(27:49):
be the best of both worlds.
Along with that, we do have oneof the love work signs at the
sports complex, if you guys wantto go take a peek at that. And
then something that, you know,gives homage to some of our
furniture. Capital of the Worldstuff is the big chair in Uptown
martinsville. So that wascreated by Bassett furniture
industries to celebrate the100th anniversary of the
industry. And so you can go andtake a peek at that, also along
(28:11):
that it has history about all ofthe textiles and furniture
industry in the community, yeah,if you're interested in racing.
And you know anything about thehistory of it? You know, we have
the paper clip here. We call it.
And of course, NASCAR racing gotstarted from moonshining, and we
are the moonshine capital of theworld. Here. People like to say
(28:32):
Franklin County is that's fine.
We'll give it to them. It's thecounty to the north of us. Every
single Creek has an old still onit somewhere, even in within the
park. If you hike up in the parkand salt house branch, you can
see remains of old stills. So wedo celebrate that heritage here,
since the NASCAR and the moonshining was hand in hand,
Franklin County always known asthe wettest county in the
(28:54):
country. Actually, Henry Countyproduced more moonshine back in
those days, but we'll let themhave that. But they they are
working on the moonshineHeritage Trail as well. So all
of this stuff ties in together.
And Martinsville is one of theoldest, I think it is the oldest
Speedway on the NASCAR circuit.
So it draws a big crowd from thetruck races to the major circuit
races.
Jessica Bowser (29:17):
Are there any popular lodging options in town?
Unknown (29:20):
The Hampton Inn is a conventional hotel, but we also
have plenty of Airbnbs andverbose so take a peek around
there. You know, you can findanything from like somebody's
above car garage apartment tosomething like the Oakdale inn
or one Starling, which are fullbed and breakfast locations.
Take a peek at what you want.
Also RV camping at the SmithRiver RV and Indian heritage,
(29:41):
and then camping along placeslike fairy stone or Philpott
Lake.
Yeah, it's neat. The Indianheritage RV park is right there
below Martinsville dam, soyou're right on the river.
That's one of our accesslocations. You can paddle from
there to the sports complex, andthen Smith River RV park. Park
is up in Stanley town, so youcan paddle up in Bassett and the
(30:04):
upper part of the river abovemartinsville. So good camping
options. And of course, Philpotfairy stone, their campgrounds
closed right now for renovation,so you got to go to Philpott.
But as Ana mentioned before, alot more Airbnbs than we've ever
had before here, and thenconventional motels like the
Hampton man Jameson inn, and wehave a couple of other motels
around here too, so we can hookyou up with whatever, whatever
(30:27):
kind of place you like to stayin.
Jessica Bowser (30:29):
Fantastic. And for people who like to plan
trips around upcoming events,what's on the calendar? The
first
Unknown (30:35):
thing coming up is a rooster walk at pops farm, which
is May 22 to the 25th huge listof amazing artists, including
trampled by turtles this year,which will be really awesome.
We're excited about that. Franksand drinks at Piedmont Arts is
July 18, another amazing time tojust hang and spend time with
friends and family and stop byPiedmont arts. Dino festival is
(30:57):
coming up at the Virginia Museumof Natural History On July 25
and 26th very friendly familyevent. So stop by one day at the
museum, and then go the otherday to go hiking or whatever.
And then we also have the SmithRiver Fest at the sports complex
on August, 23 that will be allthe fun outdoor rec people that
anybody wants to have. So comejoin us there. And then also the
(31:18):
Henry County Fair at thespeedway, which is September 24
to 27th and that's, you know,just all the good time, fair
stuff, and you can take a peekat the speedway while you're
there. Excellent.
Jessica Bowser (31:28):
All right, so I think we're gonna land this
plane here pretty soon. Do youhave any parting advice to
future visitors
Unknown (31:34):
for anything tourism related? Go to visit
martinsville.com and you'll getup to date information anytime.
And they have a great staff thatis willing to answer any
questions for you.
Yeah, you can find informationjust about anywhere. You can go
to the Dan River BasinAssociation website. We have an
interactive map. Yes,Martinsville has an interactive
map. Smith River, blue way,Henry County Parks and Rec city
(31:58):
of Martinsville, there's plentyof good information out there.
Just no lack of informationimportant people can get. So we
encourage people to come. Likeyou said, you can plan your trip
around an event, but you don'teven have to do that. You can
come into town, and I guaranteeyou will find something fun to
do here. The river is beautiful.
It's my favorite thing. I'vebeen working on the river for
years, since I've been here. Ilove to fish. I love to paddle
Philpot Lake. The hikingopportunities are outstanding.
(32:21):
People used to always say, Well,what do we have here? We don't
have a beach. It's like, yeah,we're not Myrtle Beach, and we
like it that way. We are thefoothills of the Blue Ridge, and
it is a gorgeous place to be.
It's temperate. You're not goingto get too hot, you're not going
to get too cold. It's a greatplace to do just a little bit of
(32:41):
everything you want to do, andenjoy some culture and some arts
as well. What
Jessica Bowser (32:46):
is the best way for listeners to connect with
you two? You can connect
Unknown (32:50):
with us through the Dan River Basin association. So if
you look us up via that, you canfind anything on a search engine
like that. Our Instagram is atDan River Basin our Facebook is
Dan River Basin Association, andDan river.org is our website,
and you can find any contactinformation on there as well.
There's a ton of information onthere about the river, about
(33:11):
safety, about the environment,about our trails. It's a really
good resource, and you can getin touch with Ana that way. I
personally am retired, so
Jessica Bowser (33:22):
I will link all of those websites that you
mentioned in the show notes sopeople can find them easily. I
will certainly link at the verytop visit Martinsville, so that
all of the lodging, dining andattractions and the outdoor
recreation opportunities will beat everyone's fingertips. So
Anna and Brian, thank you somuch for being guests on
(33:43):
Virginia outdoor adventures, butalso thank you so much for
everything that you do forconservation and tourism and
outdoor recreation in SouthsideVirginia. Well,
Unknown (33:54):
thank you. And we enjoyed having you down here to
visit and paddle and bike withus, and we hope we can get you
back down here again, we'll see
Jessica Bowser (34:01):
you next time adventure on Virginia, outdoor
adventures is inspired by andsupported by listeners like you,
which is why your messages andfeedback mean so much to me. You
can text me directly by clickingon Send me a text message in
your show notes. I answerquestions, respond to comments
(34:21):
and share your feedback on theshow. Never miss an update. Get
even more information andinspiration by signing up for my
newsletter. Click on newsletter.
Sign up in your show notes orvisit virginiaoutdoor
adventures.com thanks forlistening until next time.
Adventure on Virginia is foroutdoor lovers, and you'll love
(34:41):
everything Martinsville, HenryCounty has to offer you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.