By Jim Rapp
Conservation Community Consulting
Reimagine Laurel is also reimagining the visitor experience in this historic town and surrounding region. A group of nature and heritage tourism stakeholders launched out of Laurel on Tuesday, November 10 to explore and develop a list of recommendations that will help Laurel attract more paddlers, cyclists, birdwatchers and history buffs.
The group boarded a bus from Trap Pond State Park and started their tour along Broad Creek and The Ramble. From there, the group was delivered to museums, historic buildings, boat ramps, millponds, and birdwatching sites around Laurel. The bus served as a mobile brainstorming office, with ideas and opportunities shouted from every seat throughout the day.
You can follow along by watching the video at the top of the home page.
Quickly, it became evident that not only is the area rich in nature & heritage travel experiences, but that Laurel is poised to become one of the mid-Atlantic’s next great “Trail Towns.” Launching from your Base Camp in Laurel:
- you can explore by boat or bike from a beautiful small town with more than 800 buildings on the National Historic Register, and travel along a creek and river with connections to both Captain John Smith and Harriet Tubman!
- a beginning kayaker can get some practice on a quiet millpond, and a more advanced paddler can launch from the headwaters of Broad Creek to tour the Nanticoke River!
- a cyclist can explore flat, scenic roads through the rural Sussex County landscape, and stop to rest in historic Bethel, the Woodland Ferry, or at Trap Pond State Park!
- a birdwatcher can tally more than 130 species just by visiting the nearby birding hotspots at Trap Pond and the Nanticoke Wildlife Area!
With some planning, Laurel can reap the economic rewards generated by nature and heritage tourism. Visitors to Sussex County list historic sites and museums, boating and paddling, and biking in their Top 10 activities. Nationally, heritage area tours generate $12 billion in spending.
In Delaware, outdoor recreation generates $4 billion in spending, and wildlife watching generates $169 million. If Laurel attracts just some of the State’s nature & heritage tourists, the economic impact will benefit local business. New businesses can be established to provide tourism services, such as equipment rental, dining and accommodations.
The group’s recommendations will be presented to the Town of Laurel in early 2016. We will share those recommendations with you here at ReimagineLaurel.net.
