A dying southwest Virginia coal town bet the farm on outdoor recreation—and it worked
Words by Eric J. Wallace
Photos by Town of St. Paul & Western Front Hotel
Our enclosed, four-seat all-terrain vehicle hums to life in the hotel parking lot and I steer through the streets of historic downtown St. Paul, Virginia, passing turn-of-the-century brick buildings filled with bustling shopping boutiques, eateries, cafes and local businesses of nearly every stripe. We climb for about a mile through high, hilly neighborhoods peppered with 19th century Victorian homes, Craftsman bungalows, and wood-sided midcentury ranchers that dead-end at a small lake surrounded by sprawling, tree-lined meadows.
My wife and I turn onto a gravel drive that carries us through a campground to the Mountain View Trail System entrance—where we abruptly enter another world. Dense, lush green woods tunnel around the single-lane dirt path as we speed upward past trail-markers through a series of switchbacks to a rocky, 2,000-plus-foot ridgeline with startling panoramic views of undeveloped Alleghany Mountain peaks and valleys that roll off into the distance like a verdant ocean. The trail climbs a long while then descends through a slalom of mature trees and boulders into a long, boggy hollow interspersed with creeks. We hoot and laugh as we splash across wide pebbly streams and chug through 50-yard-long mudholes.
The ride is as fun as it is immersive. The morning passes quickly into afternoon before we pause for a picnic lunch in a secluded grassy meadow overlooking the Sandy Ridge mountains and Tennessee Valley Divide. The air is crisp and fresh. We’ve spotted just a few other riders all day and now, with the engine off, the only sounds are those of the forest.
“This is our flagship outdoor experience and the one that basically saved our town,” says St. Paul Town Manager Chad Monday. Like us, thousands of people flock to the area each year to explore the 118-mile offroad trail system, which is itself part of the larger 600-mile Spearhead Trails network. The latter unfolds across tens of thousands of acres of reclaimed mine lands in the seven historic coal counties of rural southwest Virginia.
“These trails put us back on the map after the Virginia coal industry collapsed,” says Monday. The visits have fueled a renaissance that’s brought a boutique hotel, performance venue, state park, restaurants, shops, craft spirits operations, and full-season outfitters. Together, they’ve transformed the once dying town into a destination-worthy hub for outdoor enthusiasts.
“The turnaround is unbelievable,” says Monday. Fifteen years ago, downtown St. Paul was falling into decrepitude. It’s now a success story that points to a way forward for the entire region.”
THE BACKSTORY
When Maddie Gordon graduated from St. Paul High School in 2007, college was her ticket out.
“The mines had closed, there were no jobs and most people here were struggling,” says the now 36-year-old. There was one restaurant and nada for entertainment. Downtown buildings sat empty and neglected. Streets were in disrepair. Younger people and families fled the region in droves, and she planned to follow suit.
Gordon studied business at Maryville College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her grandparents hoped she’d use the degree to take over the assisted living facility they owned just outside of St. Paul—but she wasn’t having it.
“I didn’t want to live in a place with no young people, where you had to drive more than 30 minutes to see a movie or sit down for a decent meal out,” says Gordon.
Then things started to change. A group of determined locals formed a nonprofit, St. Paul Tomorrow, and, after years of work, helped the town win designation as an official Virginia Main Street Community in 2011.
“This is our flagship outdoor experience and the one that basically saved our town.”
“That opened the door to major grant funding opportunities [around historic revitalization] and put us on the radar for private investment,” says Monday.
By then, the state-backed Southwest Regional Recreation Authority was nearing completion of the Spearhead Trail System’s first construction phase. Studies spearheaded by groups like the Nature Conservancy had identified the Clinch River, which runs through downtown St. Paul, as one of the planet’s most biologically diverse waterways. The findings combined with idyllic warm-weather paddling conditions to inspire conservation nonprofits, municipalities and government agencies to form the Clinch River Valley Initiative and push for a new, 100-mile-long linear state park on the river.
“This is such a beautiful area and, with all of that happening, it made perfect sense to rebrand the town around outdoor recreation,” says Monday. Spearhead Trails launched in 2013 and tourists trickled in. A tapestry of grants and Virginia Department of Transportation funds propelled a seven-year, $16 million infrastructure project to beautify the downtown area, rebuild roads, install comprehensive sidewalks, and overhaul water and sewage systems. Ordinances that allowed ATVs to use roadways to access trailheads and businesses brought multiple rental operations and a new dealership. A lodge, campground, and a handful of Airbnb rentals opened to accommodate guests, “but we needed something special to make St. Paul a true destination,” Monday continues.
The answer came when investors approached the town about transforming a decaying, 1920s-era brick hardware store and apartment complex into a 30-room boutique hotel called the Western Front. Town incentives and about $500,000 in state and federal funding helped the $7.2 million project get going. Features like a billiards lounge, rooftop bar, and outdoor courtyard with a performance stage and farmer’s market area sparked local excitement. Tapping star chef Travis Milton—known as the father of upscale Appalachian Cuisine—to helm its posh in-house restaurant and bar ignited a firestorm of good press.
The news triggered an entrepreneurial domino-effect. Cidery owners from the nearby town of Norton bought and restored a historic building into a brewery and smokehouse-style restaurant. The hype inspired Gordon, who by then held an MBA, to accept her grandparents’ offer, move home, and partner with her mom on an outdoor outfitting service and retail shop.
“My grandfather had just passed away and we wanted to honor his memory,” says Gordon. He’d been a diehard outdoorsman and, as the owner of a local realty business, worked tirelessly to promote the town’s comeback. Gordon assessed the revitalization and thought, “we need to offer visitors more to do than just ATV trails.”
Clinch Life Outfitters set up shop in a defunct downtown sporting goods store in late 2017. They launched with a lineup of guided fishing expeditions, kayaking, and tubing trips along the Clinch River. A retail shop sold camping, angling, hunting, paddling, and other outdoor gear.
The Western Front opened in February, and by spring it was off to the races. “We were booked solid,” says Gordon. The business scheduled more than 1,000 river trips alone in its first season. “The hotel changed everything,” she says. “After that first year, I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief and accepted that this whole thing might actually work out.”
TODAY
St. Paul has only continued to grow since the Western Front’s arrival.
Infrastructure projects are boosting walk- and bike- ability between outer neighborhoods and industrial areas to downtown. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise turned a riverfront warehouse into a 19,000-plus-square-foot co-op workspace, technology innovation, and community development hub that opened in 2019. Clinch River State Park became Virginia’s first blueway state park in June 2021. A $3 million project restored the town-owned historic Lyric Theater into a 200-plus-seat performance hall, art center, and meeting space in 2023. Plans for a new craft distillery have just been announced. And the list goes on.
Monday acknowledges there have been minor setbacks. Milton left and the hotel restaurant now serves deliciously authentic upscale Mexican cuisine. And the brewery is in the process of transitioning to new ownership. But the outlook, insists Monday, is overwhelmingly positive.
Gordon cites customers from 44 states and six countries as a measure of the town’s ongoing comeback. Monday points to meal and lodging tax revenues that have risen from virtually nothing to more than $550,000 a year. And with a phased buildout for the state park that includes the addition of a large campground with RV sites, visitor’s center, and miles of multiuse trails along the river?
“We’ve built tremendous momentum and the people here are passionate about keeping that going,” says Monday. “I think we all agree this is only just the beginning.”
