Clinch River State Park
Market Analysis and Business Plan
| Location: | Year Completed: | Project Type: | Partners: |
| Clinch River State Park (near St. Paul, VA) | 2022 | Market Analysis Business Plan | N/A |
In 2022, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) envisioned a new state park in far western Virginia that would be unique in the system, as well as a tremendous asset to the local communities. Clinch River State Park is to be designed and operated as a “string of pearls” along the Clinch River which is already popular for recreational paddlers. This park and its multiple units will be enabling infrastructure that further promotes and supports paddling and recreational access to the highly scenic Clinch River in an area of the state that currently does not have a state park. Once developed, Clinch River State Park will highlight the Clinch River’s natural, historical and recreational resources, and will be the first blueway state park in Virginia.
This Market Analysis and Business Plan was completed in September 2022 as a part of the comprehensive master plan process of two units in particular – the Artrip Bent unit located in Russell County and the Sugar Hill unit located in Wise County. These two units are the anchors of a stretch of the Clinch River that is approximately 20 river miles in length and feature multiple access points between them. During the project process, a local initiative, the Clinch River Valley Initiative (CRVI), organized and worked to promote the recreational benefits, ecological biodiversity, and economic potential of the Clinch River as a significant natural resource in the region. This effort, paired with this plan completed by PROS, allowed for the development of this state park to begin; today, the park is still under development, but the Sugar Hill Unit in St. Paul (Wise County) is now open for hiking, biking and fishing.
