The Cascade Highlands: Tourism initiative showcases sites

MARION, Va. – Sheila Quattrocchi spent years doctoring an old doctor’s office.
The ongoing operation included reworking the architecture of the 1924 structure then adding a giant kitchen. Ultimately, though, Quattrocchi opened The Collins House, a bed-and-breakfast on Main Street in Marion, Va., with her husband, Dave Fields.
“Our little motto that we put on brochures is ‘casual relaxed elegance in the heart of downtown Marion,’ ” Quattrocchi said.
The establishment is for adults only; Quattrocchi refrains from renting rooms to anyone younger than 21.
“We seem to draw a lot of people who are looking for outdoor-type activities,” Quattrocchi said. “And you gotta admit: This is just a mecca for that.”
Hungry Mother State Park lies about 10 minutes down the road. Grayson Highlands State Park is less than an hour away, and so are the mountains of North Carolina.
Now, Quattrocchi promotes her inn with other businesses in Marion, like the nearby Francis Marion Hotel. She’s also part of The Cascade Highlands, a newly developed tourism initiative showcasing sites across Virginia and North Carolina.

‘POSITIVE ATTITUDE’
Marion – plus all of Smyth County – has banded together with Carroll, Patrick and Grayson counties in Virginia, along with sections of North Carolina, to form The Cascade Highlands.
This joint venture is designed to promote tourism in the Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina area, said Donnie Turner, the director of tourism in Carroll County, Va., and a member of the board overseeing The Cascade Highlands.
Both the Blue Ridge Parkway and The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail criss-cross the area.
So does the Blue Ridge Wine Trail.
“Anytime you can work with regional tourism and marketing partners, and all have such a positive attitude, it’s a big plus,” Turner said. “Especially on two sides of the border.”
This region is rich with wineries of the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina and concentrated with outdoor adventures in Virginia, said Brandon McCann, the executive director of The Cascade Highlands.
McCann’s motto is simple: “Relax. Rewind. Renew.”
Surely, that’s easily done in Southwest Virginia, with big recreation sites along the New River Trail State Park.
Here, too, ponies graze in high grass at Grayson Highlands State Park, and ducks patrol the New River at places called Bridle Creek, Fries and Mouth of Wilson.
What’s more, this is also a region that boasts many unique restaurants – from the famous barbecue served at The Smokehouse, a longtime landmark of downtown Galax, Va., to the moderately upscale cuisine of the Riverfront Restaurant, which recently relocated to the old Vance Hardware Company building in downtown Chilhowie, Va.
“It began as an idea in 2005,” McCann said. “The area has been branded ‘The Cascade Highlands’ for the way the Blue Ridge Highlands of Southwest Virginia cascade into the Yadkin Valley of Northwest North Carolina.”

‘CLOSELY TIED’
The Cascade Highlands boasts diversity, McCann said – from the Mayberry-themed corridor of Mount Airy, N.C., to the quiet Virginia countryside of Grant and Sugar Grove.
In a tiny place called Dugspur, Va., you’ll also find an oddity called the Kanawha Valley Arena, operated by Tommy Brown.
Brown boasts an arena for events like rodeos. His business also includes a museum of antique carriages plus a saloon serving beer and bluegrass music along The Crooked Road.
Nearby, Turner operates his own business – Blue Cat on the New, which rents canoes and kayaks for fishing trips on the New River, largely between Baywood and Allisonia.
Turner offers fishing tips and advice on how to roll across the ruffles of the river.
All along the shoreline, the countryside is quiet, dotted by little more than the trestles of the New River Trail.
And it’s like this all over the place.
The Cascade Highlands lacks big cities. And, stretching as far south as Yadkinville, N.C., it appears to unite counties lying on the outskirts – or simply in between – the metro areas of Virginia’s New River Valley; Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia; and Winston-Salem, N.C.
Now, packaged together, these places are forging a new identity, McCann said.
“The region is closely tied by its music and cultural heritage,” McCann said. “And [it’s] anchored by passionate people.”

‘CULTURAL CONNECTIONS’
For Duane Cregger, linking the jewels of downtown Marion like the Francis Marion Hotel and the Lincoln Theatre to nearby North Carolina just makes sense.
“There are similar cultural connections,” said Cregger, the executive director of the Lincoln Theatre.
Cregger’s sentiment is shared in Saltville, where the town’s tourism director, Charlie Bill Totten, enthusiastically gestures as he welcomes each group to the Salt Valley.
Likewise, Harry Haynes, the director of the Museum of the Middle Appalachians, shares stories of Saltville and tells how salt ties everything together in town.
Haynes also said many visitors to the museum have come from North Carolina, as he praised the initiative of The Cascade Highlands.
“This will appeal to a larger geographic area,” Haynes said. “And it helps to attract people.”

IF YOU GO: THE CASCADE HIGHLANDS
(888) 602-2722 or www.thecascadehighlands.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Blue Cat on the New, Draper Va. Offers river access and tours from Baywood to Allisonia. (540) 766-3729 or www.bluecatonthenew.com.
Collins House, 204 W. Main St., Marion, Va. (276) 781-0250 or www.collinshouseinn.com.
General Francis Marion Hotel, 107 E. Main St., Marion, Va. (276) 783-4800 or www.gfmhotel.com.
Grayson Highlands State Park, Mouth of Wilson, Va. Offers hiking at park plus canoe tours on New River from Mouth of Wilson to Bridle Creek. (276) 579-7092.
Hungry Mother State Park, Marion, Va. Offers lake, beach and hiking plus guided tours on New River from Fox Creek to Bridle Creek on July 27 and Aug. 3. (276) 781-7400.
Kanawha Valley Arena, 121 Kanawha Ridge Lane, Dugspur, Va. (540) 789-2084 or www.virginiarodeo.com.
Lincoln Theatre, 117 E. Main St., Marion, Va. (276) 783-6092 or www.thelincoln.org
Museum of the Middle Appalachians, 123 Palmer Ave., Saltville, Va. (276) 496-3633 or www.museum-mid-app.org.
Riverfront Restaurant, 149 Main St., Chilhowie, Va. (276) 646-2233.
Smokehouse Restaurant, 101 N. Main St., Galax, Va. (276) 236-1000 or www.thegalaxsmokehouse.com.

UPCOMING IN THE CASCADE HIGHLANDS
What: Hungry Mother Festival
Where: Hungry Mother State Park, Marion, Va.
When: July 16-18
Info: (276) 781-7400
Web: www.hungrymotherfestival.com