Published July 7, 2026 03:42AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In the spring of 2021, former pro skier and freestyle kayaker turned outdoor economic development guru, Corey Lilly, was on a lunchtime hike on the Grey Flats Trail System<\/a> near his downtown Beckley, West Virginia, office. He was strolling through\u00a0dense tree tunnels studded with towering oaks and chittering warblers when he spotted a couple huddled around two small children decked out in climbing gear. Lilly jogged ahead to find them puzzling over maps on the rock climbing app Mountain Project<\/a>. Excitement struck: his team had created and posted new kid-friendly routes just months before.<\/p>\n The conversation revealed the family was vacationing from Colorado to climb in the famed New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Local guides touted Beckley\u2019s Piney Creek Crag as a haven for kiddo climbers. The town was a 30-minute scenic cruise from the couple\u2019s Fayetteville rental, so why not? Lilly offered directions, then recommended a newly opened climbing gym cum\u00a0homemade ice cream spot down the road. He threw a celebratory fist pump as the family hiked away.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt both relieved and kind of elated,\u201d says Lilly, now 36. \u201cThat was the moment I knew we\u2019d moved from theory to reality.\u201d<\/p>\n As Beckley\u2019s founding director of outdoor economic development, Lilly helped spearhead a partnership between the city, state, West Virginia Land Trust, and numerous other organizations that created a multi-thousand-acre tapestry of protected lands in and around the Piney Creek Gorge. The properties included the trails in Grey Flats and sprawled across reclaimed coal mines that were abandoned in the 1970s. The Piney Creek Crag area held more than 20 designated climbing routes. The gorge\u2019s flagship preserve meandered through 613 acres of steep, stony cliffs to meet the New River. The initiative brought new access roads, parking lots, kiosks, and about 30 miles of multi-use trails that carried visitors to multiple overlooks and three waterfalls. Plans for a new kayak put-in for whitewater enthusiasts and a purpose-built jump trail for mountain bikers were in the works.<\/p>\n The success convinced skeptical city officials that investments in outdoor recreation can pay dividends. It also landed Lilly a position as West Virginia\u2019s first Manager of Outdoor Community Development in 2023. His team\u2019s mission is no less than Herculean: to boost a struggling economy and inspire visitors and his fellow West Virginians to spend more time outdoors.<\/p>\n Lilly\u2019s job grew out of West Virginia University\u2019s new and wildly ambitious Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (OEDC). Mountain state native and former CEO of Turbotax parent company Intuit, Brad Smith, and his wife, Alys Smith, donated $25 million to establish the new organization as a statewide force for change in late 2020. Through its flagship Ascend program<\/a>, OEDC paid out-of-staters $12,000 to move to one of six designated regions across West Virginia. They also gained access to local coworking space, free outdoor gear libraries with items like mountain bikes or kayaks, and guided experiences like whitewater rafting on the New River. The ongoing initiative has attracted 1,400 new residents so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI may have spent the first 22 years of my life dreaming of a way out,\u201d Smith said in a statement, \u201cbut I can tell you with clear eyes and a full heart I\u2019ve spent every day since looking for a way back home.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith watched as COVID institutionalized remote work and drove explosive growth in outdoor recreation nationwide. He saw visits to gateway towns like Fayetteville erupt in the lead-up to the New River Gorge national park<\/a> designation in December 2020. He pondered nature-inspired renaissances in states like Colorado and Utah and thought, Why not West Virginia?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at our outdoor assets, the potential is off the charts,\u201d says founding OEDC associate vice president, Danny Twilley. West Virginia is the only totally mountainous state in the nation; if you flattened its peaks, the footprint would be larger than Texas. Protected lands are abundant\u2014the Monongahela National Forest<\/a> alone spans more than one million square miles. The density of navigable waterways, native trout streams, and seasonal whitewater is among the nation\u2019s highest. Ditto for backcountry gravel roads and 4\u00d74 paths. Deep, cliff-lined gorges provide abundant climbing opportunities. Unique weather patterns dump natural snow across a quintet of ski areas\u2014including Ikon Pass<\/a> member Snowshoe Mountain Resort<\/a>.<\/p>\n West Virginia\u2019s population, meanwhile, is about half that of the Denver metro area, so there\u2019s no shortage of space. The state also boasts the cheapest housing costs<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we already have a strong foundation of deep-rooted traditions and engagement around outdoor recreation laid by incredible pioneers in pretty much every category imaginable,\u201d says Twilley. OG mountain bikers led by champion racer, Sue Haywood<\/a>, for instance, have transformed the tiny town of Davis into a hub with a 50-plus-mile network of trails. Chip Chase<\/a>, meanwhile, helped turn an abandoned ski resort into one of the East Coast\u2019s most legendary cross-country areas just ten miles away.<\/p>\n But development in the 1990s and 2000s was often hobbled by a lack of funds and cohesive support at the local and state levels. Projects tended to be volunteer or nonprofit-driven, and focus could vary dramatically by region. One town might convince a state park to direct resources toward hiking routes, while a neighboring community pushed for ATV trails. Community groups rarely collaborated and often viewed counterparts in other areas as competitors.<\/p>\n The OEDC aims to overhaul that equation. Their mission is to help connect the dots for stakeholders and get them working together on the same team, toward the same overall goal. Stakes are high for a state with the nation\u2019s worst economy<\/a> and steepest rate of continuous population decline<\/a>. The reality is sobering.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we talk to residents about growing the economy through outdoor recreation and show how this strategy has worked in other rural areas,\u201d Twilley says, \u201cthat backdrop makes them much more likely to listen\u2014because the biggest thing we hear from people is they want their children and grandchildren to have access to opportunities that will enable them to build a great life here<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Ascend initiative is just a small part of the overall plan. OEDC\u2019s primary mission is to empower communities to drive development around high-impact projects\u2014like Beckley\u2019s Piney Creek Preserve<\/a>\u2014that fill outdoor recreation gaps and increase access to opportunities of all stripes. Its team of around 20 employees provides wraparound consulting and support throughout the entire process, and connects town or city officials with a broad array of partners that includes the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, National Forest Service, Brad and Alys Smith\u2019s Wing 2 Wing Foundation, the International Mountain Biking Association, and Appalachian Regional Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the infrastructure that we had before was remote and had a high barrier to entry,\u201d says Twilley. Flow trails for mountain bikes, for instance, were almost nonexistent beyond Snowshoe. Hiking routes often blazed up steep ascents and were prone to erosion. Boat ramps tended to be improvised or spread too far apart for comfortable day floats. Connector trails to local towns were rare.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we\u2019re working with community partners to help them create sustainable, purpose-built infrastructure that\u2019s optimized to the terrain and offers users the best possible experience,\u201d Twilley continues. \u201cBut we\u2019re not just doing this in one area, it\u2019s happening across the entire state simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s where Lilly comes in.<\/p>\n Lilly was born into a family of tenth-generation West Virginians and raised on a farm in the southeast corner of the state not far from Beckley. Horse and cow pastures rolled across a narrow valley sandwiched between 2,000-plus-foot ridgelines\u2014many of them now contained in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Lilly\u2019s great-grandparents once owned a small coal mine, and most of his older male relatives worked in the industry at some point. But coal was fading fast by the 1990s. An ever-expanding tapestry of decaying or abandoned homes stood like silent monuments to the crisis.<\/p>\n Lilly was too busy enjoying the natural landscape, however, to think much about it. Days were spent hunting in the woods, fishing or camping in Little Beaver State Park, or helping his grandparents wrangle horses and pick vegetables. A local after-school program at Winterplace Ski Resort<\/a> introduced him to snow sports around age five. The interest quickly spiraled into obsession. Lilly became a protege and joined the Elan Skis pro freestyle team as a rising high school freshman around 2003.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back, what this place gave me was incredible,\u201d he says. A traumatic head injury from a ski accident ended Lilly\u2019s tour days in his early twenties, but by then he\u2019d traveled extensively and spent time outside in some of the most beautiful spots on the planet.<\/p>\n Studying at West Virginia University fueled Lilly\u2019s growing interest in climbing, mountain biking, backpacking, and whitewater paddling. He became a sponsored athlete for Pyranha, and spent much of his free time roaming the state and greater North America to shoot videos in some of the gnarliest whitewater imaginable. The cumulative globe-trotting put his home state\u2019s outdoor assets into perspective. It also revealed a calling.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that what we have here was just as special as anything I\u2019d seen anywhere else,\u201d Lilly says. \u201cWith the right strategy and a lot of hard work, we could capitalize to make life better for everyone\u2014including myself, because at the end of the day, who doesn\u2019t want more great trails and blueways?\u201d<\/p>\n Lilly settled in Fayetteville after graduating in 2017 and shifted his focus to outdoors-based economic development at the local level. A project that year to develop access points around a privately owned whitewater haven, Kanawha Falls, and open the area to the public\u00a0helped him land the job in Beckley. It also created a namesake Huckfest competition that drew hundreds of white-knuckle paddlers from 13 states and three countries in its first year alone.<\/p>\n \u201cCorey\u2019s deep family history and the fact that he\u2019s making a life here in West Virginia help him get local officials and community members to at least listen to what he has to say,\u201d says Twilley. That\u2019s vital in a state where extraction economies have left many residents suspicious of outsiders and high-level government officials. Lilly\u2019s track record as a catalyst for successful projects and credentials as an outdoor athlete lend weight to his opinions and help pave the way for discussions with team members like grants specialists or trails infrastructure coordinators.<\/p>\n Factor in Lilly\u2019s stubborn refusal to give up and endless passion for advocacy, continues Twilley, and you have both a perfect OEDC ambassador and liaison for local communities.<\/p>\n To say the OEDC and its partners have hit the ground running would be glaringly modest. The group helped communities create parks that contributed to a branded waterfall trail that connects about 50 of West Virginia\u2019s most impressive plunges. It spearheaded work with agencies, volunteers and pro builders to overhaul hiking trails and add 30 miles of purpose-built MTB routes in Berkeley Springs\u2019 Cacapon Resort State Park<\/a>. Construction on the state\u2019s biggest bike park has begun in Morgantown\u2014and will include an adaptive pumptrack sanctioned by the national racing association, USA BMX. Projects have mapped all navigable spans of whitewater and are being used to pitch and develop future water trails. The East Coast\u2019s largest gravel network launched in the Monongahela National Forest<\/a> this past April. And dozens of additional projects are currently underway.<\/p>\n But one of the biggest success stories to date has unfolded in Marlinton.<\/p>\n The tiny town of around 800 sits about 14 miles south, as the crow flies, from Snowshoe Mountain Resort. I met longtime resident and mayor Sam Felton downtown by a timber-framed pavilion with a raised stage and grassy seating area called Discovery Junction. The spry 75-year-old wore a chevron mustache, felt newsboy cap and two-tone windbreaker over a gingham button-up and chinos. The park was completed in 2020 and now hosts a summer concert series and a weekly farmers\u2019 market. It\u2019s encircled by a cavalcade of recent renovations and upgrades.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a revamped turn-of-the-century opera house; artisan market and foodstuffs store; gourmet caf\u00e9; wood-fired pizzeria; pottery gallery and studio; and a bike shop that just expanded into an abandoned grocery store. Colorful murals celebrate local history, folklore and outdoor culture. An empty lot will soon hold public bathrooms, a food truck court, a modular pump track, and a trailhead for the Greenbrier River rail-to-trail. Plans for new branded signage, street lamps, expanded sidewalks with trees, and enhancements in two riverside parks are also in the works.<\/p>\n The scene points to a renaissance\u2014but the town was in deep trouble when Felton became mayor in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cI owned a service station and U-Haul dealership for about 15 years and can tell you all of our business was outgoing,\u201d says Felton. \u201cBarely anyone dropped off<\/i> equipment\u2014they were all picking up to go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n The once dominant timber industry had all but vanished. Businesses closed and homes slid into disrepair. Felton watched Snowshoe expand ski operations in the mid-alts and lean into mountain biking to create a four-season economy. Once scarce, riders now began to appear in droves. Marlinton straddles the banks of the Greenbrier River and is surrounded by high ridgelines in the Monongahela National Forest. Could it leverage those resources to draw resort-goers into town? Could related economic revitalization convince budget-savvy outdoor lovers to relocate or buy second homes?<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first started talking about all this around 2010, people thought I was crazy,\u201d says Felton. His background was in farming and trucking. What did he<\/i> know about outdoor economics? The community should double down on logging.<\/p>\n But Felton didn\u2019t give up and instead worked to build a coalition. A regional partnership united 12 communities in the Monongahela National Forest under a single tourism brand. A new cell tower expanded coverage beyond a single local provider. Overlook platforms brought destination-grade hikes near town. Emphasis on resort riding and the Greenbrier River rail-to-trail yielded a bike shop in the mid 2010s. Then officials from the IMBA included Marlinton in Ride Center discussions with Snowshoe. The organization partners with communities around the world to promote and expand mountain biking opportunities. It highlights the planet\u2019s top downhill destinations with gold, silver, or bronze awards to encourage riders to visit. The accolades unlock enhanced grant funding opportunities and marketing partnerships. Snowshoe\u2019s lift-served gravity park and 400-plus-mile array of nearby cross-country trails landed it a silver ranking in October 2020. Adding another 30-ish miles of singletrack that connected to downtown Marlinton would make it eligible to become the nation\u2019s fifth gold-level ride center.<\/p>\n \u201cThat designation is huge<\/i>,\u201d says OEDC outdoor recreation infrastructure coordinator Rich Edwards. He spent two decades as an IMBA trail builder and trainer before joining OEDC in 2021. Areas surrounding a gold-level center can expect to see a four-to-sevenfold increase in annual overnight visits. With riders spending upward of $1,000 each<\/a>, the economic impact can be tremendous.<\/p>\n Felton worked with the Monongahela National Forest, OEDC, Snowshoe-Highlands Area Recreation Collaborative, Appalachian Regional Commission, and others to raise $4 million and create the Monday Lick Trail System<\/a>, which opened in May 2025. The project helped Marlinton become an official IMBA Trail Town this past April\u2014and Felton hopes Snowshoe\u2019s gold-level designation is soon to follow.<\/p>\n![\"rafters](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/rafting-on-the-New.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"Seneca](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/seneca-rocks.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"Corey](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/lilly-family.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"white](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/corey-lilly-kayaking.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"Snowshoe](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/snowshoe-skiing.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
![\"Birds](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Marlington.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)