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Four-wheeler park: Entrepreneur
envisions ATV paradise
July 3, 2006 By Joey Holleman jholleman@thestate.com or 803-771-8366
McClatchy Newspapers
The Sun News
P.O. Box 406
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 20578
800-568-1000 or 843-626-8555
To submit a Letter to the Editor: opinions@thesunnews.com
Standing on the Fairfield County plateau called Top of the World, you can see the shimmering water of Lake Wateree between the rolling hills on one side and the water tower in Winnsboro on the other side. At night, the lights of Columbia glimmer on the horizon.
But that view pales in comparison to Don Wilburn's vision for Top of
the World and nearly 2,600 acres around it.
Wilburn sees tens of thousands of people flocking to the site several
times a year for national motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle racing
events. He sees 2,000 people descending on the rolling hills on
typical weekends to ride on miles of forest trails.
He sees families staying in cabins and campsites, and eating in
restaurants at the state's newest tourism draw, Carolina Adventure
World.
Wilburn and partner Jim Floyd already have spent $5 million, buying
the land from International Paper in 2004 and hiring renowned designer Steve
Uhles to help carve 60 miles of new trails.
By December, another $3 million will be invested in a welcome center,
cabins, campsites and a maintenance facility.
"We're spending an awful lot of money for a market that does not
exist at this moment," said Jim Blank, the spokesman for the
operation.
Most motorcycle and ATV trails in South Carolina, and throughout the
Southeast, are on public property with minimal facilities.
About 105 miles of motorized vehicle trails wind through five sites in
state and national forests in South Carolina.
For-profit operations are rare. TNT Motorsports, with 18 miles of
trails near Richburg, is the only well-publicized facility in the
state open to the public.
But thousands of people ride ATVs and off-road motorcycles on their
own property -- or often illegally on
others' property. At many hunt clubs in the state, there are two major
seasons, deer and ATV.
So why hasn't someone tried to capitalize on that pent-up demand for
trails with a large-scale park before?
"There's never been anyone cheeky enough that had the bucks to do
it," Blank said. "[Wilburn] is taking a gamble."
The closest similar facility is Durhamtown Plantation Sportsman's
Resort, about an hour west of Augusta.
Durhamtown offers more than 100 miles of trails, and amenities such as
a lodge, cabins and a cafeteria.
Blank pledges Carolina Adventure World's cabins and lodge will be less
rustic than Durhamtown's.
Plans call for three restaurants, including one with a waterfall at
Top of the World.
A storage facility will allow visitors to leave their ATVs or
motorcycles.
Fees tentatively have been set at $25 a day or $35 a weekend, Blank
said.
Rental fees haven't been set. At Durhamtown, motorcycle and ATV
rentals run from $65 to $140 per day.
A professional feasibility study indicated a growing market for
high-end facilities for off-roaders.
Industry figures indicate the number of off-road motorcycles and ATVs
in the country jumped from 2.9 million in 1993 to 8 million in 2003.
Carolina Adventure World is expected to open sometime in 2007.
Copyright 2006, The Sun News.
Motorcycle,
ATV park aims to be state’s newest tourism draw |