County leaders want to build boat ramps, campsites on Cumberland River

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr., above right, toured two propsed sites for new boat ramps on the Cumberland River near Williamsburg Tuesday with engineers Brad Gregory and Ryan Stevens.

Currently several boat ramps operate inside both Whitley and Laurel counties to service Laurel Lake, one of Whitley County’s biggest tourism draws and recreation sites.

The same can’t be said for the Cumberland River. Whitley County leaders are taking some early steps to change that.

Tuesday morning, Whitley County officials, two engineers with Municipal Engineering Company, and an official with the Cumberland Valley Area Development District toured existing boat ramps off First Street in Williamsburg and at Red Bird near the trash gate.

They also toured two perspective sites along the Cumberland River where county leaders hope to construct new boat ramps over the next two to three years.

"We want to create a boat trail I guess is the best thing to call it. A lot of other places call it a blue way trail. It is basically a circuit of boat ramps where you have several upstream and several down stream from Williamsburg," said Whitley County Projects Director Amber Owens.

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. noted that not only would this give local residents a chance to better utilize the river, but it also could help bring some economic and tourism development to the area.

"The Whitley County Tourism Board is excited about the program. It is something that we have long wanted to do. I think maybe now we have the resources to be able to put this project together," he said.

Owens, who recently took a kayak trip down the Cumberland River from the First Street ramp to the one at Red Bird, said the 11-mile trek took her about six hours to complete.

It is a long trip, particularly for a beginner paddling in a kayak or canoe, like Owens did.

"You have to be kind of die hard to do that," she said. "We want to make it more convenient and novice friendly so it is something everybody can enjoy. We want to stimulate more adventure tourism related activities. We want to give the people of Whitley County something to do outside."

The first proposed site is located in Goldbug on property owned by the Whitley County Board of Education behind the soccer complex.

Currently a four-wheel drive vehicle is necessary in order to get close to the proposed site.

"We are partnering with the Whitley County school system and Superintendent Scott Paul," Owens said. "They are very interested in a boat ramp in that area too and maybe using it for some school activities."

Owens said this location is about halfway between the two existing boat ramps in Williamsburg and Red Bird, which is part of the appeal about the location.

The second proposed site is considered the most viable of the two sites and is located off Savoy Road on the nearly 100-acre industrial site currently owned by the Whitley County Fiscal Court.

Officials said that some people are already using the site as a make shift boat ramp putting in canoes and kayaks at the site.

The site is near the location where the Sally Gap Bluegrass Festival was successfully held this summer.

This location is located upstream from the Williamsburg ramp.

"It is already being used as kind of an unofficial boat ramp. It already has an access point. It would basically just be building the ramp to it and making a road accessible for trailers and such," Owens noted.

In addition to the boat ramps, the county hopes to eventually build a primitive campsite near the Goldbug site and an RV site near the Savoy site.

"There are a lot of options to explore as far as the adventure tourism side of things," Owens added.

There are several hoops that the county will have to jump through before construction could begin.

One of the first hoops is getting required permits from the Kentucky Division of Water and the Army Corps of Engineers, which are expected to take six to eight months.

The county also has to have an engineering plan.

"The good news is that there are grants available for this kind of stuff," Owens noted.

The county is hoping to get grant money to cover much of the costs to construct the new ramps.

White said that the boat ramps normally cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $150,000 each to construct.

County leaders plan to pursue a grant this December through the Cumberland Valley Area Development District, which could pay for a large portion of the costs.

In addition, the Whitley County Tourism Commission also has funds set aside, which could be used to help pay for the project and cover matching funds required by the grant.

The Whitley County Road Department could do much of the construction work.

Owens noted that funding for the project wouldn’t be coming out of the county’s general fund.

One of the reasons for Tuesday’s site tours was so that engineers could help the county come up with more exact figures on the cost for the project.

White added that the county is also considering two additional sites where boat ramps could potentially be built.

Owens noted that one thing she discovered during her recent kayaking adventure is that the river is too shallow around much of Williamsburg for bass boats.

"It is pretty shallow in certain spots. There are a few areas that have some really good rapid areas but they are nothing a novice would be uncomfortable with," she said.

The proposed ramps would be mainly for canoes, kayaks, Johnboats and other small craft.

Owens added that if the effort is successful, it would provide something the people of Whitley County will be able to utilize for several years to come.

"It is exciting we are going to try and do something to improve our area instead of just going with the flow of things," she said.