‘We’re really in a special spot’: Western N.C. county known for its outdoor scene ready for visitors after Helene

Spectrum News | 12.05.2025

Destination McDowell Visitors Center in Old Fort is celebrating its grand reopening. The building had to be renovated after damage from Helene. 

Now, the center aims to highlight the access to nature that McDowell County provides.

Old Fort sits near the Blue Ridge Mountains and is known for outdoor activities like hiking, fly fishing and mountain biking.

The county set aside more than $1.5 million for recreation operations and programs in fiscal year 2025, according to the McDowell County Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget Recommendation. 

Shannon Oldom, the executive director of Destination McDowell, said Old Fort was the hardest hit town in the county because it sits at the intersection of three creeks, but it also presents opportunities.

“We’re really in a special spot. I think we sit at the base of the Black Mountains, some of the highest mountains on the East Coast, and then you have 90,000 acres of Pisgah National Forest right at our doorstep here,” she said.

The county is also home to Linville Falls, Lake James, Marion and Little Switzerland.

Chad Schoenauer opened the Old Fort Bike Shop in 2021, hoping the nearby hiking and mountain biking trail systems would attract many people to the area.

“One of the sweet spots about Old Fort is this is the first taste of real mountain biking and real mountain hiking and so forth,” Schoenauer said.

But Helene filled his store with five feet of water and mud and destroyed his inventory.

“This looked like an entire, like a war zone. I lost it. I started crying,” Schoenauer said.

Right now, the bike shop’s business primarily runs on repairs, not selling inventory. But Schoenauer is optimistic the town will continue to attract more tourists as the county rebounds from Helene.  

“The town pretty much is back to the place where we can take on visitors and tourism and all of that, and come and enjoy the outdoors,” he said.