Most people seek out WinMan Trails for the mountain biking with more than 23 miles of trails that wind through woods and up and down hills.
Over the years, it’s grown into a year-round venture offering routes for fat tire biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.
WinMan Trails Executive Director Isaac Cowart says their expansions have been based user feedback.
One thing that WinMan continually hears from users is the need for on-site lodging.
“Going back to 2014, camping or on-site lodging options has always been sort of the top of the list. It's taken us to this point in terms of financial sustainability and size of trail system and just maturity as an organization to launch into something this major,” said Cowart.
That’s lead WinMan to create BaseCamp.
When completed, there will be more than 40 sites ranging from rustic tent and RV sites to tiny and large cabins.
All of the sites will be supported by a central bathhouse.
“It'll have showers, it'll have saunas, of course, restrooms. We're also going to put a bike fix it station and a ski wax room in there. There'll be a lounge area just to hang out. We'll have Wi-Fi and kind of all the comforts that you may need to work while on the road or out traveling with your family, but still being immersed in nature,” said Cowart.
The lodging will all be built on the private land that started WinMan more than a decade ago.
Cowart hopes that by offering a range of accommodations at different price points, WinMan will be accessible to more people and in turn have a larger economic impact on the area.
“We feel pretty strongly it's going to continue to be a good part of the economic impact that we have on the region because while we may help with the accommodations, clearly, they'll still be eating out and doing other activities up here,” said Cowart.
WinMan has launched a $1.1 million capital campaign to support the building of the BaseCamp. Cowart said they’ve nearly reached the halfway goal. You can learn more about BaseCamp and the campaign on the WinMan Trails website.
The campaign won’t cover all the costs. Cowart said they have been budgeting and allocating funds for this project for the last several years.
The money made from reservations will be put back into developing the trail system.
Work will be done in phases and be kept as local as possible to cut down on costs.
Cowart hopes to have some tent sites and cabins available to start taking the first reservations by Labor Day 2025.
