Despite gas prices, visitors flocking to Central Va. attractions

Justin Faulconer / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: January 12, 2008

Despite high gas prices, two of the Lynchburg area's major tourist attractions saw an increase in visitors last year.

Attendance was up at Appomattox Court House National Historic Park and Bedford County's Poplar Forest.

In comparison, Monticello near Charlottesville recorded its lowest visitation in nearly 30 years.

Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest President Lynn Beebe said attendance was up 8 percent last year. The retreat, which opens for the 2008 season on April 1, can do even better as it continues to add attractions, she said.

"People are still discovering Poplar Forest," she said. "We've got this tremendous potential to attract travelers who enjoy historic sites."

The Appomattox Court House National Park drew more than 149,000 visitors last year - up from nearly 146,000 in 2006.

Mike Brennan, a park ranger, said he suspected the number grew because people are taking more short-distance leisure trips.

"It's very rare for someone to plan their whole trip to come here," said Brennan.

One of the other national attractions in Central Virginia, the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, stayed around 75,000 visitors last year - its 2006 total. In 2005, it had 79,000

visitors.

A drop of nearly 4,000 students from field trips in the past two years contributed to the decline, said April Cheek, the memorial's education director. High fuel costs have led some schools to cut back on yearly field trips and people aren't traveling as much, she said.

The decline in student visits may be caused by several factors, but it isn't from a lack of field trips by Bedford County Schools, according to schools spokesman Ryan Edwards.

Despite a tight budget, the school system takes just as many field trips as always, he said.

"Our field trip policy is the same this year as it was last year," he said. "We haven't done any scaling back."

Poplar Forest received slightly fewer schoolchildren in 2007 than the previous two years, but Beebe said that was expected following tourism trends since Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina.

Cheek said the D-Day memorial has been bracing for fewer people after the success of its first two years in 2001 and 2002, when it saw about a half a million visitors.

"I think we're holding our own," said Cheek. "We're pleased with our visitation numbers."

The memorial is also focusing on attracting groups like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts through special events, Cheek said.

At Poplar Forest, Beebe said, growing public interest in "conversation" events featuring historical actors and hosting Bedford County Farm Day contributed to the increase.

Drawing nearly 2,000 more visitors last year than in 2006 was no easy task for the retreat, which is entered through Forest back roads.

"It's clearly a challenge for visitors to find," Beebe said.

Beebe said land was recently purchased close to Enterprise Drive so a future entrance point could better direct travelers from U.S. 221 and U.S. 460 into the retreat.

Signs were placed this past fall along the Madison Heights U.S. 29 Bypass as part of a plan to make area drivers more aware of the retreat.

Staff writer Christa Desrets

contributed.