Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The BLC Connection Podcast is a fun and informative show from Ben Lomand Connect that answers your questions about the internet, Wi-Fi, home security and more, and brings you information on the stories and events in “Ben Lomand Country.” Bryan, Karen and Micah take you behind the scenes of Ben Lomand Connect, where the cooperative connects Middle Tennessee with the latest in communications technology and with businesses that are making a difference in our service territory. The BLC Connection Podcast also offers tips for business marketing and residential/workplace technology.
Karen Wilson:
Welcome to The BLC Connection Podcast.
I'm Karen Wilson, your host for today.
These small episodes shine a light on the innovative and
inspiring stories of local businesses that are making a big
impact on their communities.
Bigfoot Adventure, located in Grundy County, is the first
adventure park in our area where the landscape of Grundy County
is utilized for zip line, camping, and much more.
We welcome to the show the owner, Andy Baggenstoss.
Welcome. Thank you for inviting us here to this beautiful
location, Andy.
Andy Baggenstoss:
Thank you so much, Karen, for being here.
We're very excited to not only tell you about Bigfoot Adventure,
but certainly to tell all of the folks that are out there
listening today.
Karen Wilson:
Let's just start with what inspired you to start an adventure
park, and how did your journey with this
begin?
Andy Baggenstoss:
So my family is from the mountain, Grundy County.
There's a lot of heritage here that I have.
The Dutch Maid Bakery, the Fiery Gizzard Trail.
My father owned a business down in Monteagle, just off the exit,
and I spent a good portion of my growing up years away from the
mountain. And when I got out of college in 2000, I wanted to
come back and be reacquainted with Monteagle
Mountain and Tracy City, where a lot of my roots are.
And in doing so, in 2000, I came back and started a business,
and this was my father's farm.
And in 2004, he passed away, and I inherited a portion of the
farm and have continued over
the years to grow the farm.
And I'm very proud of our farm here, but I'm most proud of is
the conservation easement.
We have roughly 500 acres here at Bigfoot Adventure, and of
that, 300 is conserved.
Similar to what my uncle Herman Baggenstoss did and helped the
mountain in terms of the forest, as well as
hiking and outdoor activities.
So I'm very fond of the conservation aspect and preserving
Monteagle Mountain.
You know, there's only so many reasons why one comes to the
mountain, and it's always been my idea to figure a
way to bring more people to our mountain, to let them see our
community.
We've got wonderful people in our community.
We've got a lot of things to do outside, but a lot of it
consists of only hiking.
And there's lots of people that come to the South Cumberland
Park, and we are so grateful for the tourism aspect that that
brings. However, Karen, once they get here and they get done
with their hike, they really need somewhere to stay,
somewhere to eat, activities for an entire weekend.
Karen Wilson:
Right.
Andy Baggenstoss:
And so that was part of the inspiration for myself, is to have a
piece of property, a space in Grundy County that I could
provide an area that would accommodate people coming from all
over the United States, as well as the
world.
Karen Wilson:
Well, you and I talked about that, how popular the trails are
here.
Fiery Gizzard, it's as if you were up in the Smoky Mountains
when you go back there.
You see all the pretty plants and the rhododendrons.
It's amazing we have all that here.
And then, of course, you've got the school here too, the
university bringing a lot of people in.
So like you said, they've got to have something to occupy their
time while they're here doing the other activities.
Andy Baggenstoss:
In fact, one of the neatest things that the mountain has done in
the past few years is the Mountain Goat Trail.
And as a cyclist, I'm an advocate for cycling, and that has
provided a wonderful space and
area for folks that come to the mountain that maybe not want to
hike.
Maybe they want to ride a bicycle.
Well, you can now ride from Sewanee and the university down
there, through Monteagle and all the way to Tracy City.
And at some point we hope to have it all the way to Palmer
throughout our entire community, and also down to the foot of the
mountain in Cowan.
So once you couple the parks as well as the Mountain Goat Trail,
and then of course, I like to mention Bigfoot Adventure, I feel
like now we begin to have some foundation.
With that foundation of there's a reason to come and visit our
community, we were blessed to have the caverns
come as well.
And what an excellent addition the caverns have been for Grundy
County.
It was from the caverns coming that we were able to accommodate
their patrons.
You know, it was really a focus early on to attract those people
in Pelham to come to the top of the
mountain and zip line and camp with us.
Before they had their camping facilities there at the caverns,
many of the folks would come here, and we're grateful for
that. Since that time, the caverns have become more inclusive.
We totally understand that in terms of business, but they still
utilize our shuttle service.
And so here at Bigfoot, we offer shuttles to go to the caverns,
whether it be that you're staying at the Smokehouse Lodge, or
you're staying at the retreat in the tiny homes that we have
here on the mountain, or maybe even out at Greeter Falls.
So all of those places were willing to come and pick you up,
show you our community, and that even
includes Manchester.
We go to Manchester and pick you up too.
Because it's again, I look at myself, and I think most of the
folks on the mountain that are involved with the chamber and
tourism, we're ambassadors.
Karen Wilson:
Right.
Andy Baggenstoss:
And so it's that idea of showing people our home, showing people
what we have to offer here, whether that
be the outdoor adventures, whether it be music.
We have a lot of music on the mountain.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah. So talk to me about the camping.
You all have lots of events here.
And with the events you offer, the camping.
What are some of the amenities, and then beyond camping that you
all have?
Andy Baggenstoss:
So when you first come to Bigfoot Adventure, I hope what you see
is a nice, well kept facility.
That's number one.
We want you to show up and arrive with a smile, and we want you
to leave with a smile.
Why do people come to Bigfoot?
For a couple of reasons.
Number one is to camp.
We have a number of areas to camp.
We have primitive sites, roughly 25 primitive sites.
Some of which have electricity, all of which have a fire ring.
We also have roughly 45 RV slots.
One important aspect about that, Karen, is the length of the RV
spaces, and our length
is about 80ft long.
So it can accommodate very large RVs, and it's about 40ft in
between them.
So there's a nice space, a nice area to enjoy the outdoors and
to maybe even see some grass in between you and the next camper
beside you.
Karen Wilson:
Right. Right.
Andy Baggenstoss:
And I think that's really nice.
So in terms of facility, we offer a full hookup.
Okay, that means water, power, sewer.
We also have a dump station.
If perhaps you're coming across Monteagle Mountain, just need to
unload a little bit.
Feel free to stop by.
We'll accommodate you.
In addition to that, the RV area has a bathhouse.
So there are showers here on the grounds.
There's restrooms here on the grounds.
And so you put all that together, we can accommodate about 65
camping sites on any given weekend.
Karen Wilson:
And the camping sites, I'm looking at them right now.
I mean, as you said, large campers, plenty of room to kind of
pull around.
Sometimes in state parks, the facilities can be kind of cramped.
And yours is not like that at all.
Ample room to pull in and have some space to breathe out in the
open.
It's beautiful.
Let's talk about the zip lines.
Andy Baggenstoss:
Okay, so before though, we get to the zip lining, I do want to go
back and talk about one other aspect of our camping facility,
because there's a teepee that we have that's wonderful for
birthday parties.
And, you know, all the children come.
They go, "Oh, mom and dad, let's go have it in the teepee." We
also have a treehouse on property here as well.
It's a treehouses, you know, most recently –
Karen Wilson:
Oh, that's trendy.
Andy Baggenstoss:
Yes, it is.
So I wanted to make sure that we mentioned each of those.
When it comes to our zip line, we have eight zip line rides in
terms of lines.
Karen Wilson:
Okay. Yes.
Andy Baggenstoss:
So if, once you arrive here, we have, 9, 11, 1, 3, and 5.
We have two hours in between the time that we take each group.
Each group normally consists of 10 to 12 folks, and it takes
about an hour and 45 minutes to do the entire 8
to 9 lines.
In fact, one of the easiest and nicest things about our facility
and our zip line is there's not a lot of
walking. So in other words, once you get onto line one, there's
less than probably 30
yards that you're going to walk completely.
The rest of the time, you're in the trees and the canopy.
You're coming over the lakes or the ponds or over the fields,
and then you race home on line number nine.
So it's, once we kind of get the children and the adults
acclimated to the heights and the speed, then we get to that last
line, and it's a double line.
And all the children and all the folks want to race to home
base.
Karen Wilson:
Right, I know zip lining is not for the faint of heart, but I
know you all are very conscientious, I'm sure, about safety.
Talk to me about, like, how you address that.
And you have crews that I guess come help with that?
Andy Baggenstoss:
Thank you for asking.
Obviously, first and foremost, we want you to have fun.
And part of having fun is being safe and nothing bad happening.
So one of the first things that occurs when you come to our
property is you check in, you sign your waiver, you say that
you're going to listen to what our rules are, and we tell you
those rules.
So then you come on down to the other side of the check in, and
we talk to you about our helmets that we use, our harnesses that
we use. We in fact inspect those harnesses, and then we put
those harnesses on you making sure they're tight, not too
loose, and they're in a space where you're comfortable.
Because that also goes along with that fun aspect.
At that point, we take a few minutes to talk to you about what
to do and what not to do.
We then get you in our van.
We take you down to line number one, and we climb to the top of
the stairs.
That's about 60-65ft in the air, at which time we hook you up to
a safety line, and we talk to you once
again. The most important aspect is that you don't put these
fingers and hands
on the line, the zip line, in front of the carabiner, or you
could look like this.
Karen Wilson:
Oh, that sounds so painful.
Andy Baggenstoss:
And so we don't want to do that.
And we, that's probably the biggest, most imperative safety issue
that we have.
The ropes and the lines, they can hold hundreds of people.
So one individual no problem at all.
Karen Wilson:
Right.
Andy Baggenstoss:
But it's really keeping your hands free and safe of the top part.
Listening, and then at that point, we're just having fun.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah. And kids love that.
And, you all also have for the kids like, parties and events and
things like that.
It's a great birthday party destination.
Andy Baggenstoss:
We do. Not only can those events be held out on the zip line, we
have a pole barn.
We also have a check in space as well.
If there's inflatables you want to rent, we've done those,
whether it be water or just the jumpy houses.
We oftentimes will go to the Dutch Maid Bakery and get our cakes
for the children, a lot of times.
And the parties also consist of coming and camping as well.
So it's not just that we come for the day, we come for maybe
overnight, and we have many friends that stay.
So you get to experience not only the camping, maybe in the
teepee or the treehouse, the zip lining, but also the ponds.
We have three ponds here to fish with or fish in, and we also
have a Frisbee golf course.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, that's really popular, like you said, with the college
students that are hereby in the Sewanee area.
Great, great thing.
You don't charge for that, do you?
Andy Baggenstoss:
No, ma'am, we don't.
In fact, we love exercise.
We like for folks to get out.
And that's one of the biggest reasons why people come to our
mountain is to be outside.
So if you're here on the mountain and to have as many outdoor
activities as possible is what we want to try to accomplish here
at Bigfoot.
Karen Wilson:
And you also mentioned kind of a hunting aspect.
Lots of people come and take advantage from Nashville and
Chattanooga and places.
Talk to us about that.
Andy Baggenstoss:
So thank you (a) for asking because we have seasons here.
April the 1st to November the 1st is zip lining.
And then when it comes to November the 1st to April the 1st, we
go into our bird hunting season.
And we have a bird hunting preserve.
We have about 16 bird dogs that we put out into the field, and
we allow our clients and customers to come and hunt
the birds, which are quail, pheasant and chukar.
Three different types of birds.
Quail used to be really relevant and prevalent here in
Tennessee.
Unfortunately, over time, they're not as much anymore.
We do utilize pen-raised birds.
However, the memories of going back and hunting with your
granddad or your father or your son,
the pen-raised birds make no difference.
It's those memories.
It's watching those dogs.
It's walking and getting some exercise.
It's reflection on life and where you are.
There's so many ingredients that go into such a wonderful meal
at the end of it.
Kind of. It's just this idea of enjoying life and getting out to
the outdoors.
Karen Wilson:
Spending time with your family, your sons, daughters, anybody
that would be interested in hunting.
And you also do clay shooting as well?
Andy Baggenstoss:
We do in fact.
We not only do the clay shooting before we go out to hunt,
because we like to ensure that our clients and hunters know how
to use the rifle, or the shotgun, rather.
When it comes to clays, though, we also have a five stand, which
is very intriguing, six throwers out there.
So you get to test your skills in a lot of different areas, not
just one throw or throwing one skeet in one direction.
So you get lots of directions, lots of angles, and lots of
opportunity to have fun.
Karen Wilson:
We can pretend we're British, and we are clay shooting out in
this area.
Just, you know, it goes back to, I guess, the Scottish ancestry
of this area.
You all are Swiss, though, is that correct?
Andy Baggenstoss:
Yes, ma'am.
Karen Wilson:
I had forgotten about that.
This area was a big area for the Swiss to come and locate.
The Baggenstoss name is Swiss.
Is that correct?
Andy Baggenstoss:
It is correct. And Gruetli-laager is a wonderful place within
Grundy County here.
And we have the Swiss celebration there during the summertime.
And so certainly if you're Swiss and you want to celebrate your
heritage, please come on up and and see the Sampley family farm
out there in Gruetli-laager.
It's a wonderful place.
And the folks that operate it now are dear friends and do a
great job.
Karen Wilson:
Well, I would think, I guess going back to the business aspect of
utilizing a family farm like
this. Your biggest challenge as a business owner is creating a
new industry in this area.
What was that like?
Because most people up here are not creating campgrounds and
shooting ranges and things like that.
What was that like to get started?
Andy Baggenstoss:
Exciting. I kind of, I tell lots of folks, Karen, that I look out
at my farm, and
I view it as a canvas.
And I very much appreciate coming and painting on my canvas.
My father started the landscape here back in 1972, and over the
years, we've seen many
activities, many things from a racetrack.
I had a motocross track here for a number of years.
We've had horseback riding here, and really, at the end of the
day, what motivated me was to bring
tourists to our mountain, folks to our mountain, so that they
could see the mountain and see who's here.
And the people that we have, and the culture that we have.
Now when it comes to the activities, I'm a believer personally
that you've got to be a leader.
You can't just be a follower.
And my point is, is that if I go out here and do something that
everyone else is doing, the probability of my success
has gone down from a statistical position.
So I've always tried to think outside the box.
I realized early on that the mountain had lots of outdoor
activities in terms of hiking
and camping, but only at the state parks.
And the state parks are lovely places.
We are very thankful to have those because the state sends the
advertising dollars to the parks.
However, not everyone wants to stay at the park.
And to have multiple activities, not just to stay at the park, I
think has offered a benefit to us.
We have music throughout the summer.
Every third weekend, we do music here.
So when it comes though to the adventure side, I don't think
from a business standpoint that it can only be one adventure,
right? I think that it's got to be a free adventure, like
throwing Frisbee golf.
I think that that accommodates those children and college
students down at the university.
And when their mom and dads come back for those 4 or 5 weekends
of parents weekend and graduation, and they have RVs.
And there's only so many places to stay on our mountain.
And so to have the accommodation was one thought I had.
So to have the RV park, that factored in there.
The Sewanee students did in terms of camping and getting them
out here to something
they know, and they want to do.
As a 20 year old, yeah, you might want to go zip line, but you're
really probably a broke college kid that wants to go throw a
Frisbee for free.
So I think that's really cool because then what happens is they
go out and talk.
Then we've got I-24.
My father had a truck stop on I-24, and I thought, "Wow, how do
we get those people off that interstate and
to our community to show them what we have?" Well, my dad taught
me something.
He said, "Son, if they can't see you over there, they can't
trade with you." And it took me a while.
I didn't really understand.
I thought, "Well, I'm just off the exit.
Surely they know we're here."
Karen Wilson:
Right.
Andy Baggenstoss:
But you have to advertise.
So we went to the billboards, we went to I-24 and 60,000 people
there a day, and we then began to try to attract them to
get off at 127 to the caverns exit in Pelham 134, 135.
Historically, though, once folks got off there, they turned left
to go to Sewanee.
They turn right to come into the Monteagle Assembly ground.
They might even go down to High Point for a good dinner.
And then they go back to the other exit, and they go home.
So back to your original question.
We need folks to stay with us.
But as I've learned over time, there's only so many beds and
rooms on the mountain.
So it's really been a disadvantage for us.
So the first thing I recognized was we have to have a place
where people can come and stay, because then the next thing that
we have to do is to figure out how do we get them out of where
they're staying out here to our community.
So that's where the caverns comes in, or the hiking comes in, or
the Dutch Maid Bakery or Flury's [market], the Beersheba
market, Palmer, Tennessee, to see what the mountain used to be
like.
It used to be about coal, and it used to be about trees.
Now, we want it to be about tourism.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah. And there are so many unique features with Grundy County.
You all have so many waterfalls and features.
And of course, the stone door.
Anybody could go on and on, and the coke mines, and I could just
go on and on.
There's lots of unique features here that you just don't see in
our area.
Andy Baggenstoss:
You don't really.
I think that that is part of the attraction is the mountain and
the beauty of the outdoors.
And I think you can be connected with yourself and be connected
spiritually and be connected,
just to the community, and that's what we really want.
But I also think that it can't, you just can't have a grocery
store that sells one brand of dishwashing
detergent. It's very important, I feel like, to have options for
people.
Karen Wilson:
Well, and it seems like the county is conscious now of growing,
trying to revitalize things from the county fair
to the old school building and putting new businesses in there.
It's really, you know, taking off and growing.
Andy Baggenstoss:
One of the things, Karen, that, you know, we need to mention that
has really helped the mountain to accommodate some of what I've
talked about this morning is we've got the retreat and these
tiny homes that provide roughly 300
units, Vrbo and rentals.
Why does that help us?
It helps us not only for those Sewanee students and parents.
It helps us here at Bigfoot, but it also helps the OHV park.
And the OHV park is something one of our newest additions here
on the mountain that truly brings people in from many states,
not just counties that surround us to ride their four wheelers,
to ride their side by sides.
And in Coalmont they have done a very wonderful job in putting
together an HOV park that
accommodates camping, side by sides, and outdoor adventure.
Karen Wilson:
I didn't realize that that was here in Grundy County.
You hear people going up to East Tennessee to do that, so
they've got that here as well.
That's so popular these days.
Andy Baggenstoss:
It's very popular, and it would be a wonderful source, and is a
wonderful source of revenue, for Coalmont and for Grundy County.
Because when people come, they need bread and a baloney sandwich
when they're out in the woods, right?
They need some water and a Coca-Cola or a moon pie.
And so that's the grocery store.
That might be the Piggly Wiggly.
Maybe they need, they're coming to see a family member, and they
need Ace Hardware, and they're going to go out and sow some
grass for them for the weekend.
So there's businesses that we've never seen on the mountain
until recently.
The thought of having an Ace Hardware in Monteagle a few years
ago was just like, "Oh my goodness, I don't think we're ever
going to get that." But now we have that, and then we have the
OHV, and we have Bigfoot, and we have the caverns, and we have
the parks, and we have a lot of wonderful people.
Karen Wilson:
I know. You've mentioned High Point, which is one of my favorite
places to eat.
Also the wonderful bakery, and then the Mountain Goat Market.
You can't. I mean, that's a hot spot to come get an awesome
pizza or sandwich at.
Andy Baggenstoss:
Absolutely.
Karen Wilson:
The place stays packed all the time.
Andy Baggenstoss:
It does stay packed.
In fact, my daughters came up this past weekend.
They took their friends down, and it was about an hour wait, but
they said, "Dad, it was worth every minute of it.
It was excellent." And she does such a wonderful job down
there, and a neighbor, in fact.
So we're glad that it's here and in Monteagle because it too
brings lots of folks off the exits, and that's what we need.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah. That's awesome.
Talk to me, I guess.
Do you have plans to do any more here?
To do expanding, or have other events coming up?
Andy Baggenstoss:
In terms of events, yes.
For example, in late May we have a national car show, an old car
show similar to what they have up in Pigeon Forge.
In fact, one of the promoters is one of the promoters that will
be here.
I know that next November.
I know that our Tourism Board and Chamber of Commerce would like
to do a gathering here of bluegrass music.
Karen Wilson:
That'd be awesome.
Andy Baggenstoss:
I know that we have talked.
We had what was called "The Taste of the Mountain" a number of
years ago for the chamber, and we have contemplated doing chili
cook offs and that type of thing here at Bigfoot.
Because the space that's here, we have an area where vendors can
easily pull in, have that electric, have
that water.
Over the years, not only did we have a racetrack and now a zip
line and a campground, but we've also had musical events here.
We had Thunder on the Rock here, which was a motorcycle rally
for ten years and had Charlie Daniels and 38
Special and all these folks to come in and sing.
And again, that goes back to our culture here on the mountain.
So we think about the music that has been here historically, and
then we think about the caverns today.
And so the music is really a big part of us.
Karen Wilson:
You all have an awesome stage here.
It's a great venue for anything like that, even a great party.
If a lot of people will hire a band and have a little birthday
party or something like that, but your stage is big, it will
accommodate a large band.
Andy Baggenstoss:
Well, thank you very much.
I will say, though, that business is a lot of times will do
their employee appreciation events here.
We've also had alumni events, and we've also had family
gatherings.
Right. So a family reunion, for example, has been held here as
well.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, it's a great facility for that.
So what do you hope your visitors kind of take away when they
leave Bigfoot?
Andy Baggenstoss:
Oh, number one is fun.
Number two is the experience and the memory with their family.
And then lastly to talk about those adventures that they got to
do, whether it be fishing or zip lining, or camping,
or shooting a skeet, or shooting a quail or a pheasant with a
dog out there running.
When they come in with a smile, but leave with a bigger smile
and a wonderful memory, that's what we want at Bigfoot
Adventure.
Karen Wilson:
That's awesome. And that's wonderful that they're having that
happen in Grundy County.
It's a great place.
Andy, thank you so much for allowing us to come today and share
the Bigfoot Adventure story.
And I'd like to invite our audience to tune in for future
podcasts.
These episodes, we like to share content about businesses.
We want businesses like Andy's and Bigfoot Adventure to share
their ideas with other businesses to help them
grow. That's it for The BLC Connection Podcast.
Tune in for more episodes.