When Muddy Sneakers took its first groups of students to Bailey Mountain in Madison County last year, we knew it was a special property.

Overlooking Mars Hill, Bailey Mountain has a long history of being a place where families visit to experience what nature has to offer and to get an incredible view of their community from its highest point, according to Mars Hill Town Manager Nathan Bennett.

In December 2018, the Town of Mars Hill completed the purchase of an 87-acre property on Bailey Mountain known as the Smith Farm — the result of a grassroots cooperative effort to preserve the iconic mountain from private development. The property will be publicly accessible and is in the midst of a public input plan for recreational management.

Muddy Sneakers was among the first organizations to utilize the natural space, leading expeditions of Mars Hill Elementary and Hot Springs Elementary students during the spring 2019 semester, with more learning adventures on the calendar for the current academic year.

Bennett said it’s important for students to have access to places such as Bailey Mountain so they will have an opportunity to be exposed to the beauty of the mountains. “As the country, and our area in particular, becomes more populated, the need for housing reduces the availability of natural space,” he said. “Also, this is a generation of children who don’t go outside and play as often as they once did.”

Muddy Sneakers offers students the opportunity to connect with the land and explore scientific inquiry, Bennett said. “It is hoped that students will take their hands-on experience at Bailey Mountain to give them an appreciation of the natural environment all around them and to encourage them to respect and take personal actions to be responsible with natural resources while, hopefully, developing an educational interest in the sciences as a possible future career,” he said.

Ryan Bell, a Mars Hill University professor and liaison to the Bailey Mountain Project, said the Muddy Sneakers program fulfills a dream for the space’s usage. “Muddy Sneakers’ emphasis on self-propelled wonder and discovery is a perfect match for the preserved but still unkempt natural space of Bailey Mountain Park,” he said.

Bennett agreed that Muddy Sneakers made a good partner because our mission to connect children to the natural world to stimulate an interest in learning about science and the environment. “It coincides with the town’s intent to provide Smith Farm and Bailey Mountain Park as a place free of development for passive recreation and a place for anyone to explore nature and see classroom concepts at work firsthand in the wild,” he said.

Students participating in Muddy Sneakers expeditions at Bailey Mountain are joining a community tradition of appreciating the property, Bell said. “Bailey Mountain has been a playground of discovery for many generations. When young students today explore Bailey, they are joining predecessors — and, for some, their ancestors — and bridging generational gaps,” he said.

“I hope young students use Bailey Mountain as a laboratory to catalogue their curiosities for the natural world and to connect with those generations who have similarly been raised and lived on and within sight of the mountain,” Bell said.