The Moapa Valley community will be the star of a new family event planned for this spring. The new event, called “The Loop at Moapa Valley” will take place on March 23 and it will showcase the whole community.
“The Loop at Moapa Valley” is a family bicycle event which will allow locals as well as visitors from neighboring cities to bring their bikes and take a leisurely ride through Moapa Valley along an 18 mile long marked looping trail.
The mostly level trail will take visitors all around the valley in an attempt to showcase as much of the community’s diversity as possible, including pastures, farms, the downtown business district, various residential neighborhoods and the east bench area near the airport. The event will run continuously from 10 AM to 6 PM.
Visitors will be able to stop along the trail for free and paid activities offered by local residents, businesses and organizations.
The event is being organized by the Moapa Valley Revitalization Project (MVRP) as a way to promote the local community. But it is visualized as a full-community effort. MVRP members are encouraging local residents, businesses and group to sponsor stops along the trail.
“Anyone who has a message to share or a product or service to promote for visitors can register and run a “stop” along the route,” said Jean Gottshalk of the MVRP. “There is no charge to do so. Participants are just asked to have their stop open from 10 AM to 6 PM on the day of the event.”
While each stop’s sponsor is free to charge for products or services offered, MVRP is encouraging each stop to offer at least some complimentary information or an experience/activity that will help generate interest from visitors and guarantee more traffic to each stop.
Already confirmed stops include: residents selling locally made products like soaps and candles, local honey and a demonstration hive from Ozaki Honey, food at the Inside Scoop, locally grown produce at Quail Hollow Farms, horseback rides at Equus Ranch, and Windy’s Ranch & Rescue animal sanctuary with more stops added regularly.
Those interested in sponsoring a stop can visit the dedicated website at www.theloopatmoapavalley.com to review the route, select a location along the route and register their stop.
Local residents who will not be operating stops are invited to donate their time (in 4 hour shifts) during the not-for-profit community event to help welcome visitors and hand out maps at two designated parking areas. They may also help with ensuring guest safety at critical locations where the route merges with Moapa Valley Boulevard. Volunteers can register for shifts at the event website.
The idea for this new event came one day when Gottschalk biked to school with his daughter and her friends. He realized that the flat topography, relatively low traffic and beautiful scenery made the valley an ideal place for leisure biking.
After presenting the idea for an annual bicycle event to the MVRP, “The Loop at Moapa Valley” was born.
“The goal of the event is to expose more visitors to what the Valley has to offer and over time, drive more tourism and economic development,” Gottschalk said. “Plus, everyone will be able to have some fun and enjoy the spring weather for a day!”
