Long considered a town of hospitality, Wytheville offers a large selection of businesses and attractions that are designed to serve the needs of the countless travelers that visit each year. Wytheville offers over 1500 hotel rooms in the area, 60 restaurant facilities including many featuring local flavor. Nearby attractions include The Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre, museums, parks and great restaurants. Other area attractions in scenic southwest Virginia include the New River Trail State Park, Claytor Lake State Park, The Blue Ridge Parkway, and many more.
Wytheville is strategically positioned within 75 miles of Roanoke, Virginia to the northeast, Bristol, Tennessee to thesouthwest and Winston Salem, NC to the southeast. I-77 is the primary transportation corridor between Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I-81 is the primary transportation corridor between Northern Virginia, Washington D. C., Philadelphia and Maryland to Tennessee and the Mid West. Wytheville is also located within one day’s truck shipping distance to New York, Atlanta and nearly 2/3 of the U.S. population.
There are three industrial parks within 20 miles of the downtown area. There is a workforce of 80,000 in a 25 mile radius and a workforce of 150,000 in a 50 mile radius. There are 64 manufacturer and distribution employers within 25 miles. Volvo Heavy Truck Corporation employs approximately 2,450 people and Pulaski Furniture employs approximately 2,400. Klockner Pentaplast, Textron Fastening Systems, Hutchinson Sealing Systems, Longwood Elastomers and Pepsi Bottling Groups employ a combined workforce of nearly 1,200 employees.
There are two major universities, Radford University and Virginia Tech, within the 50 mile radius, as well. Radford University has 9,100 full time students and Virginia Tech has well over 25,000 full time students. There are several other nearby universities in the surrounding states of North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Wytheville is also located between four NASCAR raceways, each of which holds national races twice a year and many others throughout the year. These raceways include Bristol, Tennessee; Martinsville, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; and Charlotte, North Carolina. The Bristol Motor Speedway had 80 race days scheduled for 2005. The seating capacity for the Food City 500 in March 2000 was 147,000 and a record crowd of 160,000 attended the Food City 500 in March 2003.
Fans of both football and NASCAR drive to and from the games and races on the two interstates that are located in the area. This trend will continue to grow each year. While these are seasonal events, the region maintains a year round draw with area professionals, university commuters and visitors.
The Appalachian Trail can be accessed approximately 22 miles north from Interstate 77 and 30 miles southwest from Interstate 81. Access to the Blue Ridge Parkway is approximately 25 miles south of Ft. Chiswell Outlets on Interstate 77. The Property is surrounded by the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. These two national forests contain nearly 1.8 million acres of public land, representing one of the largest blocks of public land in the eastern United States. The Jefferson National Forest is comprised of lands located in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. The George Washington National Forest is comprised of lands located in Virginia and West Virginia. The forests have approximately 2,000 miles of hiking trails including 330 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Nearly 75% of all Virginia hunters hunt on the National Forests.