See You Later!
Lazy Otter Outfitters is closed
Here's the short version: The outfitter and river access will not reopen for the 2025 season. While our property came through Helene pretty well considering its location, a new opportunity for the owners has arisen and our efforts to sell the property to the county for public greenspace or find a new operator for Lazy Otter were unsuccessful, so unfortunately we will not be running trips. For liability reasons, our river access will also not be available to the public. Thanks to everyone for your support of Lazy Otter over the years!
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The slightly longer version:
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Hi Lazy Otter friends! We hope you're all doing well and ready for spring after a tough fall and winter here in the mountains. As we announced recently, Leslie and Matt, the founders of Lazy Otter in 2016, will not be reopening for the 2025 season. This is due to a new opportunity and not related to the storm, since our property proved surprisingly resilient given our beautiful location right on the banks of the French Broad River in Horse Shoe. Unfortunately though, the storm hasn't helped us keep the service and river access available to the community as we had hoped.
Our first choice was to work out a deal with Henderson County to sell the property for public green space. We believed this to be a great opportunity, since our location bordering both the river and the Ecusta Trail would make a perfect trailhead with much-needed parking and public river access, and the county has acted in the past to secure valuable property for the public when it comes available. However, commissioners were uninterested in discussing the opportunity with us. We weren't given a reason, but we have to assume they were overwhelmed with storm recovery needs and didn't have the capacity to engage in even a very beneficial opportunity for the public.
When that didn't come together, we searched for another operator to take over Lazy Otter or run a similar operation from our property. We had a number of serious inquiries, but since there is still uncertainty about the condition of the river once water levels fully recede and the upcoming tourist season, we weren't able to put a deal together.
Unfortunately, that means the Lazy Otter is going to take a little nap for a while. We're confident that once the Ecusta Trail extends to our property and beyond that a river operation will spring back to life, and we hope that's soon! But in the meantime, for liability reasons our river access will be unavailable for any public use.
We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to share the Undiscovered French Broad with you, and to meet so many of the area's paddlers and welcome visitors from around the world! As the spot where the French Broad Paddle and Ecusta Trails meet, Horse Shoe is poised to become the epicenter of outdoor recreation in the region. If you think Henderson County should consider acquiring the property as public green space, please feel free to contact the commissioners who represent you to encourage them to make the effort. Their contact information is here: https://www.hendersoncountync.gov/boc. We're also happy to hear from others who may want to make use of the property now or in the future at info@lazyotteroutfitters.com. Thank you for your support and friendship of Lazy Otter Outfitters!