Stories

Volunteers Spruce Up Bakers Mountain Park

Published: October 16, 2025

On the morning of Saturday, October 11th, 23 volunteers gathered at Bakers Mountain Park with one goal in mind: to care for and enhance one of the area’s most beloved outdoor spaces. Visit Hickory NC, Outdoor NC, and partners Catawba County Parks, Keep Catawba County Beautiful, Catawba County Library System, Cranford Hospitality, and Main Chick Jammin’ Biscuits joined forces for a Park Spruce-Up Day focused on cleanup and beautification projects throughout the park.

Volunteers enjoyed biscuits and refreshments from Cranford Hospitality and Main Chick Jammin’ Biscuits before getting to work. The group divided into two teams to take on separate projects. The first team walked to an old 1950s dump site within the park—an area not yet open to the public and accessed via a service road—where they worked to clear the first stretch by collecting broken glass, debris, and trash layered throughout the site. In total, volunteers collected approximately 220 pounds of debris, primarily broken glass from the off-trail dump site.

The second team focused their efforts near the park entrance, picking up litter along Bakers Mountain Road and cleaning and washing the park’s white vinyl fence. These projects helped enhance the park’s natural beauty while supporting long-term preservation efforts for Catawba County’s outdoor spaces.

“Park visitors and staff already do an amazing job keeping Bakers Mountain clean, so this event was less about litter and more about preparing for what’s next,” said Elizabeth Clark, Marketing Manager at Visit Hickory NC. “It’s inspiring to see volunteers come together to care for these parks and take pride in the spaces that make our community so special.”

This volunteer effort is part of a larger initiative to promote sustainable outdoor recreation, environmental stewardship, and continued improvements across Catawba County’s parks system. Visit Hickory NC and Catawba County Parks plan to continue this work in 2026, with two more volunteer days scheduled for Mountain Creek Park and St. Stephens Park in the spring. More information will be shared in February on the park's social media channels: @CatawbaCountyParksNC on Facebook and @CatawbaCountyParks on Instagram.