Mountain bike park rides in to aid struggling Burnet restaurants

Burnet restaurants derailed by COVID-19 could find a new gear thanks to a Highland Lakes mountain biking facility.

Spider Mountain Bike Park created a grant fund for Burnet restaurants negatively impacted by the pandemic. The park and parent company Mountain Capital Partners set aside a percentage of annual preseason pass sales to establish the fund.

Coleman Charitable Foundation matched the initial funding, bringing the amount to about $4,000.

Applications are due by the end of day Wednesday, Sept. 9.

“I think it’s extremely important for our restaurants that Spider Mountain is giving them a little boost,” said Kim Winkler, director of the Burnet Chamber of Commerce. 

The chamber and Spider Mountain will determine grant recipients. 

“COVID-19 has created new challenges for everyone, including all of us at Spider,” stated Deseree Hernandez, Spider Mountain’s director of mountain operations, in a media release. “Because we want to concentrate on having a direct and meaningful impact on our community, it was important for us to find a way to show our support to the local businesses during these difficult times.”

Spider Mountain Bike Park, located on Lake Buchanan, opened in February 2019. It is the only chairlift-served bike park in the state and the only year-round chairlift-served park in the United States.

Winkler said Burnet has probably lost one or two restaurants during the pandemic, but all of them have struggled.

“This grant is also encouraging to the restaurants because they see that the community cares about them,” she added.

Any restaurant located in Burnet may apply for a grant. To apply, email a single-page request to Winkler at kim@burnetchamber.org. The request should include a brief description of the restaurant, how it was impacted by the pandemic, and how the funding would be spent.

Contact Winkler at 512-756-4297 or the above email address for more information. 

daniel@thepicayune.com