Eric Smallwood

Eric Smallwood serves as the Outdoor Programs Director of the collaboration between Catawba Riverkeeper and Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. In this role, he oversees all outdoor and recreation-based activities. His goal is to instill a love of nature through unforgettable outdoor experiences and engagement with nature.

Eric is an outdoor enthusiast and nature lover at heart. He was born in Summersville, West Virginia right in the heart of whitewater and climbing country and grew up camping and trout fishing with his family in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. Now, with a family of his own, he continues to make those same memories and connections with nature through camping, hiking, biking, and paddling the local trails and beautiful waterways of our area. He still enjoys the solitude of a long trail run and the grind of an all-day mountain bike ride in the woods quite frequently to disconnect from the noise of the world and connect with melody of nature.

After graduating from Guilford College with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Business Management, Eric began a 15-year career in the public Parks and Recreation field. What began as a desire to be involved with sports quickly became a reignited passion for the outdoors and our natural spaces. In his most recent position as the leader of the Town of Cramerton Parks and Recreation Department, it afforded Eric the opportunity to partner with like-minded individuals and organizations to capitalize on and conserve our natural resources and establish Cramerton as one of the premier outdoor recreation destinations in the Charlotte Region.



Eric currently resides on the banks of the South Fork Catawba River in Cramerton, NC with his wife Olivia and son Lincoln.