Distance Dominates: Testing Push and Pull Motives in Mountain Bike Destination Choice

This study examines how recreation motivations and destination attribute preferences translate into reported destination choice among mountain bikers in Alabama (n = 610). Recreation decisions occur within geographic structures where travel cost imposes tradeoffs, yet recreation research has rarely tested whether motivations predict spatial behavior under explicit distance constraints. Using a fixed-effects Poisson destination choice model, we find that travel distance is the dominant determinant of visitation patterns, with doubling the distance reducing expected visits by approximately 75%. Destination quality attributes, including trail mileage, descent, and average user rating, were all positively associated with visitation, though distance effects dominated overall. Health and nature, as well as Novelty, emerged as the most important motivational dimensions, and trail characteristics were central to destination attribute preferences, yet recreation motivations minimally moderated distance sensitivity, and destination attribute preferences did not moderate it. These findings offer implications regarding how recreational preferences are realized within geographically structured landscapes.