West Virginia 2008 Official State Travel Guide - (Page 46) REPORTS ATV TRAILS by Heather Boynton Wild West Virginia TRAIL difficulty Similar to the skiing industry, all trails in the Hatfield-McCoy system are color-coded by skill level. The “EASIEST” (GREEN) are wide, level trails that were mainly used by gas and logging companies in the past. The “MORE DIFFICULT” (BLUE) are more narrow, uneven trails, with some rocks and obstacles on the paths. The “MOST DIFFICULT” (BLACK) can be extremely steep, with larger rocks and more obstacles on sometimes overgrown paths. The “SINGLE-TRACK” TRAILS (BROWN) are suitable for bikes and motorcycles but not four-wheel ATVs. Trail maps are continually updated and readily available at each trailhead to alert riders of any changes in the trail system. Each of the six Hatfield-McCoy sections has a distinct vibe, explained in more detail on the facing page. Expansive vista along the trail i. RIDERS, START YOUR ENGINES Or your horses. Or your bikes. N ear the old stomping grounds of the famously feuding Hatfield and McCoy clans, on West Virginia’s southern border with Kentucky, is a small sign. The sign marks a trailhead; the trailhead, in turn, is the beginning of what ATV Connection magazine calls “the dawning of a new trail renaissance” – more than 500 miles of prime multi-purpose trails stretching across several counties. The Hatfield-McCoy Trails (officially, the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Area) are six trail systems that are open to ATVs, dirt bikes, select utility vehicles (UTVs), mountain bikes, horses and hikers. Collectively, they make up the second-largest off-highway vehicle trail system in the world. You’ll see a fair amount of horses and bikes out on the trails, but what rules the day here are ATVs – all-terrain vehicles, or “quads.” There are more than 7 million ATVs in the United States and 16 million Americans who ride them. In a part of West Virginia that fought its own Mine Wars in the middle of World War I (and is still known as coal country today) the rocky, rugged and steeply pitched old mining and logging roads that form many trails here have a roughness that goes hand-in-hand with a four-wheel vehicle. Other trails were smoothed out of older, “outlaw” ATV paths. Man and machine have a history here. The small communities at the end of “connectors” from the Hatfield-McCoy Trails are generally very quad-friendly. You can ride out directly from historic Matewan – site of the 1920 “Matewan Massacre” gunfight – and Gilbert. The project is slated to expand into nine counties with up to 2,000 miles of trails when all is said and done. There are also long-term plans for a 4x4 park in Kanawha County and trail sections designated only for horses and other non-motorized users. Hatfield-McCoy Trails make up the secondlargest off-highway vehicle trail system in the world. An ATV rider emerges from a tunnel on the Browning Fork Trail . i 46 1 - 8 0 0 - C A L L W VA
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