LOGAN, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice joined leaders with the West Virginia State Parks and the Hatfield McCoy Trail System in Logan County to celebrate completion of a key connecting trail. The new trail will link the Bear Wallow Trail System to the Chief Logan State Park Lodge.
“What we see as we look out at the Lodge parking lot today is a lot of empty parking spots. We believe this is going to have a significant impact on the visitation at this park because now anybody that rides that section of the Bear Wallow Trail has access to this state park,” said DNR Director Brett McMillion.
The connecting trail is four and a half miles long. It was built by the Hatfield McCoy Trail staff at a cost of around $100,000. The connector links the lodge to the trail behind the Fountain Place Mall. It will be a huge boost for the trail since one of the most needed components is lodging for out-of-state riders.
“This connector is going to increase ridership on our trail system. It’s going to create visitation to this state park and it’s going to increase occupancy at the lodge. Last year our Hatfield McCoy Trail System sold over 90,000 permits. Eighty-percent of those were sold to non-West Virginia residents,” said Hatfield McCoy Trail System Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk. “75,000 people now have the option of staying right here at Chief Logan State Park Lodge and Director, I promise you that company is coming.”
The HMT staff was careful to craft a trail which minimized impact with other park user groups. Construction on the trail started in February. It included a special parking area for trailered vehicles and goes through the woods and over high terrain to enter the Bear Wallow System south of the state park property.