LYBURN, W.Va. — The Hatfield-McCoy Trails have reached a milestone. The recent opening of the Braveheart Trails near Man, W.Va. and the Big Coal River Trails near Peytona, W.Va. mean the system has now located riding opportunities in all of the original nine counties which were part of the footprint established in the late 1990’s when the Legislature authorized the system’s creation.
“We’re excited about both of them and both have some potential resort developments around them so there will probably be some capital investment and additional announcements following shortly on both of these trail systems,” said Hatfield-McCoy Trails Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trails origin
ally opened in October 2000 with trails in Logan, Mingo, Boone, and Wyoming Counties. The original plan called for tails in those counties along with Kanawha, Lincoln, McDowell, Mercer, and Wayne Counties. There are now trails in all nine of those.
The resorts are exactly what lawmakers hoped for when the idea was first floated. The vision was to find a way to draw tourists and new investment to southern West Virginia. Outdoor recreation seemed to be the obvious allure. The HMT is a quasi-state government agency which operates on revenue from riding permits. But those who come into the region need places to stay, eat, and pickup supplies. Lusk said those kinds of investments have been slowly growing through the years and are their only limiting factor.
“The trail systems are an economic development project. Folks are bringing capital in from either inside the area or outside the area to build these resorts. It’s truly the only way we can continue to grow. Our glass ceiling continues to be the number of lodging facilities we have. Eighty-five percent of our customers are non-West Virginia residents so we really need these investments,” said Lusk.
Originally, Boone County had the Little Coal River Trails, but those were closed down in 2015 after a land transaction. The new landowner didn’t want to renew the lease. The new Big Coal River system is located in the area of Peytona and has access right on the Big Coal River. Lusk said the location will offer additional tourist opportunities and will make the new Boone County trails among the more popular destinations.
“Being there on the Big Coal River is going to make that system a real draw because six or seven months out of the year you can also fish and do some flatwater kayaking. It’s like our Ivy Branch System on the Little Coal River because people like to have an additional something to do,” he added.
The new Braveheart System near Man will feature riding on an area between Huff Creek and the Guyandotte River. Along with the resort area for ATV riders, Lusk said it this system will enable riders to connect to three other trails which sprawl throughout the nearby mountains.
“People riding Braveheart will have access to 300 more miles of trail on the Rock House, Devil Anse, and Buffalo Mountain systems,” he said.
The Big Coal River system is open to ATV’s, UTV’s, off-road motorcycles, and Jeeps. The Braveheart is only open to ATV’s, UTV’s and of- road motorcycles.