Hatfield-McCoy trails get high marks from national TV publication

Hatfield-McCoy trails get high marks from national TV publication
By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

NORTHFORK — A southern West Virginia-based trail system is being called the No. 3 ATV riding destination in North America.

“Dirt Wheels” magazine, a national industry publication, has ranked the Hatfield-McCoy Trails as the No. 3 ATV riding destination in North America and the best in the eastern half of the United States, Mike Pinkerton, director of marketing for the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, said.

Pinkerton said the trail system, including the new Indian Ridge Trail segment in McDowell County, is now entering its peaking riding season.

“Actually, our season really runs along with the weather,” Pinkerton said. “So really from about mid-March to late-November is our prime season. Probably the number one month to ride the trail system is October with the fall foliage. But most of our trails are used year round. The trail system in McDowell County is fantastic. It has now been open going on a year, and that trail system is one of our largest trail systems. The experience in McDowell County is a great experience. We look at that as being our gateway to the southern states for people traveling north on Interstate 77. It’s the first (trail) they get to.”

Pinkerton said negotiations with landowners in Mercer, Lincoln and Wayne counties continues.

“We are working tirelessly to get Mercer County as well as Lincoln and Wayne counties — the three remaining counties for us — open,” Pinkerton said. “We don’t know which of those three will open first. But we are trying in all three counties. We expand as land allow us to.”

Pinkerton said officials hope to ultimately connect the trail systems in Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties together into one larger trail segment.

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