Northern Virginian County looking to hook up to Hatfield/McCoy

Northern Virginian County looking to hook up to Hatfield/McCoy.


Published: October 07, 2009 05:47 pm
Blazing a new path: Pocahontas eyes ATV growth
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Town officials in Pocahontas are to be applauded for embracing a new form of tourism growth. As a small town that was built upon coal, officials in Pocahontas have already amassed an impressive track record when it comes to tourism. By embracing the town’s historic past, the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine has proven to be a true tourism success story for Tazewell County.

Now, town officials are looking to all-terrain recreational vehicles as a means of creating new tourism opportunities for the community.

The Pocahontas Town Council passed an ordinance last week that provides for the use of ATV vehicles within town limits. The resolution supporting the new ordinance recognizes that the Southwest Virginia Spearhead Trail Authority and Tazewell County “are seeking to establish a system of all-terrain recreational vehicle trails” in the area and added that the Tazewell County trail proponents are hoping to connect with the highly successful Hatfield-McCoy Trails in neighboring West Virginia when that trail system reaches neighboring Bramwell.

The town — with help from county officials — is hoping Pocahontas can become a destination for ATV riders, similar to the town of Gilbert in Mingo County.

“Gilbert is like a poster child for ATV-based tourism development,” Tazewell County Administrator Jim Spencer said last week. “They have a population of 450 people there and they have 131 beds they can rent out. They’re renting out every available room and all of the businesses in town are flourishing.”

If Pocahontas is able to connect with both the proposed Virginia-side Spearhead Trail, and the West Virginia-based Hatfield-McCoy Trail, we believe the town could indeed become a hub for ATV riders.