By The Associated Press
Charleston, W.Va.
-- Officials who oversee West
Virginia's expansive ATV trail system are looking to
give a different type of rider an off-road thrill.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System is working toward
construction of a park for Jeep- and Humvee-type users less than 20 miles south
of Charleston.
They are too wide for the system's more than 600 miles of trails that are open
to all-terrain vehicles, dirt and mountain bikes, horses and hikers.
Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority Executive
Director Jeffrey Lusk said the $200,000 project will be funded by the West
Virginia Recreational Trails Program.
"There's not one of these in West Virginia," Lusk said recently.
There are a few in the eastern U.S., but they are mostly in the
West, he said.
"From what we can tell, there're some pretty big
organizations that work with these guys for one-time events. We're trying to
open up a trail system that they can use all the time," Lusk said.
The Rahall Transportation Institute at Marshall University
handled the park's mapping and Lusk said the project is currently under
environmental review. Once that's complete, a trailhead will be selected and
construction will begin.
Kanawha
County commissioners gave
their approval to the project last week.
The park will be located near U.S. Route 119 along the
Lincoln-Kanawha county border. Rather than drawing typical Hatfield-McCoy trail
users, the new park is targeted for another set of riders who prefer to travel
in groups, stay in hotels and take in local restaurants, nightlife and
entertainment.
"They're a group that isn't looking for that rustic
outdoor vacation, albeit they participate in an outdoor sport," Lusk said.
"They aren't looking for that camping-cabin experience at night."
The Hatfield-McCoy system currently operates in six counties
and attracts more than 30,000 visitors annually, mostly from out of state.
The new park just might bring in people like Clint Harris,
who drives a 1995 Jeep and since 2001 has been president of the 35-member
Appalachian Off-Road Club based in Abingdon,
VA.
"I think that will drive a lot of tourism into the
area," Harris said. "If you look at people like me, we move somewhere
with our Jeeps. We usually take our families with us. We're looking at where
can we go to and what can we do while we go there?' We usually don't just make
it a day trip."
In rural, hilly southwest Virginia, finding an off-road playland can
be difficult.
"You would think the area I live in, there would be
tons of trails that we could go to," Harris said. "It's unfortunate.
It's very hard to find."
Harris said it seems whenever his group finds new, quality
trails, the operator shuts them down for one reason or another, including the
cost of running it.
Harris said it's usually a minimum two-hour drive to get to
an off-road site. He often visits Black Mountain Off-Road Adventure Area in Harlan, KY., or the Coal
Creek Off-Highway Vehicle Area in Oliver
Springs, TN.
Harris, an active member of the National Guard, welcomed the
news about the West Virginia
Park, even volunteering
his group to help with construction if that means getting it running sooner.
"I know most of the club would probably be interested
in pitching in," he said.
The Hatfield-McCoy system offers breathtaking mountain views
and off-road paths that are both gentle and challenging. Ridership has grown
every year since the system opened in October 2000. A new section opened in
late May in Mercer
County offering up to 100
miles of trails and is located in proximity to Interstates 77 and 81.
Permits, which are good from the date of purchase through
Dec. 31, cost $26.50 for West
Virginia residents and $50 for out-of-state
residents.
Lusk said permit sales so far this year are up 17 percent.
And if the new park is successful, "we will contemplate building another
site," he said.
