More HM Trail News

[cathead77]

Hatfield-McCoy Trail head coming to Bramwell area

By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — A new destination for visitors took a step closer to fruition Wednesday when the Mercer County Commission approved a location for the Hatfield-McCoy Recreational Trail.

The Hatfield-McCoy Trail was established in 1996 by the West Virginia Legislature to provide trail-based outdoor recreation to nine southern West Virginia counties. Sections of the trail are currently open in McDowell, Mingo, Wyoming, Mingo, Logan and Boone counties. Plans call for extending the trail into Mercer, Lincoln and Wayne counties. Approximately 550 miles of trails are currently open.

Wednesday’s action will bring the trail into Mercer County.

“We voted to locate it, the trail head, in a region called Area 1 on the map, and that area is located along Route 52 outside the Bramwell town limits,” said Mercer County Commissioner Karen Disibbio. “Then there is an area called Area 2 where the rest of the trail will be located. In Area 2 we will have a connector, hopefully in the future, to Montcalm and Matoaka.”

Funding for the Hatfield-McCoy Trail is generated by the sale of permits, and Mercer County could contribute some funds, she said.

User fees on the trail system increased more than 20 percent in 2008, and permit revenue for the trail was up by 25 percent so far in 2009, according to officials with the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.

“The county will be happy to put in some money from the hotel/motel tax if requested,” Disibbio said.

Having the trail, which can attract ATV riders and other visitors, can help the local economy, she said.

“This will be a large economic boost for Mercer County,” Disibbio said. “Instead of going through Mercer County, they’ll stop in Mercer County.”

[GRAZOR]

Good to hear cathead. You have to credit WV for some smart planning and forward looking ideas.

People don't give it much thought but you live there and see it first hand every day. Practically every other vehicle driving on the roads has an ATV or three behind it and every town that has a motel or trail head always has ATVers all over the place.

The economic boom for all the businesses is well worth the planning they have done and are continuing to do.

NY has millions of acres of state owned land and if you go through the entire Adirondack or Catskill park areas most times of the year you will see motel after motel and food joint after food joint dead. No ATVs are allowed and snowmobiles are only allowed in a few places. Our elected officials are a bunch of fools who insist upon preserving the wilderness for no one to be able to ever enjoy it. If they did open the area up to riders there would be very few places to eat or stay at because most have either died and closed or there is not enough traffic to make it worth being in business.

There are many places in these mountains that have not seen a man in 50 years simply because the wilderness is so vast and inaccessible without an ATV. Take a look at the north east section of NY state. There is a bunch of places you could walk for 50 -75 miles in one direction and never hit another road. We are saving it!

Gary