The long wait for the opening of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails in Mercer County is almost over. The mapping phase of the project is now finished, but it may be mid to late September before the layout or trail marking phase of the project can be completed, according to Hatfield-McCoy Trails Executive Director Jeff Lusk. The trail marking will be completed through the Rahall Transportation Institute at West Virginia University.
In the meantime, crews with the Hatfield-McCoy Trails also are working to finish three additional trail projects in southern West Virginia, including separate trails near the city of War in McDowell County and the town of Oceana in Wyoming County, as well as the new Indian Ridge-Pinnacle Creek connector project that will link McDowell, Wyoming and Mercer counties together.
Lusk said the authority has big plans for Mercer County, including connecting trails around the Matoaka, Montcalm and Bramwell communities. A trailhead site is planned just outside of the town limits of Bramwell on U.S. Route 52.
While officials are still hoping to have the new Mercer County trail system open this fall, there is still some work to complete. “It’s a fairly straight forward process,” Lusk said last week. “Most of the trails are already existing, but we must map those out. We have to put up signage and build connector roads to open the trailhead. After the mapping comes the layout and then the opening and structural aspects of the project.”
When the trails are finally opened, they will be accessible via ATVs, dirt bikes, horseback, hiking and mountain biking.
The soon-to-be-opened Mercer County system will be the southern-most gateway system for Hatfield-McCoy Trails. And visitors coming off of Interstate 77 and 81 will be traveling through Mercer County first to reach the trail system. As a result, a new Hatfield-McCoy Visitors Center also will be constructed somewhere in Mercer County in either 2011 or 2012, according to Lusk.
We welcome the ongoing efforts to link Mercer County to the more than 500 miles of existing Hatfield-McCoy Trails. The trail system — already a tremendous success story for southern West Virginia — stands to grow even more with the addition of Mercer County and its close proximity to interstates 77 and 81.
These out-of-town visitors who will travel to the trail system from I-77 and I-81 will also be bringing new tourism dollars into our region, helping to support local stores, convenience stations, hotels and motels, bed and breakfast establishments, state parks, ATV shops, malls and department stores. This influx of new visitors will be a win-win for the entire region.
We eagerly anticipate the long-awaited opening of the Mercer County leg of the Hatfield-McCoy trail system.
Editorials
August 11, 2010
ATV economy — Trail expansion good news for Mercer
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