Finally, after years of hearing about it, and living less than 2 hours from at least one of their Trailheads my entire life, I made it to the famous Hatfield-McCoy Trails in West Virginia. I don’t think there’s a trail system in the nation that gets as much media attention as HMT so I’ll point you to a few links and let the professionals give you the lowdown.
Fisher’s ATV World has been covering HMT since the dawn of time. All of their episodes are available on YouTube but here’s a few to make things easier:
Dirt Trax TV YouTube episodes:
Quick Info
For official info go to Trailsheaven.com and RideHatfieldMcCoy.com
Trailhead Address:
Purchase Permits online at https://trailsheaven.com/get-a-permit/, at the Trailhead store at the address above, or at any of the locations listed on the Permit webpage.
Permits for out of state users are $50 and are good for a full year. A year pass is all that’s available.
PDF trail maps are available at https://trailsheaven.com/plan-your-trip/choose-a-trail/devil-anse/. I printed my map but they have them available at the trailhead, not sure of the cost.
For dirt bike info, the forums on ThumperTalk are constantly updating with new info from riders.
Singetrack trails are designated 100-199 with 150-199 being the most difficult.
There are some options for rentals and B&Bs in the area. Our rental was above the liquor store in town, quite convenient, though I didn’t book it myself.
Pike Co, KY is a moist county, meaning the city of Pikeville is your only bet for beer or liquor if traveling from that direction. There is a liquor store in Matewan for when you run out or need that late evenin’ bottle of Farrball. I drove down through the Huntington/Kenova WV area and I’m not sure there were any beer stops along the route, so I wouldn’t chance waiting.
Four wheels
Home base was in Matewan so that we could explore the Devil-Anse and Buffalo Mountain trail systems. Our accommodations were an apartment above the only liquor store in the area, convenient for the post-ride entertainment.
I had the chance to ride the first day as a copilot in my brother's new Can-Am Maverick X3, which was a welcome change. We started the morning with about a 3 hour ride that consisted mostly of Trails 18, 26, 23, and 21 (I think, I was just along for the ride so I didn't really pay attention). It piss-poured the rain all night and some of that morning so the trails were very wet but still easily manageable on four wheels. All of the trails that our group rode were green and blue but me and my brother decided to give a black trail, 98, a shot. We decided to take the trail from east to west, only because we passed by it at first and then couldn't get turned around to do it the other way. This turned out to be a blessing because coming back down the other side was a pretty gnarly rock ledge that would have been really hairy in the wet conditions, had we been attempting to go up it.
All in all, my first impression of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails was really good. I could complain about the crowds or how they make you by a year's pass that expires that calendar year even if you bought it in December, but the reality is this trail system has opened a lot of doors and eyes to the benefits of OHV trails development. Ideas that we've been promising to emulate here in the Bluegrass for years but still haven't really done.
It's no secret that there are a lot of outlaw trails around Hatfield-McCoy, a lot of them on the Kentucky side of the river. The term 'outlaw' might be a bit exaggerated in some instances, considering there are guide services that openly advertise guided rides on such trails. Having said that, it's still best to stay off them if you're not with a local that knows what lines can and can't be crossed - a "don't screw this up for everybody else" thing. The folks we were with found a guide on a Rzr forum that took us for an all-evening guided trip on some of the Kentucky trails. Do you know why they say West Virginia is "Almost Heaven"? Because it's right next to Kentucky. But seriously, I was very impressed with the trails we rode in Pike County. Oddly enough, I don't know for certain that I've ever ridden in Pike County, even if my backyard trails border the county line. I recommend them to anyone that wants a different feel for trails in Coal Country.
I also highly recommend our state and local governments in Kentucky get to work and develop more of our region because West Virginia is proof positive that developing offroad trails works. Let's do a real quick and dirty guesstimate on how much our group alone contributed to West Virginia's tourism economy this one weekend.
Seven (seven!) of the folks in our group were from Iowa/northwest Illinois. Another seven of us were from Kentucky.
[$700] - $50 per person for a pass and fourteen of us altogether - all from out of state paying the full price pass.
[$600+] - three nights in our rental
[$800+] - two couples had a room each for four nights at a Bed and Breakfast, I don't know how much those rooms were but safe to guess $100/night
Food, groceries, and beer for fourteen people plus gas
Almost everyone bought more than one t-shirt and other apparel from the trailhead
The money adds up fast. The next day that I was out on my dirt bike I met a group of 6 from Illinois and a group of 3 from Ohio. All of them had ridden the day before. None of them were camping so at least a few accommodations between those guys, being from so far away I would assume some of them probably stayed two nights. I made mention earlier that the trails were crowded, and they were. So, tally up all of those expenses above for every group that was at that one trailhead that weekend and tell me OHV trail development isn't a good idea.
If you build it they will come, I guess.
Two Wheels
I wasn't going to buy a pass for Hatfield-McCoy and not fit it some singletrack while I was there. None of the crew I was with ride dirt bikes and most of them were heading home Sunday morning anyway, so I was off to explore the Devil Anse singletrack by my lonesome (as usual). More overnight rain ensured I would have a tricky ride. Once I got off the main OHV trails, the singletrack was slimy and leaf covered but rideable.
I started my ride on Trail 150 but ended up turning around at the climb out at the very end, I'd later come back down this trail. 177 was not difficult but on the rocky side. 147 was uneventful but good. 149 was probably the best trail I rode, although I again had to turn around at a hillclimb that a large group was hung up on. I also ended up tagging along and riding down this trail with a group and realized there's no way I would have made that climb up. Trail 181 had probably the best overlook I came across and it wasn't even the overlook designated on the map on a trail just above. I rounded out the trip following some guys through 195 and 191 then down 150. 191 had a pretty good rutted climb that I had to have help getting up but the rest of 195 and 191 were fun singletrack.
I kept the ride short because of the conditions and being totally unfamiliar with the trails but it still turned out to be right at 29 miles and 3.5 hours. I'll definitely make my way back another time, hopefully when it's less sloppy.