Last year, wife and I decided to get back into riding and get more serious about it than ever before as a hobby. We bought two new ATVs, a 2014 Honda Rubicon and a 2014 Honda Rancher. Of course, wifey commandeered the Rubicon BUT that's fine cause I want her to enjoy herself and she did not like the electric shift on the Rancher.

Anywho, we live near Hazard, KY. That puts us pretty much equidistant from Windrock, Brimstone, Royal Blue and Hatfield McCoy. Plus we are really close to Black Mountain Off Road Park in Harlan, KY. Sadly/Shockingly, we've never visited ANY of these parks. Ever. We have always had a ton of places to ride around our home and never saw the need. Sadly, these local areas are not only becoming more familiar to us as time goes on (i.e. boring), fewer people are riding and for many reasons most of the old trails are simply getting shut down and are going away.

So, we want to "branch out", if you will. Which of the trail systems I mentioned above would you choose as your first trail? Wife and I have ridden for years but we are older now (early 40s) and are not as inclined to tackle the really "technical" stuff" as we used to be. Wife still gets a little nervous and I don't want to scare her. Both ATVs are new and only have about 200 miles on them. They are still on factory tires (still trying to recover from the purchase sufficiently to buy new tires). Neither of them has a winch. I'm exploring GPS options.

Plus, with our work schedules, at least the first couple of times our visits will be "day trips" in that we will probably leave early that morning, ride as much as we can that day and drive home. Seems like the Hatfield McCoy trails are so vast that a day trip would be useless. No?

I appreciate any input you folks can give! Have a great day!!!

 

I'd go to the closest place first. The shorter drive will give you more time to ride on a day trip. And you won't feel so worn out once you get there. So you'll enjoy it more. I see you're only about an hour from Harlan KY. Perhaps if you really like that park, you might consider getting a membership there as well if they offer them. Then you can go there whenever you want and you only have to pay once a year. Some parks are only open on certain days for non-members but members usually can have access 7 days a week.

 

Another thing to do is check out their websites. Just search the name for each place and see what kind of trails are available. Without a winch I wouldn't go too deep in mud. But hard pack, rocks, and sand should be okay. Even mud is doable depending on how good the original tires are. I'd also try the closest place and see what it has to offer.