Just read an article in the Lex. Herald Leader, about 10,000 acres in E. Kentucky being developed for ATV trails.

One of the primary reasons for doing this was to bring economic development to the area. Apparently, they saw what Hatfield-McCoy was bringing in, and prevailed on the owner of the land. He isn't really charging for the use of the land, but figures he'll make good money on cabin rentals and retail sales.

So you see - ATV trails can be economically viable. If your state won't listen to reason, just move down here. We want your business.

 

I think I saw the same thing, but in the Cincinnati Post:

Cincy Post Article

I've been through that area a few times, it should be awesome riding. It makes me happy that Kentucky is embracing this whole ATV thing. Hopefully, some more states will take notice as well.

 

18,000 acres has just been acquired in Bell County to ride, also!

 

That's awesome Andy. Any chance of the Bell Co. trails hooking up the Black Mountain trails?

10k acres here, 18k acres there, if we have enough of these type of things, this Skyward thing may happen in spite of itself.

 

Yes, you can ride from Black Mountain to the newly acquired trails in Bell County. I believe the guides from the Harlan County Ridge Runners are guiding riders there, and there is also a newly formed ATV club in Bell County, called the Holler Crawlers, who may also be giving guided rides on the land. But from what I can tell, it may not be mapped and marked yet, so you can only access it through a guide, but don't quote me on that.

 

I was just looking through the forums and saw this one on more land opening up in Kentucky. I live in N.J. and have a trip planned for the first week in March to come down and ride. This is our second year for this trip and we absolutely love it. I came down last year with 5 guys and we hooked up with the Ridge Runners for the St Pattys run. what a blast. We rent a house in Everts which is right at the bottom of the main trail to Black Mtn. That is awesome that they are opening more trails. We now have 10 guys this year coming down and look foward to many more trips to Kentucky.

 

From what I have heard, New Jersey is not the most ATV-friendly state out there. In fact, I have heard that there is almost no place to legally ride (hopefully that is an exaggeration).

I am really happy that Kentucky has recognized the potential of "adventure tourism". The outgoing governor was a big advocate. Hopefully the new governor will be too.

Black Mountain is my favorite place to ride. We generally go at least twice a year, but we're only about 4 hours away. We too stay in a rental house in Evarts. If you run into PoWhiteBoy, tell him we said hey.

 

there isn't many places to ride legally in NJ. We try and get the officals involved on getting more land but the enviormentalists and anti atv protester's step in and talk them out of even listening to us. It is a shame that a few non respecting riders ruin it for all of us by trashing the trails. That is why us law-abiding riders go to other states like kentucky where you can ride down the road without even be pulled over and having your quad impounded. We are very thankful that there are other states near by ( even though its a 12 hr drive to kentucky) to ride. We are hoping to hook up with the ridge runners again, and I will let PoWhiteBoy you said hey.