Hello everyone. My wife and I are new to the atv world and we are planning a trip to the one of the towns in WV to ride the trails of Hatfield and McCoys. Any recommendations on were to stay, trails to ride, equipment to carry, etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

I just went there last weekend, for the first time. It was great. Lots of trails. And lots of rocks. We stayed outside of Gilbert and rode the browningfork trails. We only stayed one day, so we didn't ride all the trails.But, I will be going back soon. There are trails from easy to very difficult. Just make sure you bring tire plugs and GAS. We had two quads run out.

 

If you are new to ATVs and not too comfortable controlling your machines yet, I’d recommend starting with the Waterways (Little Coal River) trail head because the trails in general on this system are a little less rocky and easier on average than what you find at the other trail heads. The closest town to this trail head is Danville. However there are no towns or gas stations that are directly accessible from this loop so you will have to pack in your own gas (carry some with you if your route planning has you out longer than what your tank capacity may allow).

If you feel comfortable with your ATVs then I believe the Rockhouse (or Browning Fork) trail head offers the most variety of trail conditions and adventures in general, plus this I feel is the most centrally located system to the 4 trail heads currently open to riding. I personally prefer staying in / around the town of Man, then ride directly to the trail head on the quads and plan my rides so I’ll drop down into Gilbert (at the other end of the trail system) for lunch and gas. With the refueling stop available at the ½ way point (Gilbert) we found there was no need to carry gas on this trail system. Even my thirsty V-Force had no trouble making it to the Gilbert refueling stop and then back to the trail head in Man. If you send me a private message with your email address then I’ll send you some lodging recommendations (from what I’ve experienced so far) and places to eat. I can’t name them here because it would be a violation of forum rules.

What we generally do when planning a Hatfield McCoy ride is plan on at least three full riding days (starting at a different trail head each day). If I were to rank the trail systems in order of OUR preference (that suites the riding style of our group) I’d list them as follows: 1st (favorite): Rockhouse / Browning Fork, 2nd: Bear Wallow / Dingess Rum, a close 3rd: Rev. Compton / Buffalo Mtn and 4th: Waterways / Little Coal River.

I’d recommend having gas cans at the trail heads (on your hauling vehicle) for Bear Wallow (if you want to do some trails, return to trail head & refuel, then go out on other trails), Rev. Compton (if you want to do the north / Millers Creek loop after coming back from the Matewan run for food & fuel or vice versa) and Waterways (you may want to pack gas on this one). The only time where gas is not of concern to us is at Rockhouse, since we ride from our lodging to the gas station (if not already filled up) then to the trail head. Then plan our ride so we can make it to Gilbert to refuel, then plan our route (over different trails) back to Man. Note however if you get lost, you may wish you had packed gas with you!

As far as what to bring on these long rides, I’d recommend (for starters) maps of the trail systems where you will be riding (available on their web site or trail head), multiple layers of clothing to add / shed as needed, rain gear to add / shed as needed, two pairs of gloves and boots (where you can leave a dry pair at your vehicle or place of stay so you can switch to the dry pair on the next day’s ride if necessary), a tire patch kit with plenty of patches (even if your tires are slimed), a portable 12V air compressor, snacks, drink, tow strap, someone with a winch, a ****** block for use with the winch if necessary and a short length of chain to wrap around a tree for use with the ****** block. If you ride conservatively you might get away without having a winch / ****** block (if you get into a situation where you need one, chances are someone will be along eventually that has one), a pair of shoes and clothes to change into after a days ride (will keep your tow vehicle cleaner inside, that is if you didn’t ride your ATVs to the trail head).

See their web site for more information. Note at the present time the Rev Compton / Buffalo Mtn trail head is closed due to natural gas operations by the property owner, but it is expected to reopen soon. Also a 5th trail system is supposed to open sometime in the near future. Oh, and be sure to plan for your trip by making lodging reservations well ahead of time as the prime places tend to book up well in advance…

 

Me, the wife, and a bunch of freinds are planning on going to either HM or Wayne National Forest. What type of riding is your style? We like very fast, winding and hilly trails, and love steep hill climbs... is there any of that at either place? We like to ride the difficult rocky trails too, but prefer to be hauling a$$ most of the time instead! We were thinking of going the 3rd weekend in june, anyone going to be there around that time?

 

Our group generally prefers trail riding at a “spirited” pace. Although our actual pace is dependent upon the group we are riding with. As a rule our core group of 3 riders, (including myself) tend to travel at an above average pace and we regularly overtake other riders along the trail. We also tend to travel at our own individual pace within our group and line up with the fastest rider in front to slowest in the rear. We do not pass each other within our group for safety reasons and when we overtake a slower group we will tag close behind them until they move over to let us pass (we don’t try to force the issue). Another rule that we follow religiously is the lead rider will not pass a trail junction until the following rider catches up so there is absolutely no question as to which direction was taken. This is also the case with hazards in case immediate assistance is needed. My core group consists of a Rubicon and a Prairie 650 and I’ll be either on the Grizzly or the V-Force as the lead rider (I prefer the V-Force on the faster, less rocky trails). Each rider will also indicate to oncoming riders how many group members are following (using hand signals).

We like a variety of trail conditions but tend to prefer the faster, smoother (less rocky), twisty, rollercoaster-like (steep ups and downs), with erosion diversion ditches (jumps!), power slide-able turns with varying trail widths from handlebar-wide between the trees to wide open fire road types. These are also trails where I prefer riding the V-Force. For a change of pace we also like to tackle some of the rocky and rough sections too (but when planning to include trails like that I’ll use the Grizzly instead). Most of us (especially me) like extreme (to a point) hill climbing too, the kind where the average riders tend to just sit and watch. Our trail speeds probably average in the 20s in the tighter stuff to the 40s and even sometimes the 50s in the more open sections. Again this depends on who we are riding with as we won’t push less experienced or slower riders beyond their comfort zone (we want everyone to have fun).

Hatfield McCoy has this kind of riding in abundance but you have to remember all of the trails handle two-way traffic so you must keep that in mind and adjust your speed and control accordingly with the assumption that someone could be coming around the corner at any time. But then again that allows for even more decelerating and accelerating (which of course is a lot of fun with a powerful machine)!

I’ve been to Tower City, the TCTRI riding area (I won’t do “Mt. Everest” after it was refurbished, that is, made higher and steeper) but I like the riding at Hatfield McCoy better, and they have some challenging hills of their own…

 

If you were to rate HM, comparing it to Tower on a 1-11 (6 being just as good, 11 way better) what would you put it at? Sounds like your speed and prefference of trails is about the same as ours. Except we dont tend to stick together as tight, we will spread out just far enough to make sure that everyone knows which direction was taken, and the lead will stop from time to time to take acount of everyone. Not the way I like it, but thats just the way it is. Me and the wife would ride however everyone else was if say we were to meet up with you all at HM sometime. I did Mt Everest, I think it was in June sometime... a bunch of times. Then I came back the next month and havent tried it since. That lip they put on it at the top gives it such a huge drop then from the speed you need to get up it!!! Ive dislocated my right arm at the shoulder at Tower.... never want to go through that again, that was in Sept 03.... Thank god it healed up perfect and has not come out since then, we put it back in right there on the spot, twice, it came back out minutes after the first attempt. No damge to the bike at all, I broke its tumble back down the hill. We rode very lightly after it that day. ANYWAY, check out the pics I have, they are from Tower. I am back into jumping now, but still leary of the hills... working my way back up them though.

 

I guess I’d have to give Hatfield McCoy at least a 9 when comparing it to Tower City. I’ve only been up there once (taking advantage of the introductory ride where you only pay the guest fee before footing out the cost of a yearly membership).

If you factor in the cost compared to what you get, then it’s an 11 since as an out of state (non WV) resident you can get an annual permit for $75. There are also 400 plus miles of trails with another 120 or so about to open up (via 4, soon to be 5 trail heads that are not currently connected together). Given the travel time though (about 7 hours versus about 2 ½ for TC) I’ll drop it to a 9. Because of the travel time involved going to H/M is a major effort that involves vacation time since we allocate 2 days just for traveling to and from the place (with at least 3 days for riding), where as TC is a day trip.

However if you go to H/M Rockhouse and take on 14 to 28 to 18 to 21 to 10 to 13 to 31 to 12 to 10, a pit stop in Gilbert, 35 to 20 to 10 to 34 (I think) to 16 to 15 to 10 to 14. There are of course other trails along this route but these are the real thrillers, especially when combined with a little speed and is a great run on a sport quad (also fun on a utility). The only trail I don’t recall what it was like (if suited to sport quads) is # 34.

Then if you like to play on the coal piles like at TC, there is a small sampling to be found via the back end of the Bear Wallow trails, although TC has a better selection in this department.

Now I’ve been on other PA trails (with a group that rides there regularly) that I’d rate above the TC trails that are north east of the TC area, but the legality of the riding may be in question (I’m not sure) and the people I rode with weren’t real keen on advertising it (hence I won’t say exactly where they were), but I would ride with that group again. However no such problem at H/M, the trails are mapped, well marked, rated for difficulty and in most cases maintained (not sure about some of the black rated trails, that is, beyond clearing fallen trees).

I’m making my next trip to H/M later this month, but this time I'm meeting a group of less experienced riders down there to introduce them to prime time trail riding, so I’m assuming this will be a more leisurely ride (perhaps I’ll get a chance to take a lot more pictures this time!). I haven’t planned any rides down there beyond that one, but it will most likely be sometime in June at the latest…

 

I'll be checking out their events this year. Went to some last year, huge fan.

 

They are 8 of us going May 7,8,9. I can not wait to go.

 

Nice to see someone on this fourm close to home. I live in hagerstown md.