We are making our second trip to the awesome trails at Hatfield McCoy in October.
I cannot wait.
Who has been recently? Can anyone update the trail status? Their website says Bearwallow Trails are mostly closed - anybody know why? Blasting? Mudslides?
Has any one ridden the new trails?
...counting the minutes until October 13 3am

 

Glad to see you are returning to the Hatfield~McCoy Trails. I rode Pinnacle Creek Trail about a month ago. The blue trails are easier than the green trails on Browning Fork/ Rockhouse Trail. I enjoyed the scenery on Pinnacle Creek. One really nice place along the river/creek.

Browning Fork Trail has some new single track. The maps were last up dated Sept. 7th.

Enjoy your trip and hope to see ya on the trail.



650Kawgirl
Hatfield~McCoy Trail Rider

 

We're going down the 28th thru the 2nd of Oct. Bear Wallow has a lot of trails closed, they're doing some mountain top removal there (we've heard) We've ridden all the systems they have including the new one. (Pinnacle Creek) It's in the same difficulty level as Waterways. They've done a lot of dozer work on Rockhouse (we rode there last month). We go down pretty frequently, if there is anything more specific you want to know, just ask! We have a site that has a Hatfield McCoy section on it if they let me post it (quadcrew.com) I know what you mean about counting the minutes, we have 8 days to go, and then 4 full days of riding, I can't wait!! There's nothing like it. (Mrs. Q)

 

650 kawgirl - we are staying at the doo drop inn ... I think that is your place, right? I could be wrong, though ...
This is our second trip to Hatfield and I would stay for a month if the work and family could survive without me.
Quadcrew (mrs. Q.) I have been to your site and enjoy the posts. The stories are all I have until I get there and get the experience first hand (for the second time)

We are wondering, what happened to Buffalo Mtn North - is it closed? Permanently? Why? We love that ride - very difficult trail, but great.

Pinnacle creek is the most scenic? Do you mean the best mtn. views? Is there water crossings? How are the trails?

We enjoy the tough trails, and really don't want to ride fire roads unless they lead to a serious challenge. We avoid the easy trails, stay mainly on the blues - rarely on the black trails.

Thanks for all the info, and see ya on the trails.

Gary C
Fort Lauderdale

 

Gary - Buffalo Mtn. north is probably closed permanently. The land owners allow their employees to hunt there, and H/M will not allow ANY hunting on their trails. They cannot come to an agreement, so it is doubtful that the "Millers Creek" section will ever be open as H/M patrolled trails. However, people do still ride over there, the Rangers have no jurisdiction to ticket you for being there. I don't know if the land owners have hired anyone to "guard" the area or not, so if you ride there, it's basically take your chances.

They're supposed to have a new connector into Williamson open soon. It is there, just not open yet. I've heard they're waiting on a guardrail - part of the trail runs along the highway and they don't want to take any chances of someone getting over on the highway and getting hurt. They're saying it'll be open by fall - maybe for the trailfest?? Not sure.

Pinnacle creek doesn't have any challenging stuff for the riders that like a rush. I've ridden every trail there, even the blacks. It is just real nice scenic trails. A lot of them when we were there, were looking like we were the only ones that had ridden them, not used very much. They have one (#23) that cuts back and forth where a creek comes through. The water level was down when we were there, so we didin't have any water crossings to speak of. There is an area where you can see there is a trail that is on the other side of the bank - I guess it leads over to the wagon wheel area, but it's like 15 miles - and we didn't know the way. Also, if you get caught crossing there by the Rangers, it is a ticket. Even though there aren't really any challenges, there is like 100 miles of trails, and they were fun. The Blacks there are just long climbs, #88 had a boulder that had a real tricky spot, but I've heard they fixed that. I'd be a good ride for the last day - take it kinda easy so you're not worn out for the trip home. There were several pretty views.

Bear Wallow has the mountain top removal going on. I'm guessing that will take it out of commission for quite a while. Maybe they have plans to put different trails in...I don't know I haven't heard anything. The trails there are pretty skimpy right now.

Rockhouse was just groomed last month when we were down. They kept a spot that was pretty challenging and made it black - it's now #77. They put in a lot of new single track too. Rockhouse is where we will start out when we go down next week. I'll post a ride report on our site (quadcrew.com) when we get back. The blues are our favorites, I think I have enough riding time in, I might try a couple of blacks this trip. The only reason I will, is because the last few times we've been down, we've ridden some pretty tough stuff on blues and as soon as we've gone home, they've changed them to black!! I figure I might as well give it a try, got to exercise that diff lock sometimes!!

Mrs. Q

 

Gary,

Looks like Mrs. Q answered all your questions better than I could have replied. I have rode the Browning Fork and Pinnacle Creek Trails only. #23 was one of my favorite trails at Pinnacle Creek. I seen the crossing also and wondered if that took you to the Wagon Wheel. I'll be out riding Oct. Fest and try to keep you updated on the trails condition.

Look forward to meeting you in October.

650Kawgirl
H/M Trail Rider

 

650kawigirl - you have a pm!!

 

Mrs. Q



Make sure you keep us informed on your trip! Were planning on leaving from Indiana on Oct. 10th. Let us know how everthing was and what to watch out for. You said they were working on a connector to Williamson. Have you heard how long the connector trail will be? Is this for the Rev. Compon trails? If so I was wandering why, doesn't it already hook up with Matewan? I wish all the different systems had a town at both ends like Rockhouse. Its alot better that way, it's no fun riding in then riding out to gas up and eat. Thanks and have a safe trip! DennisC

 

Dennis - I'm not sure how long the connector will be, I'll find out though. It is for the Rev. Compton/Buffalo Mtn. system. As it is right now, the trailhead is out off of a St. Rt., not really close to any towns. They now have a trailhead in Matewan, but we haven't seen it yet.

They originally were putting a connector down into Delbarton (it is actually there now too, just never offically "opened") That connector was off of the Millers Creek loop, which is now not in the picture. I think the trail authority realizes how riders feel - we like having the towns at either end of the trails for obvious reasons. Since the Delbarton connector fell through, I guess (this is MY opinion) they figured they would go to Williamson and deal with the land owners on that side instead.

I'm thinking it will be quite a few miles long (13 -15 ??) but that again is a guess. It'll be nice having Matewan and Williamson to ride to from that system. It's really too bad for Delbarton, that town really needed the economic input from the trails.

I'll post a ride report on our site when we get back, it'll be around the 3rd of Oct. Plenty of time before you go down!!