Hello, I am planning on traveling to the Poker Run Schedualed for the 16-18th of May this year. I have never been to Hatfield but I have read a number of good things. Any advice about my trip? Should I do the poker run or just travel there to ride? Where is the best place to stay? We would like to stay somewhere where we can do most of our traveling by ATV (trails, food, gas, etc..). There will be 3 or 4 of us traveling. We are all experienced riders. We are traveling 9 hours from Rochester, NY, so I would like to end up at the best place we can in the area (for riding and lodging). Thanks so much!

 

check out the hatfield web site, there are some places there that are listed as close by for trail heads. I was there last year about this time and stayed at a christian camp site that was only 2 mi from trail head and you could ride right to it. sorry i dont remember the name of the camp site but dont let the fact that it was a christian place fool you. they were very nice people, not pushy with religion. you could drink and party there just as long as you kept it to a dull roar, if your into that kind of thing. there was a nice stream/river(depending what you consider it , size wise) running along the whole campground. nice to fall asleep to. and very quiet at night.

 

Sargango - we've been to H/M several times. They always delete whenever I posted specific places of where to stay, so if you're interested, pm me and I will give you some phone numbers. We don't do poker runs, but riding at H/M is DEFINATELY worth the drive. The place where the poker run is (Waterways) is the easiest system they have. If you want some more challenging stuff go on down to Bear Wallow or Rockhouse (about 1 hr. south) or to Buffalo Mtn. (about 1 1/2 hr.away). They are all a blast to ride. The web site has a lot of information - you can ride in the towns of Man, Gilbert, Matewan and I believe Delbarton now. They all have places to get fuel and food - and are very ATV friendly people. Have fun!!!

 

PM sent with email. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Thanks for the replies, I booked a place in Man around a mile from the Rockhouse Trailhead. I am looking forward to the trip as I have heard so many great things about riding in the area. Any more advice on where to go and what to do is greatly apreciated. What about night riding? Are there any places to ride after dark? Thanks

 

Sargango - You can't ride on the H/M trails after dark, but there are lots of local trails that you CAN. Hire a guide and they will take you out - I think they're challenging enough in daylight!! If you want the name and # of a great guide, pm me and I'll get it to you. (they won't let me post it- it'll get deleted) There's a little restaurant on the way to the trail head it's on the left on the road that runs beside the high school. It is actually part of the pool. You can eat there cheap. Good BIG breakfast for $3.50. We don't do much night life stuff, after riding all day we usually call it a night pretty early. The ride from Man to Gilbert and back to Man is a nice ride, takes about 7 hours for us and we ride a slow pace usually. You can ride over to Gilbert, stop for gas and lunch then head back. They may have the connector done by the time you get there, when they do you'll be able to ride Man to Gilbert to Matewan all on system trails. There is a way to do it now if you have a guide to show you, but it is a difficult trail. If you're staying at Tina's place she has a map that can get you from Man over to the Bear Wallow system too. We really like Rockhouse. Buffalo Mtn. is a little harder, but you have to trailer over to Matewan (unless the connector is done[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] ) anyways - have fun - we'll be going again sometime in June.

 

Is there a noise limit on quads?I have a full alba pipe with a supertrap spark arrester on my raptor and it is a little loud.

 

None that I am aware of. You may want to check out their website to check for sure. They might delete it but the site is www.trailsheaven.com Good luck!

 

Does any one know if you your atv has to be registered and insured to ride on the trail system?

 

We were there last august and no one said anything about having them registered. We did get ours insured though, we were worried about the quads sitting outside unattended at night. After reading posts on here it seems like there are a awful lot of quads that get totalled out there. I can see how, one foot off the trail and you got about a mile drop straight down. Were going again in June-can't wait. It's a awesome place. No complaints at all from me. Have a safe trip!