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Almost 80 Percent Of Hatfield-McCoy Trails Now
Open To UTVs
Lyburn, WV - (3/20/2009) -Hatfield-McCoy
Trails has opened an additional 175 miles of trails
to Utility Type Vehicles, a growing segment of the
off-road enthusiast market.
“By opening all of our blue, or more difficult,
trails to UTVs, we now have almost 80 percent of
our 500 miles of trails available for side-by-sides,”
said John Fekete, HMT deputy executive director.
“And more are coming.” HMT’s green,
or easiest, trails have always been open for UTVs.
Also, it won’t be long, Fekete said, until
the entire Little Coal River System, except trails
reserved for motorcycles, will be open to UTVs,
including the black, or most difficult, trails on
the system. Little Coal River is located about 20
miles south of Charleston, WV on US119.
UTVs are becoming more popular for off-roading,
and “I really believe that these are going
to take over the market,” Fekete said. “They
are very user-friendly. They have a steering wheel,
a roll cage and are more comfortable. Also, obviously,
two people can ride.”
UTV use has been limited until now because of concerns
over how the machines would fare on the narrower
trails, steeper grades and sharper turns of the
blue trails. “After several months of watching
how the riders were handling the trails, we decided
to open the more difficult trails,” Fekete
said. Also, he noted, HMT staff has been using UTVs
for about five years without incident. “We’ve
field-tested them.”
Another limitation has been the lack of federal
rules governing UTVs. However HMT has created its
own list of regulations, mirroring those for ATVs
and anticipating what eventual federal rules may
cover, such as required labels, rider limitations
and safety requirements.“We feel we are leading
the way for the rules and regulations for the UTV/side-by-side
machines,” Fekete said.
The new HMT regulations are available online at
www.trailsheaven.com.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trial System was created by the
West Virginia Legislature to generate economic development
through tourism in nine southern West Virginia counties.
It currently operates six systems with more than
500 miles of trails. Each system is open 365 days
a year to ATVs, dirt bikes, select utility vehicles
(UTVs), mountain bikes, horses, and hikers. Many
of the trail systems also offer community connecting
trails that allow visitors to access “ATV-friendly
towns” to experience the charm of southern
West Virginia.
www.trailsheaven.com
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