Princeton – The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System set a record in 2021, almost doubling the number of permits sold for the ATV trails that wind hundreds of miles through southern West Virginia.
gov. Jim Justice said almost 95,000 permits were sold last year, a 46 percent increase over the previous year, 2020, and 68 percent more than 2019.
Not only that, the system saw its 21st consecutive year of growth.
Justice released statements on the surge in permits and also said during his pandemic briefing Monday the growth is attributable to investments the state has made in tourism, pumping millions of dollars into state tourism efforts.
“Southern West Virginia especially is reaping the benefits of our investments,” he said. “During the summer, this part of our state is absolutely full of Hatfield-McCoy riders. They’re buying gas, staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, and contributing to our economy in a major way. However, we also know that these riders are also doing something more significant: They’re falling in love with West Virginia.”
Many of them end up moving here, he added.
“Thanks to Gov. Justice’s passion for southern West Virginia and the new and returning riders on the trails, we are incredibly optimistic about what’s to come,” Jeffrey Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority, said. “Each year, we are just in awe of the trail system’s growing popularity and the way this area continues to expand with it. This popularity is without a doubt a direct result of the investments made by the Justice administration in tourism and by changing the image of West Virginia to the rest of the nation and the world.”
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System welcomed more than 29,500 new riders to the trail system in 2021, and those numbers were reflected locally.
Pat Brabbs, owner of Busted ATV Resort in Bramwell, said “a lot of people” visited last year.
“I don’t know the number, but a lot of people came in,” he said, adding that it has been “growing every year.”
“Last year, we were busy,” he said. “Everybody was busy. It seems to be working… and it helps the economy, keeping people working.”
So far, this year looks great as well, he added. “Things are on track to have another successful year.”
Rick Bailey, owner of WV ATV Rentals in Rock, said more people keep coming every year.
The numbers have been growing every year, he said, but “last year was crazy.”
Bailey said the growth on the trail system last year was “amazing.”
Most of the riders are not from West Virginia.
More than 80 percent of total sales were to non-West Virginia residents, Justice said, with both resident and non-resident ridership growing for the year.
“That’s why I am totally committed to furthering this incredible prosperity in southern West Virginia, and why finishing projects like the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway are two of my top priorities,” he said, adding that the southern part of the state has had a difficult struggle after providing a source of energy for “centuries” and then trying to recover from the decline of the coal industry.
“Because of this sacrifice, I wholeheartedly believe that this region deserves all the goodness we can send their way,” he said. “I owe my whole life to the southern part of West Virginia.”
Justice said the King Coal Highway and Coalfields Expressway will “absolutely build and bring the southern part of the state back into the flow of everybody else.”
Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Tourism Chelsea Ruby said in the related announcement about Hatfield-McCoy that what has happened in tourism since Justice took over as governor is a “defining moment” in the state’s history “when the outside world finally realized that West Virginia truly is ‘Almost Heaven’ and when people within our borders had reinvigorated their sense of pride in their home state.”
“West Virginia’s historic growth in tourism isn’t limited to the Hatfield-McCoy Trail,” Ruby said. “Last year, whitewater rafting trips were up 26 percent and skier lift ticket sales were up 37 percent. 2021 also marked the highest hunting and fishing license sales in more than 20 years. Today, there are more than 200 cabin or RV sites under construction or in design in the southern coalfields as a direct result of this newfound popularity. Under the Governor’s leadership, the world is taking notice of the unbelievable outdoor recreation found among the West Virginia hills.”
According to a statement from Justice’s office, prior to his taking office, the state had seen four consecutive years of decline in traveler spending. Upon taking office, Justice immediately appointed Ruby as Tourism Commissioner.
The state’s tourism marketing budget was then tripled and the research-based “Almost Heaven” campaign was launched in early 2018. Since then, the state has seen “incredible gains across the board.”
In the three years following the campaign’s launch, annual traveler spending in the state grew by more than $611 million, reversing the historic decline seen in the previous four years, the statement said.
“I’ve been saying since my first day in office that we have to tell our state’s story. We’re doing just that and it’s working,” Justice said. “West Virginia is a world-class, four-season travel destination, and thanks to our investments in tourism, we are seeing the benefits firsthand.”
In March 2021, the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System added two more trail systems and two more counties to its already successful trail network: the Ivy Branch and Cabwaylingo trail systems in Lincoln and Wayne counties. These new systems have pushed the trails to more than 1,000 miles of off-road adventure riding for ATVs, UTVs, ORVs, and off-road motorcycles.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System is one of the largest off-road vehicle trail systems in the world. Open 365 days a year, the trail system is a four-season travel and tourism destination that connects ATV-friendly towns across the southern coalfields.
— Contact Charles Boothe at [email protected]
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