Prison Design Contract Welcome News in McDowell

All-terrain vehicle enthusiasts in the region will soon be able to connect to a professionally designed and regulated trail system if all goes as planned this summer for McDowell County .

It seems that crews with the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Trail are ready to begin construction at a day's notice on the next 150 miles of the trail system planned for McDowell County . However, the only stumbling block currently facing the authority is the fact that all of the remaining land license agreements haven't been signed and returned, Mike Pinkerton, marketing director for the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreational Authority, told me last week.

However, Pinkerton is optimistic that the agreements will be finalized soon, adding the authority members are “checking the mail everyday” in hopes of getting all of the signed license agreements returned. As soon as they are in hand, he said the next 150 miles of the trail system can be constructed in 90 days or less in McDowell County . By adding McDowell County , the vast trail network would be expanded to 650 miles. It's currently operational along 500 miles of land in Mingo, Logan , Wyoming , and Boone counties.

The goal of the authority is to have the McDowell County trails segment open by this fall, which is the peak riding period for ATV enthusiasts across the nation. With more than 25,000 AT riders currently using the existing 500 miles of the trail system, this basically means that McDowell County may soon be seeing an influx of thousands of riders, visitors and tourists as early as this fall. I hope county officials are ready for what could be an overwhelming tourism boon for McDowell County .

Pinkerton said a trailhead site in McDowell County is planned for the Ashland community near the borders of Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties, and near the site of a large campground project currently under construction in anticipation of the approaching influx of ATV riders.

Pinkerton remains optimistic about meeting the fall deadline, adding that officials are “actually right on schedule.” Hopefully, the remaining land agreements can be finalized in time to allow officials to begin construction on the trail network soon, as June arrives tomorrow. In order to have the trial open by late September, work will have to begin relatively soon.

There could be more good news on the way for the region courtesy of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreational Authority. Pinkerton said the agency is proposing a $500,000 visitors center in Boone County with plans for a second visitors center in the southern end of the trail system along U.S. Route 52, possibly in either McDowell or Mercer counties.

Pinkerton said that rider ship along the vast trail network continues to grow. When the trail system first opened in 2000, only 5,000 riders utilized it. Last year, an estimated 25,500 riders traversed the off-road trail system. He is predicting the trail system could hit 30,000 riders this year, particularly with the planned addition of McDowell County .

Although not everyone in the region is excited about the growing ATV craze, having a professionally designed and regulated trail system in our backyard definitely can be argued as a positive tourism initiative. It also should help in eliminating some of the so-called “outlaw” ATV riders or those who using the off-road vehicles in areas where they aren't legally allowed to drive – with primary highway U.S. Route 52 as a common and unfortunate example.

If the trail systems can get the ATV riders of Route 52 and other primary and secondary roadways, then it must surely be viewed as a positive. Having an influx of several thousand new visitors into the region, including riders from locations across the East Coast, also promises to be a positive for tourism across the region as a whole, including McDowell and Mercer counties.

Many of those visitors will probably travel to shopping enters and other localities in not only McDowell County , but also Mercer County , while visiting the region. We also can't forget that Mercer County , while visiting the region. We also can't forget that Mercer County is still proposed as part of the trait system in the future.

However, if we are to finally see the long-promised tourism and economic benefits associated with the trail – something officials in Boone, Logan, Mingo, and most recently Wyoming counties have been enjoying for years now – construction will have to begin soon on the next 150 miles in McDowell County .

Let's hope officials can meet the deadline, and bring a welcomed tourism boost to the region as early as this fall. When it comes to off road entertainment, hopefully all trails will soon lead to McDowell County .

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Telegraph)