Trail Still Trailing in Mercer

When it comes to the long-awaited development of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail, progress is being reported on two fronts in southern West Virginia .

A $97,930 transportation grand award will allow for the development of a trailhead site somewhere between Bluefield and Princeton in Mercer County , and construction should begin in early October on the initial segment of the trail system in McDowell County , Hatfield-McCoy Director Jeff Lusk said Tuesday.

However the state transportation grant award won't expedite work on the off-road trail system in Mercer County , which is still expected to be the last of the nine project counties to be developed. Lusk said the grant funding award will however complete the funding puzzle for Mercer.

“We want to get Mercer County done,” Lusk said. “We are going to work toward that end. I hope eventually our authority will revisit the fact that they (Mercer) are last in line to be developed.”

Lusk said an exact trailhead site for Mercer County hasn't been selected at this time.

“It is our expectation that we are going to try to build the trails as close as we can to the two major municipalities in Mercer County – Princeton and Bluefield ,” Lusk said. “That (the transportation grant) was the final piece of funding needed to complete the trail system for Mercer County .”

Although negotiations are still ongoing with two landowners in McDowell County , Lusk said officials will go ahead and begin trail construction next month along property already secured through land agreements.

“We will just start with what we have,” Lusk said. “So we are probably looking at the first of October to have the federal folks in there.”

With 400 miles of the trail system already open in Logan, Boone, Mingo, and Wyoming counties, officials are hoping to develop another 100 miles of the trail in McDowell County. The professionally designed and regulated trail system is already attracting close to 25,000 all-terrain vehicle riders annually to the region. Those visitors in return spend money at local restaurants, convenience stores and shopping centers, and usually stay in the area for several days, this benefiting local hotels, motels, and campground sites.

Lusk said that securing the additional two land agreements in McDowell County is necessary in order to connect with Mercer County .

In the meantime officials with the U.S. Forest Service will help to oversee the construction of the trail system in McDowell County .

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Telegraph)