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Hatfield McCoy; Buffalo Mountain (Sweet Single Track)

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LittleRedToyota

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Down in southern West Virginia, they've developed a system of trails on coal company land called the "Hatfield McCoy Trails". The idea is to bring ATV/UTV/dirt bike tourist dollars to the area. It has been a big success for them financially.

You pay $50 for a trail permit that is good for one calendar year, and they've made it legal to ride unplated bikes/ATVs on the roads so you can do into the towns for food and gas and lodging. The locals love us and are all very friendly and welcoming (after all, we are bringing in a lot of money to some pretty depressed areas). The mountains down there are big and steep and make for some awesome, world-class dirt bike terrain. (You don't get as much of the stunning views you get out west because everything is covered in trees and other vegetation, but, from a riding standpoint, the trails are really sweet.)

The overall Hatfield McCoy system is broken up into a bunch of smaller trail systems. Most of them are more geared toward quads and UTVs, but the Buffalo Mountain system has a bunch of really, really good single track. Some really technical stuff as well as some nice flowing stuff. (And also some nice quad trails.)

Some of the trails are pretty challenging even in good conditions. This time (I've been there 5 or 6 times now), it had rained for a week straight before we went and kept raining pretty much the entire time we were there. It made the rocks really slippery and the vegetation really lush. It made the harder trails even much more challenging than they usually are. That combined with being with a really cool group of guys made for maybe the most fun riding weekend I've ever had.

If you are anywhere near southern West Virginia and have never been there, you owe it to yourself to go. If you like single track, go to Buffalo Mountain. The other systems don't have much of it, but BM has some really great ST and not too many quads/UTVs. (If you are into quad trails, Buffalo Mountain also has a bunch of that...as does the Rockhouse system and a few of the other systems.) The area also has a lot of really nice, freshly paved twisty mountain roads, so take your supermoto or whatever if you want to ride some of that, too.

(The website for the system is trailsheaven.com. I'm not affiliated with them or anything and do not mean to sound like an advertisement, but it's a pretty cool thing they have going on down there, and the more people who support it, the better. And you'll have a blast.)

Anyway, on to the video...

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Grand Master

The Inquisitor

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It's awesome to hear that towns can re-invent them self and i have seen some other videos if not from this exact area close by.

 

I watched a bit of the begging and cool you can ride from your motel down the roads to the trails. Looked pretty sloppy and technical and I mean the trails could be a lot of what I ride in British Columbia ?

 

It's a bit hard to watch with all the rain and a bit long but it's our Thanks Giving Weekend and its MONSOON raining so no riding so I'll give more of a watch later.

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LittleRedToyota

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yeah, the rain does make for some bad video.

 

and an hour is a long video. but i mostly use them to document and remember the ride for myself and others who were on it, so i like to include a lot. and it is two days of riding distilled into one video.

 

the best parts are in the middle...starting around the 28 or 29 minute mark. that's the meat of trail 199, which is the most technical trail in the entire hatfield mccoy system.

 

thanks for watching.

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LittleRedToyota

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I don't have a title for my bike can I still ride up there? What all do I need to comply and ride for a weekend?

 

yep. no title or anything like that needed.

 

all you have to do is buy a trail pass ($50; good from january to december). you can get them via mail from the website (trailsheaven.com) or at most convenience stores near the trails. also, most of the lodging places near there seem to sell them. some of the trail heads also have staffed places that sell them, i think, but i've never seen one that was actually open myself.

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hadfield4wd

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Thanks this is helpful I was always wanting to go but without a title I was afraid to make the trip..so 50 dollar trail pass and I'm ready to ride.

Saw your questions and thought "bet he's from PA". Pa is ridiculous. It's not an issue at hmt at all and no required. Been riding there 5 years and I've only been stopped 2 times to check for a pass.

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Sir falls alot

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Yup from PA and it's getting harder and harder to ride...I'm setting up a trip this Spring..I have been on the website before and I'm sure there is RV parking up there too..prob bring the RV and stay for a week/weekend...look forward to some great "no hassle" riding with some good people...thanks for the info..Please feel free to post any other useful details. ....Damen

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hadfield4wd

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Make sure everything is locked up at night. Most people are awesome there. I usually stay in Bramwell but that's close for us. And my wife likes the more open quad trails. I like to buy my food local to help out as well. Not near buffalo. Stay at a nice well cared for campground. Most are some are party places just know which you want to be at and stay there. Bring your own gas.

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