'They are just showing up in mass:' Hatfield-McCoy trail seeing ridership rebound

Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read

Jul. 25—BLUEFIELD — With more than 60 percent of the season's permit sales now purchased, ridership numbers along the Hatfield-McCoy Trail are up from 2022.

The preliminary data suggests a correction from last year, when record-high gas prices combined with rampant inflation to cause the first-ever ridership contraction in the trail system's 23-year history. But if current ridership trends continue, 2023 will be a positive year, Hatfield-McCoy Trail Authority Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk said Monday.

"We are happy to say we are up slightly for the first half of the year," Lusk said. "We don't know if it will be a banner year, but it definitely looks up (from 2022)."

Lusk said high gas prices was the main problem in 2022.

"Twenty three years (of operation) and we have only had one down year, and that was 2022," Lusk said. "The one down year is now in the rear view mirror. The idea is we hopefully get this correction. We are really excited to see that turn around. Ridership this spring has been really amazing. The weather has been very accommodating for the riders, and they are just showing up in mass."

The trail authority sells 50 percent of its passes from March 15 to June 1, although the ATV trail season runs from November of the previous year to November of the current year.

While the 2023 ATV season is now at its halfway point, Lusk said more than 65 percent of ridership permits for the season have already been sold.

The remainder of the permits are expected to be sold later this summer and into the fall. There are more than 139 locations that sell ridership permits for the southern West Virginia-based trail system.

"Last year it was inflation and fuel prices," Lusk said. "Fuel prices have a disproportionate impact on our riders. They are towing. So they are getting less gas mileage to get here. And then when they are here they are fueling their machines. So we are negatively impacted by high fuel costs. Fuel going down has really helped us a lot this spring."

Lusk said recent expansions, including the project underway at the Ashland ATV resort in McDowell County and the new ATV TrailCamp along Coaldale Mountain in Mercer County, are helping.

"We hope to continue to see these investments," he said. "We've got to continue to see these entrepreneurial activities. The lodging allows the customers to be here, and the customers serve as the catalyst to those entrepreneurial activities. Mercer County has really been a place for investments. It seems the individuals there have really stepped up to make investments."

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com