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Buffalo Mountain System Gets Miles and Miles of Single Track Trails

Posted September 1 2009 02:37 PM by Lindsey Lovell 
Filed under: Industry Buzz

LYBURN, WV - The Hatfield-McCoy Trails has significantly expanded single track trails on its Buffalo Mountain System, making a whole new section of Southern West Virginia scenery and challenges available to dirt bike riders.


Hatfield-McCoy board member George Poole, from Logan, has to climb off his bike to make it to the top of this hill on Trail 198 of the Hatfield-McCoy system.

"We now have 17 miles of single track trails at Buffalo Mountain, up from about 4 or 5; that's more than only any single trail system and almost 40 percent of the single track trails on all six systems combined," said John Fekete, assistant executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails.

The expansion was funded by a federal $40,000 Recreation Trails Program grant.
"Single track is the most labor-intensive thing we do," Fekete said. "The trail is only 2 feet wide. It takes pure manpower. We use part-time help for the summer to come in and do nothing but construct these with a pick and a shovel.

"In this terrain, you're sometimes hanging off the side of a mountain using a gas-powered, one-man jackhammer to get the work done."

But the difficulty is rewarded, Fekete said. "Anytime we build in some of the harder, more remote areas, you usually run into ridge tops, and you can see for miles and miles."

The Buffalo Mountain system, the most historic of the six systems, is located between Williamson, Delbarton, and Matewan, WV. It is accessible via two trailheads: the first is located just south of Williamson on Route 52, and the second is located in historic Matewan.

Michael Black pushes and Brian Jarrell pulls to help an unidentified rider get over a hump on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails. (Photos courtesy George Poole.)

The Hatfield-McCoy Trial System was created by the West Virginia Legislature to generate economic development through tourism in nine southern West Virginia counties. It currently operates six systems with more than 500 miles of trails. Each system is open 365 days a year to ATVs, dirt bikes, select utility vehicles (UTVs), mountain bikes, horses, and hikers. Many of the trail systems also offer community connecting trails that allow visitors to access "ATV-friendly towns" to experience the charm of southern West Virginia.

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