PROGRESS 2025: Ridership levels rebounding on Hatfield-McCoy Trail
The multi-county trail system was hoping to surpass 95,000 permit sales last year, which would have been a new ridership record. But then something totally unexpected happened.
The remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed into West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The mountains, which normally protect the region from such extreme weather events, failed to stop Helene.
The last time a hurricane had made it this far into the mountains was in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo slammed into the region.
Helene was far more destructive. Locally, the tropical-force winds from the remnants of the hurricane toppled thousands of trees across the region. Many others, including 100-year-old trees, were uprooted from the ground. Thousands of power lines also were knocked down. Trees fell on homes and cars. More than a hundred thousand people across the region were left without electricity for more than a week.
But North Carolina, and communities like Asheville, were hit even harder by Hurricane Helene. Coincidentally, many of the ATV tourists who travel to the region from Interstate 77 and ultimately Bluefield are those riders who come from North Carolina, according to Hatfield-McCoy Trails Authority Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk.
But once the storm devastated parts of North Carolina, ATV tourists from those areas canceled their reservations and stayed home — many struggling to recover from the destructive storm.
As a result, ridership numbers dropped in October, which is normally one of the biggest ridership months for the trail system.
But the drop in ridership was not as severe as originally feared. The trail system finished its 2024 ridership season with 93,830 permits being sold. That was actually a 1.6 percent increase in permit sales over 2023.
'So we did grow and that ended up being 1,469 new riders on the trail,' Lusk said of the final 2024 ridership numbers.
All indications point to a significant rebound in ridership levels this spring.
'We expect a great spring,' Lusk said. 'We really do. The lodging owners I've talked to — their forward reservations are trending ahead of next year. This is just going to be a great, great year. We are very, very excited for our trail system.'
Ridership levels also increased during the winter months.
'Most of our riders who come in the winter, they come from the northeast. They don't come from the south,' Lusk said. 'It is usually power sports enthusiasts. They will just use that same gear and come down here and ride their ATVs. They are just acclimated toward doing power sports outside when it is cold outside. I think they just own both types of equipment. They will come down from as far away as Canada. They don't seem to be as sensitive to the weather as the folks from the south who aren't used to the cold weather. It's all about having that insulated gear.'
As a result, January and February ridership numbers on the trail this year were higher than normal thanks in part to the growing popularity of snow tourism on the trails.
Lusk said some riders follow the local forecast for Bluefield, and when snow is in the forecast, they schedule a visit to the region.
'We are open 365 days a year,' Lusk said. 'And we get riders everyday of the year. Literally we have riders everyday of the year, which is just great.'
As more riders make use of the trail system, more lodging and related accommodations are needed, according to Lusk.
'Our growth is actually premised on folks opening up and providing new lodging,' Lusk said. 'Our entrepreneurs in Southern West Virginia have been really great.'
Lusk said one recent example of a closed structure being converted into new ATV lodging is the Old Bank Lodge facility in Bluewell. That structure was once a bank and is now a new ATV lodging facility.
'It's a very unique reuse,' Lusk said of the structure. 'It can sit up to 14 people. It is really nice inside.'
Contact Charles Owens at
cowens@bdtonline.com
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