Hatfield-McCoy Trail saw ridership growth despite hurricane damage
Flooding and wind damage as well as widespread power outages hit Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties from Sept. 25 to 28 last year, later prompting a federal disaster declaration in Mercer County.
Downed trees blocked parts of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails system and while the trail system's employees were able to clear the fallen debris and get the system reopened, the damage Helene inflicted in North Carolina, South Carolina and other parts of the South reduced ridership.
Many of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails' riders coming to Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties are from the Carolinas, but they stayed home during the trail system's busiest time of the year to deal with hurricane damage. This led to lodging cancellations throughout the region.
The trail system's permit sales are measured from Nov. 15 to Nov. 15.
Jeffrey Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails Authority, said Friday that despite last year's storm damage, permit sales actually increased.
During the 2023 season, there were 92,655 permit sales. This increased to 93,830 sales during the 2024 season, an increase of about 1.59%. These figures were presented this week to the authority's board of directors.
"With the hurricane, we were afraid we would have a flat year, but instead we had some growth," Lusk said. "We were really excited to have growth last year. That was a big deal for us. We got reopened fairly quickly, but our ridership for North Carolina was just devastated."
Losing ATV tourists coming from North Carolina hurt lodging and businesses in Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties, he said.
"They have the highest percentage of visitations from the south," Lusk said of ATV lodging facilities. "They getting more people from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. More northern counties get most of their guests from states like Ohio and Michigan. It's just geography. Depending on where your lodge is located, you get a different mix of visitors."
The numbers of people planning on visiting the Hatfield-McCoy Trails this season appears to be increasing.
"It probably won't be until late spring before it gets back to normal," Lusk said about ridership. "We believe we're going to have an amazing spring. The lodging providers I've talked to said their forward reservations look really good."
The trail authority has a $2.5 million, five-year marketing plan, according to information provided by Lusk. The goal is 5% annual growth over a five-year period which started in 2022 and concludes in 2027 with the goal of selling 110,878 permits during that last year.
Overall, the goal is to increase total annual permits by 24,000 during the marketing plan's five-year implementation period. This growth is expected to increase the trail system's total economic impact to over $75 million.
Contact Greg Jordan at
gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
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'Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Appalachian Trail,' said Jake Stowe, a program support specialist with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Stretching more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) miles from Georgia to Maine, the trail attracts more than 3 million people every year, according to the conservancy. Some committed hikers traverse its entire length to cross it off their bucket list. Others visit sporadically just to indulge in its scenic views. Last September, Helene killed more than 200 people and wrecked entire towns . Many rural businesses have struggled due to the drop in tourism, Stowe said, such as in places seeing fewer trail hikers. Directly after the storm, more than 430 miles (690 kilometers) of the trail were closed, the conservancy said. That's down to 5 miles (8 kilometers) today. Hikers still have to take detours around two damaged sections of the trail, both in Tennessee, according to the conservancy. 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But root balls are still a major problem because of how labor-intensive it is to deal with them. When a tree tips over, the root ball lifts a big chunk of earth with it. Filling that hole can sometimes take a week, said Matt Perrenod, a crew leader with the conservancy. The trail runs along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, and that rough terrain means crews must rely on hand tools like shovels, rakes and pruners to do the job, rather than heavy equipment. The conservancy also has to consider more sustainable improvements to the trail, such as building steps or features like water bars, which are essentially little ditches that divert rainfall off the side of the trail. It's a slow process, Perrenod said, but a worthwhile venture to improve the experience of hikers. 'You don't actually want to think about the thing you're walking on very much. You just want to walk on it,' said Perrenod, who hiked the Appalachian Trail's entirety about a decade ago. 'Well, if we don't do the work, you won't be able to do that. You'll spend all your time climbing over this tree and walking around that hole.' Volunteers travel the world to help out Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service has long been a critical component of preserving the Appalachian Trail. Through contracts, Perrenod said the agencies fund equipment, gas and the wages of some Appalachian Trail Conservancy staff members like himself. The Forest Service also helps the group lug their gear up to the trail, he said. That's why Perrenod says it's imperative the federal government does not slash those agencies' budgets and workforces . Disrupting support for volunteers could be detrimental for the trail's restoration, as volunteers provide 'a lot of muscle' to complete the vast majority of its maintenance, he said. In Helene's aftermath, volunteerism across the region was 'super high' because everyone wanted to help, Stowe said. This year, interest in volunteering has dipped, Stowe said, but he's heard from people all over the country — and the world — who cited Helene as a major reason they wanted to come out and help. Among the volunteers on the July maintenance trip were three visitors from Japan who work on long-distance trails back home. They were enthusiastic to learn about best practices for improving trail longevity and take those ideas back to Japan. The trio was also motivated by their own experience with natural devastation. After Japan's massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, volunteer Kumi Aizawa said people from across the globe came to rebuild. By restoring part of the Appalachian Trail, she's returning the favor. ___ Seminera reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
