From The Bluefield Daily Telegraph:
The region’s ATV tourism engine is roaring. In 2018, the Hatfield-McCoy Trail system set a new record by selling 50,031 permits. And 80 percent of those permits that were sold were purchased by non-West Virginia residents. Now the trail system looks to be on track to sell 55,000 annual permits in 2019, according to Hatfield-McCoy Trail Authority Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk.
The Pocahontas Trail in Mercer County, thanks in part to its close proximity to Intestate 77, is still the fastest growing trail in the six-county system, Lusk said last week. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to area residents, who are seeing an influx of ATV traffic in the region.
On any given day, it is now a common occurrence to see tourists converging on the area hauling their all-terrain vehicles. And the volume of ATV traffic increases each weekend. …