WVPA Sharing

ATV ridership stays high in West Virginia despite ongoing pandemic, approaching winter

By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BRAMWELL, W.Va. — Vacation venues such as the beach usually see their business slow down when summer is over, but winter’s arrival and COVID-19 are not slowing down the ATV visitors coming to Mercer County.

The Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trail was closed down more than two months when the pandemic began earlier this year, but later it reopened and quickly started drawing out-of-state visitors again. 

“It looks like we’re going to beat last year numbers,” said John Fekete, deputy executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail Authority. “We were even closed for a little more than two months due to COVID, but we sold over 55,000 permits this year. Probably more than 85 percent of them were out-of-state and non-residents. It turned out to be a pretty good year.”

Since trail riding is an outdoor sport, people look at it as a way to social distance while still enjoying themselves, Fekete said. When the authority’s outlets sell a trail pass, the buyer is given a list of instructions detailing what they’re asked to do while in West Virginia. The instructions include wearing masks and taking other precautions while visiting local businesses and restaurants…

To read more:https://www.bdtonline.com/news/atv-ridership-stays-high-despite-ongoing-pandemic-approaching-winter/article_a19bd558-3446-11eb-899f-dfe18da1b794.html

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