And after Thanksgiving, work will begin on the most ambitious trail-development program ever planned for the 8-year-old trail system.
Wayne and Lincoln counties plan to add a series of trails next year to the six systems now open in five counties in southern West Virginia, said John Fekete, deputy director of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority. Mercer County also is interested in building off-road trails to add to the network of 550 miles of paths already open to four-wheelers and motorcycles.
"The vision is really starting to come together," he said Friday.
Interest in the trail system - named after two families who carried on a famous 12-year feud in the region - is being fueled by families looking to spare themselves the high cost of gasoline by taking mini respites rather than one long vacation.
Charles Howell of Ashland, Ky., told the Charleston Gazette that the variety of trails is what keeps him and his son, Chuck, coming back.
So far this year, revenue from riding permits is up nearly 21 percent over the 27,428 permits sold in 2007, said Executive Director Jeffrey Lusk. In 2001, its first full year of business, the authority sold 5,191 permits.
"We're having a great year," he said, while noting that final numbers for permits sold this year won't be available until early 2009.
Since opening in October 2000, the authority has sold more than 100,000 permits, Lusk said. Most of those were sold to visitors from outside the state.
Permits, which are good from the date of purchase through Dec. 31, cost $26.50 for West Virginia residents; $47 for out-of-state residents.
While new trail systems for off-road vehicles have sprung up elsewhere in the East, Fekete says the Hatfield-McCoy Trails remains the biggest.
He welcomes the competition.
"We'll keep expanding and getting bigger and better," Fekete said. "We want to be considered the Disneyland of ATV parks."
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