Hatfield McCoy

[Ken C]

19 of us TTD staff and frequent customers rode for four days last week at the Pocahontas, Pinnacle, and Indian Ridge at the Hatfield McCoy trail system in West Virginia. I can't tell you just how awesome these trails are. Most are dual-track for side by sides, but there is also some cool single track. here is a video of one of the single tracks. Video bike is Colin S, on his KTM 2-smoker following me on my KLX250s.

[nhbubba]

Geez. Youtube was not nice to the quality of that video!

[typeone]

super jealous, followed your pics 'n vids on the FB. this joint is on my Bucket List. can't wait to visit.

[Imbeek]

super jealous, followed your pics 'n vids on the FB. this joint is on my Bucket List. can't wait to visit.

I'd like to get down there too

[typeone]

curious, how much did you guys budget time and cost wise for this trip? (pretty sure most of you have done this a few times now)

[nhbubba]

Trip was stupid cheap for what it was. House rental is pretty low, and once split 19 ways it gets downright reasonable. Accommodations were not exactly first class. But we more than made do. Last year we stayed at a newer cabin at the resort proper and it still wasn't all that expensive.

Food is touch and go. Some bad, some very, very good. None really practical for dinner out. Both year there was communal cooking and grilling. So that was cheap too.

I think the gas & tolls down and back were by far the most expensive part.

I rode with 1 other both years now and took turns at the wheel, ran non-stop on both the way down and back. Last year was a combo track day (NCCAR) and dirt (Hatfield). This year was all dirt (Hatfield) so only one machine and less gear. Traveling lighter.

Overall, motorcycling in the south is huge on the fun:$ ratio. This has been true of the gap trips, camping road-trips and these MAN-cations.

Naturally, the people you roll with help, a lot.

[Rada]

Naturally, the people you roll with help, a lot.

Right there bro.

I would go at twice the price.

[Mr. Kurtz]

Right there bro.

I would go at twice the price.

^yup!

Speaking of...don't forget to get us the fuel totals!

[burnham]

I've been going there for a while. It usually cost me $1000 for a week of riding. Everything is split 3 ways, we stay at the Holiday inn the whole time.

[nhbubba]

I think the gas & tolls down and back were by far the most expensive part.

FWIW: I was wrong. Totaled everything up last night and the gas & toll total wasn't even nearly as high as I thought. Splitting the ride with another meant $100 in gas & tolls.

Cheap vacation is cheap.

[typeone]

thanks, guys. so about $1K total, that helps me plan.

[SVRACER01]

thanks, guys. so about $1K total, that helps me plan.

thats about what i spent on a week at the dragon and kind of what i suspected a trip like this would run. thats cheap fun.
im hoping this is a trip next year as well. hopefully ill have my shit together to join in.

[nhbubba]

Honestly. On this last trip I just added everything up and I have a hard time even getting to $500. And that includes some goodies for the bike.

[typeone]

woah, $500 ?? that would be sweet.

[burnham]

You could do it for far less than a grand. We head down Friday morning, and come home Saturday of the following week. There's a few $150 meals in the mix, and a fair bit of drinking. We split all that three ways. We're also renting a hotel room which isn't the cheapest way to do things. It's our one big vacation for the year, so we eat and drink well. I spent $400 on the hotel, $175 on gas, $100 for the trail pass (I think?), and then a bunch on food and beer.

[nhbubba]

I think that's the big delta; hotel room vs renting a house/cabin trailside and then packing it with 59885 dudes. The downside is most of the trailside stuff isn't exactly top drawer. And then there's sharing a bathroom with that many dudes. The trip was advertised as "Sausagefest" and it delivered. (Counting on NESR autocorrect here..)

Edit: And NESR autocorrect delivered. Thank you NESR, stay classy, don't ever change.

[carsick]

I see in my new issue of American Motorcyclist that the Hatfield McCoy Trails Regional Recreation Authority was awarded a $1.4M grant to expand tourism opportunities, create new businesses related to trail use, and expand existing trails. Also some kind of marketing push. So, might be getting better, or maybe busier.

I'm waiting for the Bike Train so I can sleep on the way down and back.

[TTD]

I think that's the big delta; hotel room vs renting a house/cabin trailside and then packing it with 59885 dudes. The downside is most of the trailside stuff isn't exactly top drawer. And then there's sharing a bathroom with that many dudes. The trip was advertised as "Sausagefest" and it delivered.

yeah... next year we'll put a few less people in each place. Problem is that it keeps growing each year!

[typeone]

looking to head down next month, any tips from peeps that have ridden with me? what trail systems would i enjoy and where is best to stay? revisiting these old threads but know a handful of you guys do yearly trips. so far i've been scoping some cabins with access to Rockhouse and Buffalo Mtn.

thnx.

[Rada]

Buffalo is great all around riding. Everything from modest to WTF.

Don't miss Maria's Drive in.. It doesn't look like much but the chow is tops

[typeone]

awesome, thanks! re-watching Ken's vid above Pocahontas looks fun as well. i see it's rated a bit more tech than Rockhouse (?)

[Rada]

I would say they are about the same on a bike. The Pocahontas, Indian Ridge and Pinnacle Creek areas are nice in that if you stay in Ashland area you can ride all three and they have a great array of riding. That said the single track in the Buffalo mountain system is pretty killer.

Staying in Gilbert and riding Rockhouse is great too.

[Paul_E_D]

Pocahontas was a great family spot as the campground is trailside and doing laps from there was so convenient. There were only a handful of trails that I would consider hard enduro, and they were mostly short sections. BT and Riverloop would be long in comparison. I haven't been to the other areas but hear similar reports. That said, it was still a lot of fun, especially the camping on the trail aspect.

[typeone]

this is fantastic info, appreciate it i'd stay in the van at a campground but will have others with me that prefer a cabin. i assume most of the cabins i'm seeing are ride in/ride out? will be looking more closely over the wknd.

[Paul_E_D]

Oh, hold up. the campground we stayed in was at Indian Ridge. They had primitive cabins and brand new Cabins with running water etc. All pretty close to the van sites. Trail head was literally on the grounds.