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Second Fall Crawl twice as successful
By Deanna Lee-Sherman
The Harlan Daily Enterprise
www.harlandaily.com
Published: October 9, 2006
DEANNA LEE-SHERMAN/Harlan Daily Enterprise The mud bog race was the event of the day at Saturday’s second annual Fall Crawl at the Verda field. Some participants managed to push their way through the knee-high mud pit, while others required assistance.
This year's second annual Fall Crawl did just what organizers of the event hoped it would: It brought twice as many off-road enthusiasts as last year's.
Saturday's daylong event at the Verda field saw between 1,500 and 1,600 visitors, locals and out-of-towners, said Preston McLain, president of the Harlan County Ridge Runners, an all-terrain vehicle club of about 800 members.
The club is in charge of the event, which gained two national sponsors in its second year. That, along with effective advertising of the county's abundant riding trails at Black Mountain Recreational Park, is a start to what can “explode” in Harlan County, McLain said.
And a world record for the longest parade in June that has been recorded in the files of the Guinness World Records in London, England, gave this year's Fall Crawl a significant push, organizers have said. The crowds came once again to the Verda field, despite the 42nd annual Swappin' Meetin' in Cumberland that also drew a large crowd Saturday.
It's just what the Ridge Runners and others throughout the county who've had a hand in helping to promote adventure tourism were hoping to see.
The success of this year's Fall Crawl, complete with a drag race, sled pool and mud bog race, as well as a motor cross for children, could lead to an outdoors exposition next year, McLain said.
“I'm tickled to death with the turnout we had,” he said, adding that the county came together once again, much like in June, to sell baked goods, T-shirts and crafts.
“It's just going to make it bigger next year,” he said.
McLain said one of this year's national sponsors, ATV Direct, a retail accessories company in Martin, was surprised with how well the event was organized.
“They said this is the best event to come to, to already be organized when they got here,” he said.
First-place trophies, sponsored by ATV Direct, were available for winners in each of the day's activities and ribbons were distributed to second- and third-place finishers. But an unscheduled event drew just as much attention.
About a dozen women volunteered to race through the knee-high mud at the field for a cash prize of $165, with a little more than $100 collected by the crowd. The Ridge Runners put up another $50 to add to the pot of cash. Amanda Cox, of Catrons Creek, won the prize.
“It could be an added event next year,” McLain laughed.
Entertainment was provided throughout the day by a country/bluegrass band known as Hillbillies Having Fun. This year's other national sponsor was Ramsey Winch, another ATV accessories company.
Art and Glenna Durkie, of Monticello, came to Saturday's event with a group of about 10. Art Durkie said he learned of the Fall Crawl through “word of mouth.” The couple traveled from Monticello on Friday and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. They were just two of many who stayed overnight at local motels and hotels.
“There are a lot of nice places to ride up in the mountains. I wish they had something like this in Monticello. It brings in people and helps out the economy,” Art Durkie said.
Impressed with this year's event and the county's trails, he said what many first-time visitors and off-road enthusiasts have said of Harlan County.
“Oh yeah, we'll be back.”
County breaks ATV world record
By Deanna Lee-Sherman
The Harlan Daily Enterprise
www.harlandaily.com
Published: September 16, 2006
Harlan County has one more accomplishment that will pay off, literally, in terms of tourism - an achievement no other locality throughout the world can claim.
The Guinness World Records in London, England, has confirmed that the Harlan County Ridge Runners, an all-terrain vehicle club of 800, has set a new record for the “longest parade of ATVs.”
The events of June 24 have been entered into the fact-finding agency's records, which will specify that the record was set in Evarts, Kentucky, USA, with 1,138 ATVs in a single parade.
The hometown history-making event well surpassed the previous record of 687 set in Hurley, Wis., last summer.
Preston McLain, president of the Harlan County Ridge Runners, said he recently learned of the group's accomplishment when he received a certified letter, along with a certificate, delivered by FedEx.
“I thought we'd lose about 20 riders, but they counted all 1,138,” McLain said. He, along with other club members and local officials, had to follow a meticulous and lengthy process in preparing for the parade and providing proper documentation from the day.
The parade was filmed at its beginning at the Verda field off KY 38 and its end in Evarts, two miles away, and a number of signatures from officials, including Evarts Chief of Police Lupe Blas, Evarts Mayor Burl Fee and Harlan County Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop, were required.
It was all a part of a process McLain learned of shortly after plans for the parade got under way in November of last year. And anticipation naturally got the best of McLain the night before the event.
“I looked around and thought, ‘We're not going to make it,'” he said. But as he approached the Verda field slightly before 9 a.m. the following day, he said he breathed a sigh of relief.
“As soon as I saw the field, I knew we had it beat,” he said, recalling the hundreds of ATV enthusiasts from across the country who came out to be a part of the event. It was shortly before noon that the unofficial count of 1,138 came in.
McLain, who was recently appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher to the Kentucky Recreational Trails Authority as a representative of eastern Kentucky, said he expected a lengthy verification of documentation by the Guinness World Records from the day's events. What was expected to take a matter of weeks, however, turned into a couple of months.
But that didn't take away from the excitement of learning that the club not only set a record for the parade, but that all 1,138 participants were counted.
McLain said he immediately began to contact various groups via the Internet, publishing public service announcements in local newspapers and distributing flyers about the parade and off-road park at Black Mountain. Visiting ATV enthusiasts helped distribute an estimated 5,000 flyers that also made their way to at least Tennessee, Ohio and Virginia.
With the success the county has already seen in tourism - including an increase that has placed the county in the top five in its region for economic growth and a recent incorporation of several local attractions into the Kentucky Department of Parks - McLain said occupying a world record such as this cannot only improve tourism efforts but can cause them to “explode.”
“We have already tripled the number of riders from last year,” he said, adding that more acreage for the off-road park is being researched.
McLain credits property owners who have leased portions of their land for the off-road park that was once a “combination of strip mine and old logging roads” for the park's success. His club helps maintain the park, which officially opened in June 2005.
“There are so many people that helped pull this off,” he said.
Glenn Stoker, the official “ATV starter” of the record-breaking parade, is a member of the Soggy Bottom Boyz, an ATV group of about 40 members in Georgia. Twelve of them participated in the parade.
“I've never been to an event where they tried to break a world record,” he said, calling the congregation of four-wheelers at the Verda field that day “kind of amazing.”
The Chickamauga, Ga., native said he was also impressed by the “local hospitality” and the convenience of riding in and around Evarts.
He said the mountain trails that his group frequents are all unique in their own way in terms of scenic beauty and landscape, but there just aren't enough towns that “you can ride into.”
“That's a big plus in Evarts,” he said.
Stoker, who averages close to 2,000 miles a year on his ATV, was back in Harlan County in August during Summerfest activities and will be returning Friday to participate in the Preacher Sam Campout Ride.
With the ATV season picking up, there's not much he does without his ATV, he said.
“I don't leave home without it,” he said.
And many ATV enthusiasts like Stoker will continue to return to Harlan County for upcoming events, including October's Fall Crawl and holiday rides planned for November and January, McLain said.
Labor Day weekend saw at least 600 enthusiasts taking advantage of the trails.
“They keep coming back because of the way they're treated here,” McLain said.
Where To Ride
By Brad Bowlin
ATV Rider Magazine
www.atvrider.com
Published: August 2006
Harlan County, Kentucky ... I kept hearing about this place through e-mails and word of mouth. "Dude, you've got to check that place out!" So when Stephen Foster, proprietor of the Harlan County Campground & RV Park, offered me a free cabin and Denny Pace, of Trail 45 Snack Shack and ATV Rentals, threw in the use of a rental quad, we were as good as there. When we pulled off HIghway 119 into the campground on the Putney trailhead, we had no idea how great this place would be.
Appalachia is quickly becoming famous for churning out gold in the form of quality off-road entertainment. Harlan County is carrying this "coal mine to gold mine" trend a little further by offering 7000 acres (200-plus miles, with rumors of more to come) of awesome riding at an awesome price: FREE! That's "free," as in no fees or permits required. An officer has recently been assigned to patrol the Black Mountain Recreational Park, but riders are basically left them to police themselves. There is a $5 charge each for parking and maps. But in our opinion, that's a small price to pay compared to the $15 to $35 other areas charge in fees alone.
Located in the extreme southeast corner of Kentucky, Harlan County is within a day's drive of anywhere east of the Mississippi. We made the trip from north of Memphis, Tennessee, in 6.5 hours. The trails were originally blazed by 4x4 trucks and through lobbying by the local ATV club (H.C. Ridge Runners), the truckers welcomed ATVs and dirt bikes into their utopia. See what happens when off-road factions work together instead of against each other? Black Mountain has since been leased to and become sanctioned by the state of Kentucky as an official OHV area.
After unloading our gear into the cabin, we were ready to hit the trails. The trailhead is, literally, one step from the porch of the cabin. About the only complaint we can muster is that the well water at the cabins has a high sulfur content. It doesn't taste bad, but you might want to bring bottled water to drink. It's even safe to shower in. The smell didn't stick to us - we did a "smell check" afterward. Speaking of water, there is a spigot next to the shower house that everyone uses to wash the quads. Again, this is free too.
And how 'bout them trails? In a word: superb! The two-way trails are marked well and offer three levels of fun: green for novices (family trails), blue means moderate difficulty and red translates to challenging (even gut-check-time difficult). I turned around on one of the rock crawler sections, which was marked red. Everything from mud bogs to awesome hillclimbs are available, and the scenery is breathtaking. Although mostly dirt, the trails do offer some cool rock obstacles and loose shale hills. There are plenty of fast sections, with jumps thrown into the mix. We had a couple of sport quads riding with us and they stayed entertained. The ridge-top trails offer up views of the surrounding towns of Evarts and Putney, as well as the ample mountainous beauty of this area.
Our limited time on the trails was enough to get a great impression of this place - Black Mountain is well on its way to becoming a destination for trail riders of all kinds. The combination of superb riding, friendly locals and an enthusiastic Chamber of Commerce add up to what could become one of the top three Eastern ride spots. See you there!
Riding Destination: Kentucky
Black Mountain Recreational Area
From Coal to Quads: Is it Working?
By Bob Davis
ATV Illustrated Magazine
www.atvillustrated.com
Published: August 2006
It was a long 12-hour drive back to northeast Pennsylvania from Kentucky's Black Mountain Recreation Area, and I had only two days to beat the deadline for this issue. How would I describe what is possibly the best ATV riding area in North America? How would I put into words the challenging terrain and distinctly beautiful Kentucky mountain? How would I describe Harlan County, an area in Appalachia reeling from the decline of the coal industry but one that's trying to pull itslef out by an innovative use of the same resources that once brought it prosperity?
As it turns out, I didn't have to look far for the answers. I live in one of those areas. The Appalachian Mountains, running from Georgia to Pennsylvania, are dotted with hundreds of municipalities that have suffered economic hardship as a result of the decline of tradional underground coal mining and the loss of job associated with it to the more economical surface strip mining our nearby town of Wilkes-Barre has been working on building a new economic infrastructure since the last of the deep coal mines shut down in the 1960s. It has been somewhat successful in attracting new business, but it's been a slow climb. There's even been talk about developing an ATV trail system by using the tremendous amount of abandoned strip mine areas.
However, as much as newspaper columnists, reformers and policy makers have thought about how to improve income, living conditions and the general welfare for the residents of the northern mountain region of the Appalachians, there's still a dearth of people with vision and foresight. According to many of the "experts" on the Appalachians, these disadvantaged rural communities lack the resources needed to collectively respond to the economic problems that face the. I'm expecting our area to be bogged down in hand-wringing for years before our "leaders" finally muster the guts and determination to do what has already been accomplished in Harlan County. Their thinking seems to boil down to, "Who wants to screw up abandoned stip mines with ATV trails?" Yeah, right. If that's really their attitude, then our area's "leaders" are seriously out of touch with reality if they don't see the recreational benefits and economic opportunities associated with all-terrain vehicles.
So while this story is about what the people of Harlan Cunty have accomplished, it could well serve as an example to hundreds of areas throughout the Appalachian Mountains.
BACKGROUND
Located in far southeast Kentucky, Harlan County borders Virginia on the east and Tennessee on the south. It's literally and figurativly the heart of Appalachia, so it wasn't too suprising that while conducting my research on eastern Kentucky -- and specifically Harlan County -- I kept coming across information that perpetuates the myth about mid-Appalachia society: that it's nothing more than an area of surly, illiterate hicks living in grinding poverty in disheveled tar-paper shacks with hogs rutting in the front yard and lazy hound dogs taking refuge under the front porch, whose residents dissipate themselves on "moonshine", lazily till the corn crop with a hoe (if the critters don't get to it first) and wear ragged, patched clothing - in other words they moved to Beverly Hills. True, we did notice a few things down there that we didn't see in the northern Appalachia area where we were brought up, but nothing like some would have you believe. What we did find were people strongly committed to achieving a county-wide system of recreational off road trails, named-after the area's highest peak -- the Black Mountain Recreation Area.
THE TRAIL SYSTEM
With the decline of the coal mining and timber industries, Harlan County has an abundance of abandoned mountainous roads and trails, which it has formed into an ATV'ers paradise. Unlike other trail systems, however, Side x Sides and 4x4 trucks are welcome, too. Because of the careful management and the stewardship of the Harlan County Ridge Runners and local citizens, the trails are kept clean and safe for riders of all skill levels. There are plenty of "easy" and "moderate" trails, but if you're looking for the "advanced" stuff, it's there, too -- in spades!
There are currently over 150 miles of trails that offer views second to none. The craggy, steep and majestic mountains simply dominate everything. There are two trailheads, multiple parking areas, lodging (hotel and house rental), and all of it -- with the exception of food and logging -- is free! No special permits or pre-registration is required; simply go and enjoy. Want to camp? Not a problem -- set up camp wherever you like on the trial system. In fact, on top of one mountain there's a beautiful campsite already cleared with built-in barbecue pits. There are even guided tours available through the Harlan County Ridge Runners ATV Club (map and contact information are at the end of this story).
What did we think of the Black Mountain Recreation Area? We're not exaggerating one bit when we say it's absolutely awesome!
Southern Shine Crawl draws crowd
By Brandon Goins
The Harlan Daily Enterprise
www.harlandaily.com
Published: May 30, 2006
There was hardly any room left in Harlan County this weekend for trucks, Jeeps, rail buggies and ATVs as an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 local and out-of-state riders enjoyed Memorial Day weekend in Harlan County.
Half of those visitors could be found at Verda Field, where the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers held the Southern Shine Crawl. The 4x4 truck competition began Friday night and ran through Saturday, with over 30 riders participating and thousands of spectators stopping by all day. Many camped out in tents and RVs at the field and stayed through the weekend.
For 4x4 hot spots like Tellico, Tenn., club president Ken Crider said, this would be just an average weekend. But for Harlan County, it was a “heck of a weekend.”
“For Harlan County, this probably drew in more people from longer distances from more states than we've ever had here before,” he said. “We expected 400 to 500 trucks - we beat that.”
Crider said people from 17 different states came into the event.
“I think half of Ohio was down here, and a good portion from North Carolina,” he said. “Also, we had several people from other local counties like Pike County, Clay County, Bell County, all around Lexington, Winchester and Morehead. Everybody I talked to said they were coming back.”
Several hundred showed up for the event on Friday night, but by Saturday afternoon, Verda Field had nearly filled up. Many people parked on the side of KY 38 or across the road at Austin's ATV to sit on the guardrail and watch at a distance. The club sold out of food four times during Saturday. Crider said it was almost more than they could handle.
On the park were many more riders who kept too busy on the trails to ever make it down for the event. Traffic was heavy and sometimes slow as the large groups of ATVs and 4x4s crossed paths.
Parking at Putney Trailhead was at capacity, and many riders parked their vehicles in the field across US 119 to find room.
In Evarts, a half-mile from Baileys Creek Trailhead, RVs and empty ATV haulers crowded every parking place.
Harlan County Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop said this weekend was bigger than last year's grand opening.
Grieshop spent quite a bit of time around the park as well as the Mountain Crawlers event during the weekend, helping people to find a place to park and camp.
“This will help us to adjust for a better reception for those ATV riders that will be coming here in June,” he said. During the third weekend in June, ATV Nation is holding its annual Nation Ride in Harlan County.
Grieshop said the number of visitors during that weekend could be 50 to 100 percent more.
Wheels in motion: Grand opening of Black Mountain Recreational Park brings thousands to Harlan County
By Brandon Goins
The Harlan Daily Enterprise
www.harlandaily.com
Published: June 5, 2006
The invasion began last week as thousands of off-roaders from all over the country began pouring into the city of Evarts, often pulling a trailer with several ATVs or a large 4x4 truck behind them.
By Friday night, Black Mountain Recreational Park was home to hundreds of campers, the hotels in Harlan County were packed and nearly every RV parking spot was taken.
When the grand opening ceremony began Saturday at noon, a few hundred stayed around to hear the speakers while the majority were already slinging mud and dirt, riding the trails or simply enjoying the scenery.
An estimated 2,400 people were said to have visited the park over the weekend.
"I knew it would be big," said Regina Crawford, a speaker who came on behalf of Governor Ernie Fletcher. "I didn't know it would be this big."
"If you build it, they will come just took on a whole new meaning," said Preston McLain, president of the Harlan County Ridge Runners.
Sheila Seppi, director of the Southeastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association, praised the local clubs and leaders for "taking advantage of their God-given assets," the mountains of Harlan County.
Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop took time to thank several individuals and entities, especially the Ridge Runners, the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers and Duane Bennett, the landowner who leased the property to the county for the park. Bennett received a standing ovation from nearly everyone at the ceremony.
"You're the person who made it all begin," Grieshop said. "It's a wonderful feeling to see government, citizens and landowners coming together."
Thousands and ready to ride
If everyone had stood in one place, it would have been easy to count heads.
But after the ribbon was cut, it was bumper to bumper traffic of ATVs and 4x4s on their way up the trail at Baileys Creek, joining with the hundreds that were already up there and heading off in dozens of different directions.
An exact count was hard to come by.
"I have no idea, but the darned place is crowded," said Ken Crider, president of the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers.
While the Ridge Runners were on Right Fork selling food, shirts and more, the Crawlers set up on Left Fork, serving up meals to hundreds of hungry tourists.
"The people of Harlan County are good ambassadors of our area," said state Rep. Brandon Smith.
Smith said he had met several people from as far away as South Carolina and Canada, all with "great things to say."
"Ain't this great?" asked Kosta Sakkas, who traveled with nine friends from North Carolina to visit the park for the first time.
They arrived Friday and stayed at the Mount Aire Motel through Sunday.
"I can't believe the (local officials) are backing this," Sakkas said.
When they get back Sakkas said he and his friends may form a club of their own.
"It's great to see the clubs, how they have worked together," said Terry Hardesty, from Fayetteville, Ohio.
Not everyone on the mountain was from out of the area. Harlan Independent Schools Superintendent David Johnson attended the ceremony and took his family for an ATV ride Saturday as well.
"The view is beautiful," he said. "It's encouraging to see so many people up here." "This could open up a lot of possibilities for Harlan County. That can only be good for all of us."
Harlan County A.T.V.
By STEVEN KURUTZ
The New York Times
www.nytimes.org
Published: December 17, 2004
9 a.m. on a recent Saturday, the municipal parking lot in Evarts, a coal town at the foot of the Black Mountains in eastern Kentucky, was overflowing with A.T.V. riders. There was a group in from Cookeville, Tenn., and two married couples, avid off-roaders, from Bardstown, Ky. Jason Powell, 31, made the two-hour drive up from Bristol, Tenn., hauling behind him a trailer that carried his "fully snorkled" Honda Foreman.
The out-of-town riders were joined on this cold morning by several members of the Harlan County Ridge Runners, a local all-terrain vehicle club, which had organized the ride. And while everyone checked their machines one last time, the club's president, Preston McLain, played the affable host. "Right now, we have a 130-mile loop, but we're trying to access more land," he told one of the Cookeville riders, seeming somehow to be addressing a larger audience not yet present. "You'll be able to ride from Evarts to the highest point in the state. That's the goal. And the ride is free. That's the way the county wants it. Say it's to promote tourism."
Even without the additional acreage, Harlan County, an isolated mountainous region near the Virginia border better known for its violent labor battles, is fast becoming a popular destination for off-roaders. Each weekend, crowds of people show up with A.T.V.'s or modified four-wheel-drive vehicles called rock crawlers, eager to climb the steep, rocky hillsides and cutback hollows that have been made even more rugged by years of surface mining. "In Johnson City, which is near me, there's only one trail," Mr. Powell said, "but up here there's hundreds."
In many places off-road vehicles are looked upon as noisy irritations and are banned. In Harlan County, where the fortunes of the residents have risen and fallen along with the coal industry, and where fortunes are currently down, the riders are seen as a salvation. They rent rooms at the Mount Aire Motel in Harlan and fuel up at the service stations in Evarts, pumping money into the struggling economy.
In the spring the county leased a 7,000-acre parcel of land from a mining company and it plans to turn it into an off-road park. By next year the county hopes to secure another 30,000 acres, giving it the potential for a 280-mile trail to rival the popular Hatfield-McCoy system in West Virginia. Andy Jones, director of strategic development for the county, said that Harlan, known by many people as the subject of Barbara Kopple's 1976 documentary film about the local miners' struggle to unionize, is a place where people have been known not to get along, "but this is something that folks have really gotten behind."
The off-road park won't officially open until June, timed to the annual Poke Salad Festival, but local groups are already working to prepare the land. The Ridge Runners share the property with the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers, a local rock-crawling club, and both groups spend weekends clearing brush, christening trails and excavating the ancient mining and logging roads that hug the narrow ridges.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," said Ronnie Shoope, a Mountain Crawler from Harlan who dropped by the morning the A.T.V. riders were in town. "We weren't expecting this type of enthusiasm so soon."
The sound of revving motors signaled the readiness of the A.T.V. riders, however. Soon the group, led by a mustached Ridge Runner named Jerry White, were bouncing along the rough switchbacks that wind their way up Little Black Mountain. Because detailed maps of the trails will most likely not be ready until summer, many out-of-town riders rely on locals like Mr. White and Mr. McLain, both adept guides.
Throughout the morning, as he navigated dozens of overgrown mining roads that plunged farther into the woods, at times winding in on themselves, Mr. McLain was never at a loss. "I used to squirrel hunt up here," he said approaching the top of an overlook. Pointing to a rock overhang, he said, "There's a pool of water that collects in those caves. I used to swim there as a kid." Eventually he drove up to a high peak known as Ball's Knob. It was flat and muddy and treeless, as if someone had come along and chopped off the top of the mountain ? in fact, a mining company had done just that.
Mr. McLain had driven ahead of the other riders and now he fixed his eyes on a rutted mining road on the ridge below. ''Here they come,'' he said happily, and just then the group of 18 appeared from behind the hillside, their engines issuing a high-pitched buzzing noise that downshifted into a glorious roar as they wound their way up to where Mr. McLain stood.
The riders, wearing overalls and heavy boots, milled about and took in a view that stretched beyond Black Mountain, the highest point in Kentucky, and into Virginia. On a nearby ridge, a coal seam was being worked by a mining company, a reminder of the human hand that had shaped the area.
One reason the county is so encouraging to off-roaders is because the land they use is considered damaged. Mining companies are required by law to ''reclaim'' land, to return it to its natural state, but a mined piece of property bears its violent scars. Washouts plague the roads, making them rutted and bouldered; dense forests open unnaturally to grassy domes where trees have been clear-cut to extract coal; deep cuts in the mountains allow for water drainage.
Such rugged conditions would send most drivers speeding for the nearest paved superhighway. For A.T.V. riders, however, and especially for rock crawlers, who traverse unholy terrain in modified Jeeps and pickup trucks, the wooded moonscape of Harlan County is like an off-road autobahn -- albeit one traveled at 5 miles an hour.
KEN CRIDER peered out the window of his blue 1979 International Scout II and looked calmly at his front left tire, which rested on a large muddy rock; the right wheel was suspended in mid-air above an abandoned logging road. ''A lot of people will say this isn't fun,'' he said, gently administering throttle. ''To build a truck and go where you aren't supposed to -- that's fun to me.''
Mr. Crider, a state police detective who lives in Harlan and talks in the even, measured tones of his profession, became interested in rock crawling after his son ''kept talking about 4-by-4 this and 4-by-4 that.'' He paid $600 for the International, modifying it with lower gears; ''Detroit'' lockers, which send power to all four wheels simultaneously; and oversized ''Super Swamper'' tires.
Mr. Crider drove slowly and carefully along the undulating roadbed, eventually stopping at a vertical grade as narrow as it was steep. Normally he would have thought nothing of taking the hill head on, but a week before, on a Mountain Crawlers Thanksgiving ride, he had developed engine trouble, so now he was leery of tackling the climb.
As his copilot, a shy, bearded man named Chris Creech, looked on impassively, Mr. Crider thought for a moment. Then he clamped his foot on the throttle and steadily motored up the hill, making it halfway before the engine stalled and the vehicle hung precariously on the mountain.
''The carburetor flooded,'' he said.
Despite his engine problems, Mr. Crider is pleased with rock crawling in Harlan County. For the Thanksgiving ride, two dozen enthusiasts had shown up in Suzuki Samurais and modified Jeeps to plod through obstacles like the Mason Jar and the Rock Garden, a rock bed put in by a mining company to minimize erosion. To the riders, the event suggested that the area might one day become a destination on par with Jellico, Tenn., and Hazelton, Pa., two other mining towns that form a kind of coal circuit for the rock-crawler crowd.
Indeed, throughout the county there seems to be a sense of optimism about the off-road scene. Before heading to the trails, Mr. McLain had offered a brief tour of Evarts. In its many abandoned, weed-grown lots he saw ample parking for riders; in the vacant storefronts along Yocum Street he envisioned A.T.V. rental and repair shops; and atop the surface-mined hillsides, he saw hundreds of riders barreling through the eastern Kentucky woods.
''I know we're going to have a good crowd coming,'' he said.
Taming Off-road Tourism
by Andy Olsen
The Lane Report
www.lanereport.com
Published: April 2005
At the center of controversy, ATVs and four-wheelers also spark economic dreams
For decades in Harlan County, economic development has arrived on a cavalcade of loud, smelly and dangerous machines. This is the heart of coal country, where in the boom years mining and timber companies brought thousands of workers to the hills and left behind rutted roads and flattened mountaintops.
While the boom has subsided for now, Harlan Judge Executive Joe Grieshop has no plans to let the mineral-stripped land lay wasted. Last year, the county began leasing 7,000 acres of abandoned coal property as the beginning of a strategy to convert the county into a haven for all-terrain vehicles and off-road enthusiasts.
Grieshop’s vision is part of a movement emerging across Kentucky to harness the economic potential of ATV tourism, a by-product of the rapid and controversial rise in the popularity of off-highway vehicles, or OHVs. In the last few years, off-road clubs with hundreds of members have sprouted up from Paducah to Lexington to Ashland. Some clubs cater to sport ATVs, and others to four-wheel-drive trucks and SUVs rigged with hulking, oversized tires designed for rock-crawling.
Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky’s most popular recreation area, offers a small glimpse of the swelling motorized presence. The Western Kentucky park hosts more than 30,000 off-road vehicles a year that bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the region. Because the land is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, OHVs are only allowed on designated trails with the purchase of certain permits. The number of off-road permits issued has grown annually by three to ten percent in recent years.
“The sport’s growing and the resources are dwindling on places to ride,” said Kathryn Harper, a spokesperson for Land Between the Lakes.
Off-roading is a sport hungry for land, a burden and a blessing for communities with an abundance of it. As the number of riders climbs nationwide, so do the ranks of states and landowners fighting to keep them out.
But not in Eastern Kentucky, where communities have opened their arms to riders and the money they spend. They’re next door to West Virginia’s Hatfield-McCoy recreational area, one of the largest and most successful off-road parks in the country. The 500-mile trail system’s landscape is remarkably similar to Harlan County’s. Between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004, the trail system sold more than 21,000 permits – and according to a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the trails bring 600,000 visitors and $100 million into West Virginia’s economy each year. There are more than one million ATV and off-highway motorcycle riders within a one-day drive of Eastern Kentucky, according to a Hatfield-McCoy study.
The prospect of creating a similar trail system in Kentucky has fueled plenty of dreams for economic revival in struggling coal towns. Several Eastern Kentucky counties have banded together to form the Kentucky Mountain Trails Development Coalition, which has committed to extending the Hatfield-McCoy system into Kentucky and Virginia to create a three-state recreation area for hikers, horses and OHVs.
Grieshop has dreams for Harlan County, too – lines of gas-guzzlers filling up in town, muddy machines being hosed down at car washes, and weary riders packing local hotels.
“The wave is getting bigger and bigger. It’s going to come through every county in this state and we’ve got to get ahead of it,” Grieshop said. “People want to escape their humdrum world… They want to get out here and get fresh air and wear their bodies out and go home tired and have loved every minute of it.” He’s bracing for nearly 5,000 visitors to roll into Harlan this summer. That’s due in large part to publicity the county has received in newspapers and off-road publications around the country.
One fact doesn’t escape folks in this county of just over 30,000 with rampant unemployment: Poor tourists don’t buy sport ATVs. A typical machine can cost nearly $10,000 when proper safety equipment and a trailer for hauling it are thrown in. “These (visitors) are going to be people with pretty good incomes,” said Randy Fiveash, Kentucky’s tourism commissioner, who likened the sport to today’s motorcycle industry. “Who gets on a Harley? It’s not the Hell’s Angels image anymore. It’s doctors, lawyers, businessmen.”
Restraining a wild sport
Grieshop, who came to Eastern Kentucky from Ohio 23 years ago as a dietician, is struggling to control an animal that by its nature is untamed. He has worked for years to convince area landowners to lease their property by assuring them ATV riders would be carefully controlled. Grieshop claims the idea for the recreational area – which riders can use for no charge – as his own, and has formed a board to oversee the land’s development and operation. He hopes to add another 30,000 acres to the 130 miles of trails the county already runs.
Another man, however, is largely responsible for the county’s sudden thrust into the national limelight. Preston McLain is president of the Harlan County Ridge Runners, a recently formed ATV group that hosts local rides nearly every weekend. They guide hundreds of tourists from as far away as Texas and Michigan along the trails. They built a picnic shelter at one of the trailheads and gave the project the Internet presence that has drawn so many curious visitors.
It is at times hard to tell who’s in charge of the project – the Ridge Runners or the county. Indeed, the recreational area has already outgrown the county in some ways. Officials are only now finishing trail maps for visitors and posting rules for riders. And while Grieshop says the rules will be enforced by county workers, it’s not clear yet how that will be done. “I’m squirming a little bit,” he said. “We’re not prepared.”
More than 300 miles west at Land Between the Lakes, administrators also feel the struggle to stay prepared.
The park is clear about the rules riders must follow – helmets are non-negotiable, and riders under age 16 must use smaller-sized machines. But even the safest of riders tear up trails.
A favorite for OHV drivers is “mud holing,” where drivers charge into muddy pits hoping not to get stuck. Such practices may be thrilling, but they take their toll on the environment by spurring erosion and dumping oil and gas into the lake. And while the park already prohibits driving in the lake or riding on trails after a hard rain, Forest Service officials are meeting this year to map out a more comprehensive plan for controlling OHV use on federal land.
“OHV riding is a valid outdoor recreational activity, but the challenge is trying to make it sustainable with the resources,” Land Between the Lakes’ Harper said. Staff at the park occasionally ride along with OHV groups to keep up on off-road trends and decide how best to manage them.
One proposal under consideration is limiting the types of OHVs that people can ride in the forests. Thirty years ago, most off-road vehicles in the park were small ATVs and dirt bikes. Now it faces an onslaught of rock-crawling Jeeps, trucks for mudding and pumped-up “quads.”
The Tri Moto, the ATV introduced by Yamaha Motor Corp. in 1980, had a 123-cc engine; Kawasaki’s 2004 Brute Force packs a 749-cc engine. Those massive engines have triggered safety concerns around the country. Since 1984, 326 people have died in ATV-related crashed in Kentucky, and 105 of them were children, according to a report released in February by Kentucky Youth Advocates. Those numbers are up – way up – from previous years. In the past five years alone, 41 children under the age of 18 have died.
Given the destructive reputation of ATVs, it’s not surprising that the subject is touchy in tourism circles. Even some of the activity’s staunchest supporters have a personal stake in fighting for the safety of the sport. Ironically, Judge Grieshop’s daughter, Tara Grieshop-Goodwin, coauthored the KYA study that also called for the state to enact tougher ATV laws.
In Frankfort, the Department of Tourism and Kentucky Sports Authority have been paying special attention to ATV use. The state awarded Harlan County a $50,000 federal highway grant in March to develop an RV park and trailhead on the former coal land. A large chunk of $1 million in coal severance taxes has been promised to outdoor tourism development in Eastern Kentucky, Grieshop said.
“We’re pretty unique in that we’ve got the ability to have these trails without having to construct new roads. We’ve already got them,” Tourism Commissioner Fiveash said. He’s convinced riders would drive here from surrounding states if they had the trails to do so.
But Department of Tourism officials are approaching the issue cautiously. How to appropriately promote ATV tourism is likely to come up in KSA meetings this year, said Terry Johnson, deputy commissioner of tourism.
“It’s a booming area,” but the state will be careful in how it pushes the activity, Johnson said. And a bill passed in this year’s legislative session created an off-road and ATV commission under the Transportation Cabinet to study policies and issues surrounding the vehicles.
Safety and liability
Kentucky’s Legislature has proposed bills prohibiting children from riding any ATV, though manufacturers already warn parents about allowing children to ride machines with engines larger than 66 cc. And while other states have passed much more stringent ATV laws, devoted riders have successfully urged against such legislation in Kentucky.
Harlan County’s Preston McLain thinks there’s no need to crack down on ATV use in the state. “How can that be where there’s no law requiring helmets on motorcycles?” he said. Kentucky only requires helmets on motorcyclists under age 21 or who have had their license for less than a year.
In fact, almost none of the Ridge Runners who accompanied state tourism officials on a recent trail ride in Harlan County were wearing helmets, though state law requires it on public land. Even ATV clubs disagree with each other on how much regulation is appropriate for the sport. Josh Ingram, a member of the Georgetown-based Bluegrass ATV Club, said laws prohibiting children from riding “don’t make any sense.” But he has little respect for riders who refuse to wear helmets. “They’re hurting the sport,” another member of the club uttered on a recent ride in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Until tougher legislation is passed, ATV safety will rest on a combination of self-regulation for parks and safety training for ATV users. Land Between the Lakes offers periodic ATV safety courses for riders in Western Kentucky. Dale Dobson, farm safety coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, travels throughout the state offering ATV safety clinics. He envisions someday launching a statewide safety program with partners in every county.
“We don’t need laws to penalize someone for coming into Kentucky and having a good time,” Dobson said. Let’s “get them to come and drive safely.”
Entrepreneurs are also cashing in on the growth of off-road sports. In Northern and Southeastern Kentucky especially, some private landowners are opening their property up for pay-for-play four-wheeling. Most post a standard set of rules that include requiring proper equipment and banning alcohol.
If the sport is growing more organized, it’s because unbridled off-road recreation areas have failed in the past. In 2003, authorities all but shut down a long-time four-wheeling hotspot in Laurel County after numerous complaints about traffic jams, rowdiness and accidents. Authorities have said the riders were trespassing.
The danger associated with ATV riding is a large part of the reason many landowners don’t want to deal with it. Private parks that charge for permits, like the Hatfield-McCoy trail system, pay hefty premiums in liability insurance. Kentucky law largely exempts landowners from any recreation-related liability if they open their property to the public for free, as in Harlan County. Judge Grieshop is counting on that law to protect them if an accident happens. “We’re being gutsy about it,” he said.
But it could be hard to maintain a recreational area with no income. For now, Grieshop hopes local zeal and the revenues from a recently passed one percent state hotel tax will be enough to support his county’s fledgling trail system. And for the record, like the Hatfield-McCoy trails, the land in Harlan County is also open to hikers and horseback riding. A group of mountain bikers even visited on a recent weekend to size up the land. Still, Grieshop admits ATV groups will probably rule the hills.
“They will dominate,” he said. “They will absolutely dominate.”
East Kentucky Becomes Big Draw for Off-Roaders
by Roger Alford
The Associated Press
www.ap.org
Published: October 2004
HARLAN, Ky. - Out-of-state license plates tell the story of eastern Kentucky's rising popularity among off-roaders.
Pickup trucks bearing tags from as far away as Florida and Ohio roll through town, some pulling trailers laden with all-terrain vehicles, others carrying brawny rock-crawling machines, on their way to some of Kentucky's harshest terrain.
They're pouring into a region where coal mining has turned mountaintops into off-roader paradise.
"They love it here," said Preston McLain, a member of the group Harlan County Ridge Runners who guides visitors on rides along the Kentucky-Virginia line. "We've got views from these mountaintops that you don't find anywhere else."
Thousands of miles of rocky, rutted mountain roads have made eastern Kentucky a primary destination for a growing number of people who ride all-terrain vehicles or plod cross-country in four-wheel-drive trucks and SUVs with tires that look like they came off a farm tractor.
Andy Jones, director of strategic development in Harlan County, wants to capitalize on the phenomenon to rejuvenate a local economy as rocky as any of the backwoods trails.
While some other communities have frowned on off-roaders, Harlan County welcomes them. Jones said people in Harlan want to draw more riders to spend money in hotels, restaurants and shops.
"People are serious about it," he said. "I see tremendous potential. This is part of the strategy we have to improve the economy of our county."
Harlan County leaders have leased 7,000 acres of abandoned coal mine land, complete with an assortment of rugged trials and roads, and are working on adding about 30,000 additional acres.
That land is open to the monstrous off-road vehicles, ATVs, even dirt bikes, and has already begun to pay off, said Ronnie Shoope, a member of the group Kentucky Mountain Crawlers.
"I'd like to see the entire state get into this," Shoope said. "We have all this land sitting here perfect for this. It's prime for tourism."
Shoope said liability issues can be a problem for off-roaders on private land. Harlan County solved the problem by leasing the land and accepting the liability. The county leaders hope to be able to apply revenues from coal-severance taxes to the cost of insurance.
"This probably is the single best tourism plan," Shoope said. "It's not only going to give local people something to do, but it will create a market for people to come from out of town."
Some of the eastern Kentucky back roads, originally built for coal trucks, wind through the mountains for 100 miles or more, linked through a network of abandoned surface mines. That's enough road to ride for an entire weekend without seeing the same place twice.
Kentucky Tourism Commissioner Randy Fiveash said he wants to promote all aspects of outdoor recreation, including motor sports, while at the same time protecting the environment.
"Kentucky is so fortunate to have the incredible beauty, woodlands and the hills, that are just incredible places that people want to see and be a part of," he said.
Jones believes that the abandoned coal mines that have left many of eastern Kentucky's mountaintops treeless could hold the key to turn the region into a center for off-road recreation. People want to see views from atop the Appalachians, he said.
Jones said off-road activities will be simply one part of Harlan County's tourism package. He said people already are flooding in to see the elk, black bear, deer and turkey that have become so plentiful.
All of eastern Kentucky is reaping benefits from changes in the way Americans approach vacations since the war against terrorism began. Often, they're forgoing the big cities for outdoor activities, he said.
"It really gives us an edge in this area," he said. "People are looking to get away, and we're an ideal place to get away from the stresses of life."
ATV paradise: Abandoned mining roads make for mountain-climbing thrills
by Roger Alford
The Associated Press
www.ap.org
Published: May, 2005
Tony Novick leaned against his ATV on an Appalachian ridge top, downing a lunch of beans and franks and enjoying the view of a distant mountain shrouded by clouds.
Novick is one of a new breed of tourists flooding into the mountains to ride four-wheelers across seemingly endless miles of abandoned roads left behind when mining companies pulled out.
"What a great place," said Novick on the first day of a four-day visit to the remote city of Evarts in Harlan County. "The views are incredible."
Local leaders have developed a plan to turn the roads that wind around steep ridges and mountaintops into an off-road paradise. Brock said the hope is that the Harlan County tourism initiative will beef up an ailing coalfield economy.
Already, people from across the country are coming to Harlan County to ride the rugged trails. Some pull in trailers laden with all-terrain vehicles. Others favour brawny rock-crawling machines.
"It's awesome," said visitor Darrell Brock. "You've got views for miles in every direction. It doesn't get any better than this."
Novick said he decided to vacation in eastern Kentucky after reading about the rocky, rutted mountain roads in the coalfields. He was one of about 30 people eating lunch at an isolated picnic spot on an early spring afternoon.
"I like the steep trails," Novick said. "It's nice to get up top and be able to see everywhere, for miles."
While many other places in Kentucky frown on off-roaders, Harlan County welcomes them. "Our town is ATV-friendly," said Benny Coleman, owner of an Evarts hardware store. "You can ride your ATV through the city and not be ticketed."
Coleman said the city council made sure of that by passing an ordinance a year ago to give ATV riders that freedom.
Preston McLain, president of the ATV club Harlan County Ridge Runners, said some of the eastern Kentucky back roads wind through the mountains for 160 kilometres or more, linked through a network of abandoned surface mines.
McLain said he foresees a day when counties throughout the mountain region join to promote off-road tourism. Already, several other counties are considering following Harlan County's lead.
"We have views that rival the Smokey Mountains," McLain said. "The tourism potential is incredible."
Novick agrees. "I know, the way this is going, they're going to have to build more motels," he said. "When people find out about this place, they're going to come, and they're going to come back."
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Other web articles:
Back to Black Mountain, Kentucky
ATV Connection
Sept. 2006
A Trip to Black Mountain OHV Park
ATV Connection
2005
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