Va.’s Spearhead Trail: Officials hope to see construction by this spring

By KATE COIL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

POCAHONTAS, Va. —
The Spearhead Trail system could be open to ATV traffic by the end of the year in Tazewell County.

Tazewell County Administrator Jim Spencer said he is hoping to see
construction begin on the section of the Spearhead Trail in the
Pocahontas and Boissevain area by spring.

“It appears when the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority meets on
Jan. 28, they will authorize their chairman to sign agreements with the
state for the trail system,” Spencer said. “Once the agreement with the
state is signed we can start building trails.”

Spencer said logging trails already existing in the area will aid in the construction of the trail system in Tazewell County.

“There is one other land owner we have to contract with and we are
hoping by spring to start construction,” Spencer said. “Of the 53 trail
routes we have mapped, some are old logging trails already mapped and
some will be brand new. We will be talking with contractors to see how
long it takes to get it done. We will be as aggressive as possible in
getting that done.”

Chuck Riedhammer, executive director of the Southwest Regional
Recreation Authority (SRRA), said he would like to see at least part of
the trail in Tazewell County open to riders by the end of the year.

“In Tazewell, we are wrapping up a long process with the Department of
Corrections because part of the trail goes through their property in
Pocahontas,” Riedhammer said. “We have gotten the mapping and surveys
done. We are just signing the agreements and getting all of that taking
care of. By spring, we are hoping to be out to bid and get the design
going. There is some environmental mitigation we have to do as well. We
are very conscientious when we do these trails. We don’t cut trees over a
certain size and watch drainage, things of that nature. If things go
well, we want to have at least a portion of the trail completed by the
end of the year and open to the public. We plan for certain things, and
if everything goes well we could have some of that trail open by this
fall or the end of the year.”

Riedhammer said progress is also being made on the section of the Spearhead Trail in Buchanan County.

“We are working to get funding for the trail system,” he said. “We hope
to open the system in 2014. We were up there last month to talk with
them. The Buchanan County Board of Supervisors is working and refining
their ordinance to allow ATVs on roadways. We want to be able to get
ATVs from the trails to the commerce centers so people can shop, get
gas, and set up camp sites or stay the night.”

Riedhammer said the goal is to make the Spearhead Trail system an
economic engine for Southwest Virginia in the same way the
Hatfield-McCoy Trails have stimulated local economies in WV West
Virginia. When completed, the Spearhead Trail system should extend
through seven Southwest Virginia counties and the independent city of
Norton.

“You have a very successful model across the border in West Virginia
called the Hatfield-McCoy Trails,” Riedhammer said. “One of the
interesting things I have seen was actually in the Bluefield Daily
Telegraph. There was an ad for a real estate agency advertising
proximity to the Hatfield-McCoy trails. It shows these trails are such
an economic driver real estate agents are using them to advertise.”

Riedhammer said the trail system alone brings millions in dollars in revenue to West Virginia.

“Hatfield-McCoy generates $20 million in economic impact, and they are
selling approximately 27,000 to 30,000 permits a year, which generates
millions in revenue,” he said. “Even if we do half of that, it will be
significant. We expect to be generating that much as soon as 2017. We
are looking at 500 to 700 miles of trail system throughout the
seven-county region. We are looking into equestrian trails and other
things for the future, but we don’t want to get too far ahead. You have
to take it one step ahead.”

In addition to bringing in revenues from permits, Riedhammer said the
Spearhead Trail System has the potential to expand support businesses
including restaurants and hotels in Southwest Virginia.

“Just like happened in West Virginia, we anticipate this will create
jobs, really create opportunities for adventure tourism and
entrepreneurs with ATV shops and repair, hotels, lodging and
restaurants,” Riedhammer said. “In our case, we have some advantages in
that. Virginia’s highway system is a little better and we have a lot of
infrastructure. We have really been working on revitalizing our
downtowns. In addition to this trail, people can take advantage of
museums, the Crooked Road and all sorts of other tourism sites in the
area.”

Though the Hatfield-McCoy Trail system has served as a model for the
Spearhead Trail, Riedhammer said his goal is for the trails in Southwest
Virginia to be the best.

“There is no real, safe and legal place to ride in Southwest Virginia,
so we are leaking money to other states,” Riedhammer said. “We want a
good place for our local people to ride. There is more demand than there
are trail systems. We want to bring in a structured riding environment
and to create a family friendly environment. We get calls every week
asking when we will open, but it’s much more complex than people
realize. You can’t just drive a bulldozer through the woods. There is a
standard we want to meet, and we want ours to be the best.”

— Contact Kate Coil at kcoil@bdtonline.com


http://bdtonline.com/local/x1633444994/Va-s-Spearhead-Trail-Officials-hope-to-see-construction-by-this-spring

Very nice.

Thats great news...

For those of us that are not local to that area and willing to travel to places to ride, that is good news!! For those that are local and don't travel to other riding location, I am sure they are not happy. When it says a lot of the trails are already there, someone has been riding for free!!

That's right I agree with that. Hopefully they will want to see their community small biz do better with this trail. And.... I can bet they will still have trials that they can use.

Even though I live in Southwest Va it is still going to be closer for me to drive to Matoaka which is less than 67 miles from my house and if I want to spend the night somewhere I will just stay in Ashland or Crumpler.It will be good for people that live closer to those areas but won't be worth my drive since I go can from Matoaka to anywhere I want.

Bobby D wrote:

Even though I live in Southwest Va it is still going to be closer for me to drive to Matoaka which is less than 67 miles from my house and if I want to spend the night somewhere I will just stay in Ashland or Crumpler.It will be good for people that live closer to those areas but won't be worth my drive since I go can from Matoaka to anywhere I want.

From Blacksburg it's only a few miles farther to Bramwell than to Matoaka, from what I read on the SRRA site, there will eventually be a trail head in Pocahontas, right across the border from the Pocahontas ATV resort. Anyway, it's great that Virginia wants to have a trail system like Hatfield McCoy, the more trails the better!

handymancanfixit wrote:

Bobby D wrote:

Even though I live in Southwest Va it is still going to be closer for me to drive to Matoaka which is less than 67 miles from my house and if I want to spend the night somewhere I will just stay in Ashland or Crumpler.It will be good for people that live closer to those areas but won't be worth my drive since I go can from Matoaka to anywhere I want.

From Blacksburg it's only a few miles farther to Bramwell than to Matoaka, from what I read on the SRRA site, there will eventually be a trail head in Pocahontas, right across the border from the Pocahontas ATV resort. Anyway, it's great that Virginia wants to have a trail system like Hatfield McCoy, the more trails the better!

I agree the more trails the better for everyone.I'm sure they will have there own permit fees I'm sure.

The more trails the better. That's more to run if we ever get bored, plus it will open up a whole new hobby for locals down there.

Speaking of running new trails, my list is getting big. I'm gonna do some serious riding soon. I need to ride Sanderson, the Parkersburg area with Jimbob, and I would like to run all the H&M trails. Only been to little coal river and Pinacle creek before Indian ridge was ever opened. I'm getting behind, but still ahead of Tbone.