Hatfield/mccoy Trail System Experience

Mattallica · September 2, 2009

for all those who have been down there to ride...

1)whats your favorite trail system?

2) why?

3) what were you riding for a machine?

4) what town did you stay in?

5) what would you classify your riding style as,...fast...leisurely....etc,..?

I went down last year with 2 buddies we rode our MX bikes...stayed in Man,WV..had some rain,was pretty wet...but we had a good time.

would like to plan another trip was just wondering what others experience with the other trail systems were like.

We had another group of guys go down ahead of us..they came back said we would never make 1/2 the tuff trails because we were on MX bikes ( as opposed to their utility quads).It was some challenging stuff for sure...but we had little problem,...nothing to deter us from doing it all over the next day.We rode the Rockhouse system out of Man...to Gilbert.A few people said this was the more challenging system to ride.

What would be your experience?

90454SS · September 2, 2009

Some time ago we came in thru gilbert and went up thru rockhouse I believe to get to the red\black trails. Our groups' made up of enduro vets and the trails weren't all that diffcult for us....we compete thru alot of similar terrain in our enduro series. My yz250, a few kx250's and a yz250f all converted for offroad use were our rides. We got lost some as we just started wandering...missing turns as our lead rider is an A-level rider so the speeds were fast. We stayed at a friends locally. Next we're doing it on our dual sport bikes.

Mattallica · September 2, 2009

Dual sports sounds like a bit more of a challenge.

My buddies were riding rmz250 and crf 250's..they did fine...I ride a 2000 cr250 which is an ex race bike....Boyesen ported jug,boyesen rad valve,pro circuit mx pipe....its a bit of a freak to ride on tight stuff,as the pipe and porting 'snap on' at about 1/4 throttle and the bike either wheel stands or blows the back end loose.

I re-geared it ...added 11oz. flywheel and a longer /spark arrestor silencer...that toned it down quite a bit...but that was after the trip,so I'm curious to know how its trail manners are now.

If we go back down I was just wondering if some of the other systems were maybe better than the Rockhouse trails or if we should just hit the same place again.Its a 15 hr trip one way to get there so I want to make the most of it....probably should plan on a full week stay and hit some different spots.

700 sportsman · September 3, 2009

Wow 15hrs. I thought 6 hours was long, me and some buddies are planning a trip down there next year some time, and I've been doing some research, but I'd like to see what all you folks have to say

I ride a 2007 Polaris Sportsman 700, my dad rides a 03 Foreman Rubicon500, and my buddy rides a 450R

Mattallica · September 3, 2009

we went down in early April...I'd schedule May or later...April is cool and wet according to our host when we were there.

Rockhouse trails out of Man were awesome...we stayed about a mile from the trail head,rented a modular with a decent sized shed/garage for the machines.place was 3 bedroom 2 baths it was clean and the owner's name was Buddy...great guy...I'd have to look for his contact info,it was on the trailsheaven website list.We rode (legally!!) down the road to the gas stations,thru town and up the trails!!

Sure wont get away with that in NY!!....I even saw a line of atv's at the drivethru window at the Wendy's or Burger King or whatever it was.

At one point we ended up on one of the black(?) trails and it was no joke to say the least...just wide enough for a quad...if you went of the edge it was probably a 70-80* sloped mountain side for 100' plus.They literally cut the path up the face of these slopes in a continuos 'Z' pattern.I hit the bottom in 3rd gear pinned and lost it after the 3rd or 4th switch back about 100' from the top,when the bike bogged out in first gear.

If you were to take the front wheel of my dirt bike and put it on the tailgate of my 4wd Silverado,leaving the rear wheel on the ground...this would give you an idea of how steep it was.The best was coming back the second day (from the top down) to find that the rain the night before literally washed 1/2 the trail down the side of the mountain for about a 5' section...making it 2' wide at best in that spot...right where a tree was tipped over at head height across the trail!!

Was a GREAT time...even with the few 'get religion' moments!!

Highly recommend Rockhouse system...theres plenty of easy to intermediate stuff if your not into the hard/technical stuff....we clocked almost 100 miles the first day....stopped in Gilbert for lunch and refuel...were gone for about 8 hrs total.

J-man67 · September 3, 2009

HA! A buddy and myself have been talking about this for a few years now. I just want to ride on the streets!! Nah, I would love to hit the trails; I hear great things. Just running low on play-time these days....someday I'll make it!

Mattallica · September 3, 2009

Yeah I hear ya...I have officially ZERO rides this year so far!!!

I did however wash it three times

90454SS · September 3, 2009

Our dual sports are pretty setup for more offroad work than on....I wish we could still get 2stroke dual sports but whatever.

I owned an '00 cr250 and loved the look and handling but it never really progressed much from that format. The yz has a really good stock motor and is a neutral handler...great for rocks.

The H\M trails are ok but have hit some bottlenecks of quads on some of the hills...they don't leave much room to get around.

Mattallica · September 3, 2009

yeah...I didnt want to offend any of the quad riders on here...but some of the people on the utility quads were a real PITA in my book....not all...but some.

We politely followed one group for about 10 minutes....crawling along...........and then the guy in front of me (I was the lead rider in our group,he was pulling up the rear of his)decided to completely shower me with clay....not mud....gobs of clay!!!!

He got abruptly passed and the favor returned....boy a 2 stroke can really tach up when you want it to!!!!!!!

The best was to come tooling around the corner to find a group having a beer break in the middle of the trail!!??!!??

MS3DALE · September 3, 2009

We politely followed one group for about 10 minutes....crawling along...........and then the guy in front of me (I was the lead rider in our group,he was pulling up the rear of his)decided to completely shower me with clay....not mud....gobs of clay!!!!

What an idiot (Him,not you)

Wacko2007 · September 3, 2009

I was there last year in august, went with 15 people

We stayed with Marty at the browning fork trail house/system

Most of us where on sports quads, we didnt have any problems with the terrain, dont get me wrong there are alot of muddy rocky trails, but if thats not for you just stay away from them, thats what i did most of the time

I have a 00banshee with a ton of work, way to pretty to bury in the mud

also have a 07 yfz450

WV is a nice place to ride, the town is ATV friendly, you can ride your quad right into town, Mcdonalds drive through, the bar supermarket

wateva you want as long as your not riding like **** the cops leave you alone

Im going back at the end of october, the time we are staying in the rockhouse cabins, its right on the river, 2miles outside gilbert

I cant wait, its a 13hr drive but it sure is worth it.

Joseph