Hatfield McCoy Trail System
Browning Fork Trails
September 2008

The Hatfield McCoy trail system is actually 6 separate trail systems that are relatively close together in the southern region of West Virginia. This report is for the Browning Fork Trails portion which lies between the towns of Gilbert and Man and consists of 92 miles of trails and has the largest total mileage of the six trail systems.

There are generally two types of trails here, quad track and single track. The quad track varies in difficulty from "green" being easy to "blue", "black", and "double black" being the most difficult. The single track trails are numbered from 100 to 199. The single track are a single color "orange", but the trail numbers designate the level of difficulty with 100-150 being "more difficult" and 151-199 being the "most difficult" with the difficulty going up with the trail number. So trail 199 is the most difficult trail in the trail system. You'll hear more about trail 199 later.

We started off from North Carolina early Thursday morning with the intention of arriving in time to get some riding in Thursday afternoon. Loading up to leave:





We have four in our group and we are riding 2 KTM 450 EXCs, 1 Kawasaki KLX 250S, and 1 Husqvarna TC250.

On the road:



Josh (HardTaco):



Jerry and Chase:



We pass Pilot Mtn on the way:





At our first gas stop, Josh locks the keys in the truck. We can see them though the window on the seat:



Key retrieval expert:



We make it to Gilbert, unload, gear up, and head up to the ranger station to buy trail passes. We are stoked to be heading out. It is mid-afternoon on Thursday:


My bike, KTM 450 EXC:



Josh (HardTaco), Kawasaki KLX 250S:




Jerry, KTM 450 EXC:




Chase, Husqvarna TC250




And we're off:




Jerry was our guide for most of the trip, he was familiar with the area having been there several times before:







We get our bearings and head up to run the first bit of single track:

 

Trail number 176 which greeted us early on with this nice little climb which was rather difficult!



The trail was very steep, the photos don't really do it justice. And the rock stair steps are just high and slick enough to make it very difficult to make it up. I think Jerry is the only one of us to clean this section. The rest of us had trouble. That pipe on the right is a gas pipeline and greatly limits line selection while making the traversal.






At the top:





Chase cresting the top after a hard fought climb:




Moving on to single track trail 151:




This trail wasn't bad, but near the end it had some very steep drops and was difficult to maintain control, but otherwise that was some very fine single track:














Trail 151 comes out at a crossroads of trails with trail 199 straight ahead:





We decide to hold off on 199 and instead push onward toward the double black quad track trails. We'll save 199 for Friday or Saturday since it's starting to get later on in the afternoon.

We take a break:

 

We hit the double black trails, the most difficult quad track trails in the trail system and they easily earned their notorious rating. These were very steep trails with loose, baby head sized rock strewn all over which moved around unpredictably underneath you. One section seemed to go on forever and you had to keep on the throttle hard the whole time because once you stopped it was extremely difficult to get going again. Josh and I both made it up. I nearly lost it several times, it wasn't pretty but somehow I managed to keep momentum with all those rocks slipping and sliding underneath me while hammering into ledges and deflecting off small boulders. It was Mr Toad's Wild Ride and I was Mr Toad. When I got to the top I was beat and sucking air, it felt like I had just pushed my bike up instead of riding it. That was a very tiring section.







Jerry makes it up, he's whipped:



Chase about ready to crest the final slope:



The trail went about 100 more yards to come out at regular "black" trail 93. Josh and Jerry gave it a go first, but were met with a series of impassable ledges. So they had to turn around and come back down:











We later run into a couple of guys on 4x4 quads that made it up the ledges but they had to use their winches to pull themselves up. One of them said they toppled over backwards while trying to make it. So we didn't feel too bad after that. Dirt bikes don't have winches.

It's beginning to get late so we get our bearings and figure out what next. With only 100 yards from the top it is frustrating to have to turn back now, but the ledges make this section impassable to us. So we head back down and take another double back trail which shoots off to the right on the way down. That one connects with a green trail which leads back to camp.

One the way, Jerry takes an opportune moment to drench Josh by blasting by him right at a big nasty puddle. Josh got soaked!





And he was none too happy. That's the way you want to play, huh? Game on! Jerry bought Josh's dinner that night in an effort to diffuse any potential retaliation.

We locked the bikes up for the night, both man and machine had a much needed rest:




Day 2 begins with Josh playing in the river next to our place:







I was hoping to catch him dunking his bike, but it didn't happen.

 

Our digs for the weekend, pretty nice!






Back on the trails. Our goal today was to ride the blue and black trails over in the direction of the town of Man and pick up single track trail #188 which was nearby, then have lunch in Man, and then make our way back and hit more black trails and single track number 130 on the way back. There were several "points of interest" along the way that we wanted to check out, which are mainly scenic views. There was no shortage of those on this trip, the mountains of WV are gorgeous. And seeing them by dirt bike is something special indeed!
































Our posse:



Self portrait:

 

Stop at a cool rock out cropping:
























We make it over to single track trail 188. It is a high numbered trail, higher than any we have done so far and was also pretty darn hard. It was cut along the side of the mountain. Some portions were so narrow that there was only room for your tire, then pretty much a drop off after that. If you slipped, you would be sliding and tumbling an excruciatingly long way down.

 

So we had lunch at Wendy's in Man and on our way back we do single track trail 130. This trail was a breeze by comparison with the others. It was mostly flat and flowing. It was more similar to the trails we ride here in NC than any of the other ones. There were come tight and twisty sections, but not much elevation changes.










That evening after riding we went and checked out a little track a few miles from our lodge. This view is from the top of a very steep and long climb straight up the side of a hill.




Day Three, Saturday. This is our last day and we want to first do trail 199. Trail 199 the hardest, baddest, blackest trail in the trail system and we wanted to conquer it, or at least say we tried.

199 trail head. We have no idea what is in store for us.



It starts off with a fairly hairy climb. The grade is steep so there are erosion control blocks in place. Those form a sort of steep stair way up in amongst the trees and rocks and eventually wraps around a gnarly switch back to a stopping point. I don't have photos of the first section, but here is the switch back. We all cleaned the first part.

 

Trail 199 climbs a ridge up to black trail 93. I don't know the exact elevation change, but it follows a series of rock out croppings, each one seemingly getting progressively more difficult. Just when we thought we had finished the last one, another one would come up before us not 50 yards down the trail. For each one we would get off our bikes and go check it out, trying to figure out the best line, or only line through. At almost every one, there would be some seemingly impassible ledges immediately followed by some intricately technical rocky sections. We helped each other along the way, each of us getting as far as we could on our own and then the others standing on either side of the trail ready to catch or hold us up if we lost it. The smallest mistake on this trail could literally cost you your life. This trail basically follows the ridge line and on either side is a cliff with long long drops. We soon learned why this trail number 199 - the hardest trail in the system. It was brutal.









This section exacted a toll in blood:























More than a few curse words were uttered. And gestures.



Each section seemed to be harder than the last.

 

The other end of the trail, finally! We thought it would never come. That was one badass trail, the hardest trail I have ever ridden in my life. And the most dangerous. One small mistake there and you could literally die. Do not ever attempt trail 199 by yourself.



At the top we were greeted with nice vistas





But we were too tired at this point to really take it all in.

We eventually recovered from 199 and headed down to run some "blue" and "black" trails before calling it a day. We rode all the single track in the system, and rode the hardest one there was which was 199. I'm still feeling the bruises and am recovering. All in all it was a great trip. I would even say epic. The scenery and vistas were exceptional, the trails were very challenging, and the group was top notch - everyone helped each other, no one got seriously hurt, and we had a great time.

And I loved my Pirellie MT16 rear tire, it was awesome in that stuff:

 

Bad *** trip and ride report!!!

 

great ride report! I'm thinking about going down there for a week or so next year. I've only heard good things about the trails down there.