If you have been thinking about going and riding the Hatfield – McCoy trails… Quit thinking and start planning! For those of you that don’t know, West Virginia has miles upon miles of off road trails for ATV’s, UTV’s, and dirt bikes and they are great! We rode Devils Anse, Buffalo Mountain, and Rock House totaling 195 Miles in 2.5 Days, the trails were absolutely awesome and the towns were so welcoming. I realized why I love my SXS so much, the views I got to see I would never be able to see any other way. We truly take so much for granted. Prior to my accident, I absolutely loved exploring our beautiful PA wilds, now it is a little more difficult to access locations that I had once hiked to. Why can’t PA be more like West Virginia? We live in such a beautiful place and have so much to offer, why fight us? Why not LISTEN and WORK with us! People like myself spend thousands on a UTV, ATV, or Dirt Bike and the PA Game Commission thinks that we are just going to let them sit in the garage? By no means am I being ignorant about Law Enforcement, but why can’t we all work together and build something in our area to connect the surrounding towns LEAGALLY?
I know what some of you are thinking at this point, what about the ones that act immature and ruin it for everyone? I saw the coolest thing in West Virginia- the people patrol the trails and all work together to keep them as safe as possible. Yes, you will see some accidents and I feel that is a given in most outdoor activities as things do happen. However some positives to this would be the jobs that could possibly be created such as trail maintenance, ATV/UTV rentals, DCNR expanding their force, and not to mention the tourism it would bring to our area! Charge a yearly fee, I know so many people that would not have any issue paying the yearly fee just to be able to have access to legal trails in our area. Think of the revenue PA, open your eyes to this great opportunity! Heck, I know a lot of people pay yearly for leased land. Like I stated, we pay thousands for these machines and WE WANT TO USE THEM LEAGALLY. It honestly is no fun riding when you have to constantly look over your shoulder and worry if you’re on camera or if DCNR will be around the next turn. Opening a good trail system would eliminate a lot of the illegal riding around our area, so why not work with us? The PA wilds has so much to offer and so many roads that are already in place to connect our towns. In my situation as well as many others, being wheelchair bound, a UTV is the only way that I may get to see the great outdoors!
The Elk County Riders are doing an excellent job trying to create a trail system, but it is such a shame about all of the obstacles that they have to jump through . Riders of PA lets be heard, in a kind way! We need to seek higher power and see what steps must be taken, its not going to be an easy road, but lets stick together and DO THIS. For those of you reading this, respect others property and quit ripping the woods up - that will get us no where! This is just the start and I need your HELP.
Sincerely,
Zac Wolfe (Adaptive Outdoorz)