New ATV Trail Camp now open near Mercer trailhead site

A former coal mining site in Mercer County is now providing lodging to riders of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.

Located on Coaldale Mountain, the new ATV TrailCamp is only a 30-second drive from the Hatfield-McCoy trailhead near Bramwell.

“It is as close as you can get,” Todd Boggess, owner of the ATV lodge, said. “It is really bed to trails.”

Planning for the ATV TrailCamp began in 2019 when an Abandoned Mine Land (AML) grant was awarded for the project by Gov. Jim Justice. But then efforts to convert the property into ATV lodging was slowed by the pandemic.

“Probably around 2019 is when we started to put it together,” Boggess said. “Then we were successful with some AML funding for the project. But trying to get a lot of work done during the pandemic was definitely a challenge. It took longer than anticipated.”

In order to qualify for AML funding, projects must be located on or adjacent to mine sites that ceased operations prior to the signing of the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act on Aug. 3, 1977.

“It was actually a mining site,” Boggess said of the land that is also known as the former Blizzard property.

The new lodge pays tribute to its history, including a recognition of those coal miners who were killed in an explosion on July 4, 1906. Either a fire damp or mine gas caused the explosion that claimed the lives of 22 coal miners. Initial media reports put the death toll at 21, but another body was found at a later date.

“It is something that is very important to me and the ATV TrailCamp,” Boggess said. “We want to tell the story of Coaldale and what happened here.”

In addition to being a former mining site, the area is probably best known for the three large crosses that can be seen on the top of the hill at Coaldale Mountain. Boggess said it was important to keep the three crosses in place, which motorists traveling Route 52 toward McDowell County have viewed for decades.

Lodging has been an urgent need for the multi-county Hatfield-McCoy Trail system, which attracts thousands of off-road visitors to southern West Virginia each year.

The trail camp had a soft opening earlier this summer, and already has housed visitors from multiple states, including Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Louisiana.

“We kind of eased into it as different cabins came online,” Boggess said. “Then as we got more units online we were able to start renting more. Our plan is to do an official groundbreaking type thing with AML and the state. All of the units are now open and available for rent.”

Boggess said the project was made possible with assistance from the state and the county.

“My partner on this has been the Mercer County Development Authority,” he said. “John O’Neal and the county commissioners have all been very supportive. (Development Authority Executive Director) John O’Neal has been with me through the whole process. He has been extremely supportive, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Boggess, also president of E T Boggess Architect Inc. in Princeton, said the lodge offers two-bedroom units and single bedroom units, including an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible cabin.

The ATV TrailCamp has been busy since its opening.

“It looks like we are going to have a busy fall,” Boggess said. “Some weekends are totally booked already. We’ve had some great guests and everyone seems to like the cabins and the location.”

Boggess said local West Virginia products also are incorporated into the lodge, including “real beds” from Imperial Bedding in Huntington.

— Contact Charles Owens at [email protected]

— Contact Charles Owens at [email protected]. Follow him @BDTOwens

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