You begin your trip in Charleston, where you rent a pull-behind trailer to carry two four-wheelers. After a lesson in four-wheeler safety, you’re ready to hit the road.
The Robert C. Byrd Highway will take you all the way to Logan. The highway, known locally as “Corridor G” makes traveling to the remote southern coalfields a breeze, and you’re impressed by the highly visible West Virginia Courtesy Patrol that scouts the roadways 24-hours a day looking for stranded motorists.
Chief Logan State Park isn’t hard to find – it’s right off the highway, amid the steep and heavily forested mountains that seem to inch tighter together as you drive deeper into coal country. The Logan are is rich in coal mining history.
The park has something for everyone, especially kids: a waterslide, miniature gold course and riding stables. There’s also a wildlife exhibit that showcases the state’s native animals, and an amphitheatre. Right now, “The Aracoma Story” is playing.
The wake-up call for the next morning comes early: you don’t want to miss a minute of fun at the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area – 80 miles of wild and wonderful ATV opportunity. The trail system is a one-of-a-kind public/private partnership that forms hundreds of miles of ATV trails over mostly private land in eight West Virginia counties. When completed, the trail system will cover 2,000 acres in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia – an area about the size of Massachusetts. The trail system takes its name from the famous family feud that occurred in this area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
At the end of our day, you return to our campsite, exhausted but exhilarated by the fun you’ve had. You have just enough energy left to try and catch part of your dinner at the lake. While you wait for the fish to bite, you throw some burgers on the grill, and then sit back ad watch a gorgeous sunset, and you see for yourself the wonder of West Virginia.
When the moon comes out, and the night is quiet, this is a good time to tell the kids the legend of “Mothman”. This Point Pleasant, W.Va. fable (or…is it?) makes you listen for sounds in the night.
The next morning, you head for Williamson and the Buffalo Mountain Trailhead of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area. With your lunch in a backpack, you’re ready for another full day in the great outdoors. The scenery changes on this leg of your ATV journey, but it’s no less exciting.
After a good night’s sleep (and you needed it), you get back on Corridor G and head north to Nellis, in Boone County. Nellis is home to the beginnings of the National Coal Mine Disaster Museum.
Under construction now, it will be the only underground memorial in the country! It will bear the names of every coal mine disaster victim in the nation-more than 127,000. The Nellis Community Church, which will be the museum’s visitors’ center, houses hundreds of photos and other memorabilia that document life in this small mountain town. The present-day Nellis looks much like it did during its heyday.
That evening after dinner at your campsite, you and the family relax at the amphitheater and watch “The Aracoma Story.” The live outdoor play depicts the local legend of Native American princess Aracoma, and her love for a British soldier captured by her father in the West Virginia hills near their home in 1780.
Your last day includes a walking tour of Matewan, the site of bloody coal mine wars in the 1920s. Several documentaries and a movie have been made about this dark period of history. The “Matewan Massacre” lasted only a minute, but hundreds of shots were fired, and when it was over, ten people were dead or dying. It was the catalyst for the largest insurrection in this country since the Civil War.
After your walking tour, you head for the Hatfield Family Cemetery where the infamous “Devil Anse” Hatfield is buried. Getting to the cemetery requires a bumpy ride up a steep, dirt road, but one look at the imposing statue of “Devil Anse” himself makes the trip worthwhile.
Dinner tonight is at Rita’s Little Diner in Delbarton, where everything is quick but homemade. This roadside restaurant embodies the local flavor. Rita’s pies make your trip to Southern West Virginia even more memorable.
Before leaving for Charleston on Corridor G, you give your kids one last trip down the waterslides at Water Ways in Juilan. While they splash you and your spouse take in a Lazy River ride – a big changed from your ATV trails excitement. As you savor a peaceful moment, you think about all you’ve seen and experienced, and make mental notes for your next adventure to wild, wonderful West Virginia.