so i've been to hm trails 3 times already this year
yep, i am addicted. all on my 2000 drz400kick. going back a 4th time in a few days.
here's my views on it.
i rode matewan (buffalo mtn) in 6" of snow. that was grueling, but still a ton of fun. the single track is brutal in the snow. i'd really like to go back and try it when i can see the surface..
i've ridden rockhouse 3 times - by far my favorite - but ice was an issue each time - you can see the large ice patches far enough in advance though..... it's a big trail system, there's a ton of variation, the trails seem to drain very well - yes there is a lot of water, but most can be avoided.
bear wallow has a bunch of closed trails (mostly all the blue stuff...) - i road every single trail (except 88 and 59) in about 6 hours. but i was really moving, i wanted to try little coal river in the same day...
little coal river is very atv oriented..smooth wide dirt. and tons of mud/large mud pits with axle deep sticky mud.... i would not go back there unless it had been dry for at least 5 days....
i only go weekdays pretty much - there's never anyone on the trails on weekdays. i've done a few sundays too, but it's been cold so not a lot of traffic (the most i saw was 4 or 5 quads a day - haven't seen another bike yet..)
i ride all the blue and green trails, and the occasional black trail. mostly the black trails are basically blue trails with a big tough hillclimb somewhere in there. i spent an hour climbing one hill (end of 94 at bear wallow). you don't wanna get lulled into the 'this trail ain't nothing' feel - the black trails are definitely challenging somewhere. i have been good and stuck on occasion...
you can easily spend all day at any of the trails systems. you could spend several at rockhouse and still not do it all. the same trail is totally different going the opposite direction.
i've only ridden these trails 100% alone. kinda scary - i've had one good 35 mph wreck in which i saw stars - and checked for broken bones. aqnd a few slow speed get offs, but i've been lucky so far. as for the bike, only broke a clutch lever, killed a set of tires, stretched a brand new chain to uselessness, broke a front and rear spoke. bought and installed a new super heavy duty chain at one trailhead.. no flats (i run 16lbs).
i'm going back down on sun/mon/tue this week. (mar 1/2/3) and gonna ride rockhouse and maybe indian ridge/pinnacle creek/matewan/buffalo mtn/ dunno..definitely not little coal river - it's raining today. this time i'm bringing 3 other guys (3 dirt bikes, 1 utv) which should be interesting. if anyone is interested in going feel free to email me at
info@stainlesscycle.com.. i have cheap lodging and transport..
i stay in man, wv which is real central, cheap, and very dirt bike friendly. and there's a nice husaberg dealer at one trailhead.... fuel has not been an issue at any trail yet. i think i have about an 80 mile range full of fuel, so after 50 miles or so i start figuring out turning back. i've been on reserve once.. rockhouse has fuel at both ends. bufallo mtn, bear wallow, and little coal river do not.
it's been 30-40 degrees each time i've went, which is not bad - you're definitely working enough to keep warm. it would be probably unbearably hot in august with atgatt..
oh and if you wonder about tires/riding surfaces: buffalo mtn/rockhouse/bearwallow are hard/intermediate surfaces - mostly rock..rockhouse has a ton of softball sized loose rock.. d952's hold up well (i destroyed a set of michelin s12 in 2 days..) little coal river is 90% soft dirt..kinda like most of ohio/pa that i've ridden. there is almost no gravel stuff on anything i've ridden (well i dunno about bufallo mtn - it was 75% snow). i've had good luck with the d952 tires, and i have a spare rear trials tire i'm probably gonna mount on the next bike...most of the big hill climbs are entirely loose large rock, which is why i'm probably gonna change to the trials tire.
tons of elevation changes/switchbacks at all trail systems. very well maintained - i started way early in the season, and only found 2 unpassable trees total on all the trails. (i've done maybe 400 miles on the systems) 1 i carried the bike over, and 1 i rode way around. there is the occasional rockslide blocking part of the trails, but not a problem for dirt bikes. dunno how the atv's/utv's get around. if you have a serious fear of heights, i would think twice. there are ALOT of major cliffs/mountain side riding. you could easily fall a great distance if you were not smart. none of the trails i've ridden can you really really open it up - i've been to 40mph for some short bursts, but there are no real long straight aways. all the switchbacks and a lot of the turns are burmed high enough to hit relatively fast. these trails will make you a better rider guaranfuckingteed. i met an atv rider from michigan when i was at rockhouse the second time - he said he dropped his atv offa cliff, fucked his wrist up, had to winch the quad out and was not riding that day, and said "i'm from michigan - this is totally different riding for me...i ain't used to this mountain shit". his quad looked definitely abused.. oh and if you're an atv guy - these are mostly 4x4 atv trails, not really sport quad stuff.. the videos on youtube do not do justice to the hm trail system. it is bigger and gnarlier than it appears on video....... sure you could go down there and ride lazily, but why?
trails are really well marked, maps are extremely accurate. red and black means really fucking difficult - almost impossible - some really scary superman challenge typa shit.. black means difficult (there are some very long/steep/rock hillclimbs, tight turns, very little room for error stuff - you will not be lazy on the black trails. blue means have some suspension/power - probably what a gncc trail is like - and some abilities. green means a 100cc 4 stroke could do it.. this may change a bit when the trails are drier and there's no slick rock. but not much. if you are not used to mountain riding, this will be a totally new experience for you.
any dual sport can do green and blue trails. i would not even remotely attempt red/black trails on anything less than a serious dirt oriented bike. if you have street legal tires you will not complete a red/black section without major major effort or ungodly skills.
just riding these trails non-stop for quite a bit of time has improved my dirt abilities 10 fold. i'm not tentative, can really hustle offroad now, and am ready to get a more woods/trail oriented/lighter bike. i think i've pushed my drz400 too it's usefull limits with me anyways. the suspension is great for this stuff ( really plush!), but the weight to power ratio is just killing the super technical single track/big tough stuff - a few more hp and a few less lbs and i'd be golden - i'm looking for a ktm 450 exc/mxc (or maybe a te/tc510) in the next few weeks..i really should get a 250 2 stroke 200lb woods killer, but i'm so addicted to the lugability of the 4 stroke, i'm not sure i wanna go back...
i have a buncha pics on my cell phone. unfortunately i can't figure out how to get the damn things offa the phone and on to the computer.
anyways, if you're planning on going down, feel free to email me - i'm always looking for someone to ride with..
