Published: April 18, 2009 10:43 pm      

Trail expansion expected to boost trail’s popularity

Last year, Burning Rock Off-Road Park sizzled.

But its director believes publicity from a popular national TV show and continued trail expansions will make its first full year scorch.

“If we continue to do as well as we have, we will become what we’ve envisioned,” said Bryan Helmer, the park’s executive director.

Burning Rock spans nearly 8,000 acres near Sophia and offers about 100 miles of trails. Each trail is unique because they are designed for every skill level. About 80 miles of trail are designated for ATV use, and the other 20 are reserved for dirt-bike riders.

The trail’s opening in July 2008 was the culmination of three years’ work for both the Raleigh County Commission and Beaver Coal Co. The commission leases the property, located off Tams Mountain, from Beaver Coal. Beaver Coal operates a store and picnic shelter at the trailhead.

The park’s inaugural year was deemed a success after it attracted 600 dues-paying members and 2,400 visitors.

Last fall, Burning Rock opened about 5 miles of double-track trails, Helmer said. These allow side-by-side riding, and all permitted vehicles are allowed to travel on them. Another 15 to 20 miles of single-track trails for dirt bikes are in the works.

On top of that, Burning Rock is working to develop another 3,000 acres that Helmer said he hopes to have open by year’s end. This land would have about 25 to 30 miles of both double- and single-track trails.

Already, half of the total permits sold in 2008 have been sold in 2009, Helmer said. But he noted this winter’s seemingly constant snow and the weather finally starting to warm up now, which tends to bring in many more riders and more from out-of-state. Currently, Burning Rock’s West Virginian riders are double the ones from out-of-state, but that could soon change.

“We’ve had a lot, already, to come from Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina — even New York and Florida,” he said.

Last fall, Burning Rock was featured on the national TV show, “Fisher’s ATV World.” As many as 700,000 households tune in to Fisher’s every month on both The Outdoor Channel and the Versus network. Helmer said publicity sparked by that episode has already attracted new riders, and trail officials continue their marketing efforts at trade shows.

Helmer said Burning Rock will soon launch a new Web site. The URL of www.burningrockwv.com will remain the same, but the site should contain more information and be more user-friendly.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com