MULLENS — Under brilliantly sunny skies, officials opened the Mullens link to the Hatfield-McCoy Recreational Trails System Thursday.

Gov. Joe Manchin cut the ribbon marking the official opening. However, a few riders took advantage of the newest link in the trail system earlier in the day.

“This has been a long-awaited day,” Mayor Jon McKinney said, adding the link is the beginning of “good things to come” for Mullens.

“This is a great day for the city of Mullens and a great day for southern West Virginia,” said Jeff Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreational Trails Authority.

Lusk said it is the eighth community connector opened within the trail system and has been the most difficult to construct thus far.

“Mullens is the gateway to the Twin Falls connector,” Lusk said.

Twin Falls Resort State Park will be the first state park linked to the 600-mile, multi-county trail system, Lusk explained.

Officials hope to have the park connector opened within a year, but the next step is for city officials in Mullens to identify their preferred exit route, Lusk noted.

“This will do for Mullens what Pinnacle Creek did for Pineville,” Lusk said.

He anticipates new lodging facilities to open in the area, along with ATV rental businesses and increased traffic in existing restaurants in Mullens.

“This will do amazing things for Mullens,” Lusk said.

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Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, lauded Manchin for his part in adding Twin Falls to the trail system. The project is designed to help the park lodge become self-sustaining and is reason enough for the state to provide $6 million for a 30-room expansion to the lodge.

“You’ve taken the initiative,” Manchin said of the county. “The state can’t do everything for you.”

Manchin said the government’s most important responsibility is to provide infrastructure for communities. He considers money invested in infrastructure to improve quality of life for residents a worthy return.

Connecting the trail system to the park makes it a viable economic development project — a project that can grow, Manchin said.

A “park and ride” facility will be constructed outside the park boundaries for ATV trail riders, Lusk said.

The 1-acre project will provide space for riders to park their trucks, ATVs and trailers and still stay in the park lodge. Park visitors will not see ATVs inside the park.

The new connector will link with the existing Pinnacle Creek trail in Wyoming County, which will eventually connect to the Indian Ridge trail in McDowell County, Lusk said. Thus, riders will be able to access 200 miles of trails from Mullens, he explained.

Browning also lauded the county commission for supporting the trails and noted it was the first commission to endorse the trail system more than a decade ago.

“The commission doesn’t get anything back from the trail system,” Browning noted. “They did this for Wyoming County, for the people of this area.”

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