Published: November 16, 2009 05:08 pm      

Spearhead Trails — Project holds promise for region

Sometimes there isn’t a need to reinvent the wheel. That’s the strategy Southwest Virginia leaders are taking with the proposed seven-county Spearhead Trails.

Project organizers are hoping to emulate the highly successful Hatfield-McCoy Trails in neighboring southern West Virginia. And, in many ways, the Hatfield-McCoy Trails are largely the inspiration for the Spearhead Trails.

A newly released economic impact study is suggesting great promise for Southwest Virginia with the proposed Spearhead Trails.

According to the report released last week, the seven-county trail system could attract as many as 200,000 visitors to Southwest Virginia and add an additional $30 million in new revenue to the local economy. The study also concluded the trail system could create 300 to 500 new jobs for the Southwest Virginia region over the next 10 years.

The trail system is proposed for ATV riders, bikes, hikers, canoeists, horseback riders, naturalists and others. The trails are planned for the counties of Tazewell, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Wise and the city of Norton.

The Pocahontas community, which has openly embraced the concept of the Spearhead Trails in recent weeks, could be the first community to benefit from the project because of its strategic location near the state line of West Virginia, and its close proximity to a proposed trailhead site of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails in neighboring Bramwell.

“I think there are many things we can learn from the West Virginia trail, and use them as a model. So we are excited about the potential of these trails,” Tazewell County Administrator Jim Spencer said last week.

Jim Campbell Jr., who was sworn in last week as the new Northern District Board of Supervisor member, said the Pocahontas community has embraced the idea of the Spearhead Trails.

We share in the excitement over the Spearhead Trails. If officials in Southwest Virginia can follow the success of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, the economic and tourism benefits could be far-reaching for the greater Southwest Virginia region.

We look forward to this new tourism opportunity.