Info On Harlan (Black Mountain OHV Park, Evarts, KY)

J.C.

J.C.

Volunteer
Moderator
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Location
Greensboro, NC
Just thought I'd cross post this from the CTB members forum. This is some good info that others might want to see.

NateDesign said:
Yep, It was BEAUTIFUL fall weather... It was actually a little warm there in the sun at mid afternoon. We all had to get down to our T-shirts!!! It was a little cool on Friday night, Got down to around 34F I think. Saturday night was not nearly as cold. My truck overhead said 54F when I rolled out of camp at 5:30 AM Sunday morning.

Harlan seems to get better every time I go. They seem to be doing a really good job of putting the money back into the park. And I do mean Park It was VERY clean and they have put up nice looking fence, nice looking signs, Labeling the trails well. Really a Top notch place and Nice people working the stores and Campgrounds etc.

And a Sherriff actually was on patrol in a Side by Side and he says he actually hands out tickets for trespassing without passes, Gives lost people direction and assistance when needed, etc. And informed that he has had some arrests for DUI, He was a very nice fellow to talk to.
Click to expand...

amcjeepman said:
Why can't NC do this? :shaking:
Click to expand...

upnover said:
It's pretty simple James, They were forced!

I had a long talk with the officer, and here's what I learned.

They just recently renewed the lease. The first lease was for five years. The land owners did not want to renew, because of the condition of the park. After some bargaining, they come away with a 25 year lease, with stipulations. The County has to put in $75K a year into the park, and as I understood it, part of that money has to pay for a full time officer. The officer said he works full time at the park, no where else. He works 5 days a week, he picks the days, and could be there at any time. He makes his own schedule!
Talk about a rough job, he has to watch wheelin alllll dayyyyy long! LOL

Now for the even better news, and I was really surprised. Last year, the park took in an amazing amount of money through trail fees. Currently, the fee's are $20 for a month pass, and $30 for a year. They took in a whopping $189,000 in fee's and sales at the store! All of which has to go back into the park. 100 % of it! And it shows. We saw heavy equipment working on the road (one of the stipulations). We also saw them adding some bigger rocks into the lower rock garden. When they started out, there were two men working, now, it looks like there are several crews, and equipment.

On a side note: The officer was really impressed with our commander. Nate busted his rear diff cover and lost fluid. He made a puddle, and took a shovel and cleaned it up! Thanks Nate, you made a very positive impression!
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like deputy dog has got it made. Thanx fer sharin that bit, thats purdy kool. Have some family in Cumberland we visit once a year. The people there have always been very humble n friendly. whats funny is that when my cousin bought his first truck (lifted), he was ticketed for there "like Tenn." bumper laws. I guess thats not so now.
 
AThey had over 400K in grant money to spend that they weren;t allowed to until the 25 year lease got finalized in May as I understand it.

I hear there are new trails and a set of park cabins coming ::beer:
 
Back
Top