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Harlan KY |
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The off-road park in Harlan County Kentucky is located on Big Black Mountain and it is near the Virginia border. Some areas of the mountain tops go to near 3500 ft. in the park. It lies between U.S. 119 and Ky 38. It has approx. 6000 acres. The land was strip mined in several different coal seams at different elevations, and before that it was deep mined. In between the different levels of coal haul roads it has been logged at different times. This has led to an unbelievable amount of trails. Many of these old trails have been cleared of fallen trees and have been made passable. New trails will continue to open every year. The area has lots of rocks, both natural and placed by the coal company. There are several overlooks and the scenery is great. The main entrance is at the city of Evarts where gas and supplies are available just 8 miles east of Harlan on Ky 38. There are several sites to see in the area such as a coal mining museum, portal 31 which is a coal mine that you can actually go in. Martins fork lake is in the south end of the county and is near Stone mountain which has some beautiful scenery. Also in the park is Blanton forest, an old growth forest that has never been logged. It has hiking trails and great scenery. Wildlife is plentiful with black bear, wild turkey, elk, coyote, and deer. You may be able to see any of these in the park. This area is maintained by the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers. For the latest information, see their web site http://www.kymc.org/. We've been there a couple of times. Check out the links below for directions and pictures: This page last updated on 06/22/2008. |