KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. –West Virginia’s newest outdoor recreation development is set to host a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday to showcase its progress.
Appalachian Outlaw Trails, located in Belle, will offer 25 miles of trails for ATVs, dirt bikes, side-by-sides, and full-size vehicles as part of an effort to help transform the Upper Kanawha Valley. The development will also feature trailheads, camping areas, event venues, and retail amenities.
Co-founders Eric Larch and Chris Inghram joined MetroNews Midday to discuss their progress and share what attendees can expect during the ceremony.
“We are going to have a large off-road park with different vehicles being able to experience the outdoors, enjoy the trail system that we’re going to provide, along with having an outdoor recreation resort tied to that with lodging, camping, amenities, and everything it takes to kind of propel you into the off-road space, but also sustain you to do different activities for outdoor recreation,” Larch said.
He said they are nearing the completion of phase one, as they have already finished construction, completed the layout, redone the road entrance, and installed utilities for the camping areas.
Inghram said this groundbreaking is a huge step for the project that began in 2021.
“This is a huge, monumental portion of our project, get to break ground on our welcome center, our campground, and let everybody come up and see what we’re starting to do,” he said. “We’ll have some renderings you can get an idea of what we’re going to build. It’s just super exciting that it’s finally here.”
During the ceremony, they will have several key speakers including Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Delegate Tresa Howell, Delegate Tristian Leavitt, Kanawha County Commissioners Lance Wheeler and Natalie Tennant, and Advantage Valley’s Terrell Ellis.
Larch said these partnerships, and others, have helped them get to where they are today
“Our partnerships with the county commission, along with the Governor’s office, the office of Tourism with Chelsea Ruby, those partnerships have taken something that Chris and I kind of got the snowball rolling, and kind of got the ground works started, but has elevated us to places that we didn’t know we could be at this point,” he said.
Inghram said their main goal is to promote tourism through this new area.
“My vision is someone from in-state or out-of-state to coming to see our beautiful capital, coming up to the park and riding and spending a few days, then leaving from there and hitting the New River Gorge, and checking out Fayetteville and checking out all of the beautiful things out there,” he said.
Once phase one is complete, they are planning on putting an Ampitheater and a multi-purpose building.
They expect to open AOT in May 2026.
The groundbreaking ceremony is set to be held Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at 1100 Colonel Pauley Drive, which is across from Riverside High School.