GILBERT - "Gilbert welcomes trail riders," reads the sign on the town hall. Across the street, the 1950s-inspired diner with an Elvis statue beside the front door welcomes ATV riders and advertises a weekend pancake breakfast.

At least five stores in this Mingo County town sell ATV parts and accessories. Even the local McDonald's allows ATV riders in its drive-thru.

"That McDonald's is one of the most photographed places in town," said Jeff Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System. "There's even YouTube videos of it."

The small town (population 450) began to change after a trailhead to the Browning Fork system for ATV riders opened in 2002, Lusk said. 

To keep up with the influx of ATV riders and their needs, many of the townspeople have become business owners.

"What has happened in Gilbert is repeated over and over," Lusk said. "That was the vision for the [ATV] trail system. An economic development project, not just tourism.

"This is how you change a small town's fate."

Wayne Ellis owns Twin Hollow Campground in Gilbert. The former surface mine has been in Ellis' family for four generations.

Part of the Browning Fork system is on his property. When trail system officials first approached him, he was skeptical.

"I didn't envision people coming in and paying money to ride these mountains," he said.

He was wrong. Trail users increased sixfold from 1996 (when the trails first opened) to 2005, according to an economic impact study by Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research.

Since then, Lusk said, things have only gotten better.

In the first five and a half months of 2008, permit sales revenues are up 60 percent, Lusk said. The trail's permit sale revenue was up 13 percent overall in 2007, he said.

Gilbert's population easily doubles or triples during some weekends because of the riders, he said.

Before the trailhead opened in Gilbert, there were only 16 rooms available for out-of-town guests, he said. Now, there are more than 70, said Bill Reed, a Gilbert businessman and marketing specialist for the Hatfield-McCoy trails. Lusk said that's not nearly enough.

Reed and his father-in-law, Kendell Simpson, own five businesses in Gilbert, including an ambulance service started in 1990 and an auto repair shop started in 2001. That business "never really took off," but managed to stay stable, Reed said.

The two decided to try something different by investing in the Mountain Breeze Motel in 2006.

"And, the folks that were staying there, they were looking for a place to have their ATV repaired," Reed said.

GILBERT - "Gilbert welcomes trail riders," reads the sign on the town hall. Across the street, the 1950s-inspired diner with an Elvis statue beside the front door welcomes ATV riders and advertises a weekend pancake breakfast.

At least five stores in this Mingo County town sell ATV parts and accessories. Even the local McDonald's allows ATV riders in its drive-thru.

"That McDonald's is one of the most photographed places in town," said Jeff Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System. "There's even YouTube videos of it."

The small town (population 450) began to change after a trailhead to the Browning Fork system for ATV riders opened in 2002, Lusk said. 

To keep up with the influx of ATV riders and their needs, many of the townspeople have become business owners.

"What has happened in Gilbert is repeated over and over," Lusk said. "That was the vision for the [ATV] trail system. An economic development project, not just tourism.

"This is how you change a small town's fate."

Wayne Ellis owns Twin Hollow Campground in Gilbert. The former surface mine has been in Ellis' family for four generations.

Part of the Browning Fork system is on his property. When trail system officials first approached him, he was skeptical.

"I didn't envision people coming in and paying money to ride these mountains," he said.

He was wrong. Trail users increased sixfold from 1996 (when the trails first opened) to 2005, according to an economic impact study by Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research.

Since then, Lusk said, things have only gotten better.

In the first five and a half months of 2008, permit sales revenues are up 60 percent, Lusk said. The trail's permit sale revenue was up 13 percent overall in 2007, he said.

Gilbert's population easily doubles or triples during some weekends because of the riders, he said.

Before the trailhead opened in Gilbert, there were only 16 rooms available for out-of-town guests, he said. Now, there are more than 70, said Bill Reed, a Gilbert businessman and marketing specialist for the Hatfield-McCoy trails. Lusk said that's not nearly enough.

Reed and his father-in-law, Kendell Simpson, own five businesses in Gilbert, including an ambulance service started in 1990 and an auto repair shop started in 2001. That business "never really took off," but managed to stay stable, Reed said.

The two decided to try something different by investing in the Mountain Breeze Motel in 2006.

"And, the folks that were staying there, they were looking for a place to have their ATV repaired," Reed said.

The repair shop was expanded to Indian Ridge Off-Road and Custom in February 2007. By April, 82 percent of business at the shop was ATV-related, he said.

Last August, they started an eatery, Crooked Trail Steak and Ribs. Their businesses employ about 60 people.

"We had a vision from early on of what this place could be," Simpson said. "If someone didn't step up and take the lead, then it wasn't going to go."

Both said the impact of the trail system on Gilbert and similar towns is measurable.

"Seeing [Gilbert] transition in the late 1990s, the trailhead, it saved the town," Reed said.

"Without the trail, Gilbert would be like any worked-out coal town," Simpson said. "The trails have taken the disadvantage of living in the mountains and made it something that the entire nation wants to do, to come here and ride ATVs."

Randy Livingood and his wife, Vivian, of Gilbert also took notice of the rising needs of riders. Livingood has sold insurance and cars and managed his family's used-car dealership. He still drives a school bus.

"We started to see an influx of all these out-of-state license plates," he said.

In 2004, the Livingoods decided to give rental lodging a try, Randy said. The test was two units for two years.

"Within six months we were expanding," he said. Now, the Livingood Lodging has two full-sized houses and two cabin-style accommodations, and can hold between 40 and 45 people, he said. On a regular basis, he has to turn people away.

For a town with a history of being completely tied to the coal and timber industry, the opening of such an economic development engine can be at first shocking, then inspiring, he said.

"It can be tough for a country town, like Gilbert, to wake one day and have people say, 'OK folks, you're a national tourist attraction,'" he said. "An entirely new town and business has been opened. People have taken advantage of it and we have turned things around."

For Wayne Ellis of Twin Hollow Campground, the trails have changed his life completely. He has trail riders on his campground year round, occupying the eight cabins, 22 electrical sites and 50 to 60 primitive camping spots.

The cabins are booked four months in advance, he said. He's turned down about 100 renters this year, he said.

Without the trail, he would probably still be mining or logging, he said.

"I was blessed," he said. "I've had the opportunity to do what most people [in Southern West Virginia] wouldn't have the opportunity to do."

To contact staff writer Sarah K. Winn, use e-mail or call 348-5156.