Sugarcamp Mountain

Hiking is fast becoming an activity that can be enjoyed by everyone. Often we plan journeys to beautiful forests and mountain tops to enjoy the fall season with our families. Now we can stay at home and enjoy our natural beauty on brand new trails right here in Prestonsburg. Sugarcamp Mountain Trails is a newly developing trail system for use by hikers, bikers and horsemen. Sugarcamp offers about 8 miles of horse friendly, machine built trails that offer awesome views of Jenny Wiley State Park. Additionally there are about 15 miles of hand carved trails for hiking and mountain biking. The trails vary in technical difficulty but most are listed at an intermediate level. The system has been developed in a spirit of cooperation between the City of Prestonsburg and Jenny Wiley State Park. There are two trailheads; the upper trailhead is located on Stonecrest and is called Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead. It can be reached from Stonecrest by turning off the main road on to Meff Road, then you'll find the trailhead immediately adjacent to the water tower at the top of the hill. The other trailhead is located in Jenny Wiley and is called the Arrowhead Point trailhead. This trailhead can be found near where the old horse stables were. I spoke with two of the trail volunteers, Josh Turner and Beau Spurlock, and I could easily see their excitement about the project. Josh said, “It started with a few of us, Timbo Branham, Tyler Burke, and Beau and I were riding the few trails that were available and talking about the potential. But none of this would have been possible without Prestonsburg’s Mayor, Les Stapleton. Les was able to get the project headed in the right direction by working with Jenny Wiley’s Director Julian Slone. Together Les and Julian were able to “clear a path” for the volunteers to get in there and map out the best natural lines for hiking and biking paths.” Beau explained, "About 3 years ago when we started riding in the mountains, there was about a 3 mile network of existing trail. We've expanded that original trail to nearly 15 miles of narrow mountain bike trail, known as 'single track'. This was done in about two and a half years time, with thousands of hours of volunteer labor. While these trails were getting built, the City of Prestonsburg was busy constructing a nearly eight-mile, multi-use trail that would be open to hiking, biking and horseback riding. This eight foot wide trail serves as the backbone of the trail system, linking Stonecrest with the state park, the top of the mountain with the lake."

Most of the volunteers responsible for the mountain bike single track also devote countless hours maintaining and grooming this multi-use trail. Beau explained, "The area mountain bike community has really come together to drive this project, and to ensure that it is done in a way that is very high quality. Part of the reason is so local riders have a great place to ride, but the part that drives a lot of us is the opportunity to provide a real biking destination for those outside of the area. We want it to be a catalyst for change in Prestonsburg, in Floyd County and in the region. None of this could have been achieved without the countless hours of work donated by many, many volunteers, we can't thank them enough!"

The next step that followed was the addition of route signs and a trail head. The trails are still a work in progress, but every week progress is made. A website has been created, www.sugarcamptrails.com which has everything needed to educate hikers, bikers and horsemen. In addition, each Sunday afternoon, Les and Karen Stapleton are leading group hikes to help everyone get to know the trails. Currently the group hikes are leaving at 4:30, but that time will move earlier in the day as the fall season continues. If you would like to hike the trails, a great place to start is at Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead. Beau and Josh suggest going with a buddy and parking one car at the Arrowhead Point Trailhead, then loading up in the other car and driving up to the Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead on the mountain top, then you have a downhill hike or ride. There’s something for everyone to enjoy on Sugarcamp Mountain Trails. Whether you want a tough, challenging, off the hook downhill on your mountain bike, or a nice horse ride with your best friend, you can enjoy nature at it’s best at Sugarcamp Mountain. Imagine spending a Saturday afternoon in the woods with your family, teaching your children the joys of life away from a computer, or a solitary hike with your dog and your camera capturing images of the glory of fall. Hiking is fast becoming an activity that can be enjoyed by everyone. Often we plan journeys to beautiful forests and mountain tops to enjoy the fall season with our families. Now we can stay at home and enjoy our natural beauty on brand new trails right here in Prestonsburg. Sugarcamp Mountain Trails is a newly developing trail system for use by hikers, bikers and horsemen. Sugarcamp offers about 8 miles of horse friendly, machine built trails that offer awesome views of Jenny Wiley State Park. Additionally there are about 15 miles of hand carved trails for hiking and mountain biking. The trails vary in technical difficulty but most are listed at an intermediate level. The system has been developed in a spirit of cooperation between the City of Prestonsburg and Jenny Wiley State Park. There are two trailheads; the upper trailhead is located on Stonecrest and is called Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead. It can be reached from Stonecrest by turning off the main road on to Meff Road, then you'll find the trailhead immediately adjacent to the water tower at the top of the hill. The other trailhead is located in Jenny Wiley and is called the Arrowhead Point trailhead. This trailhead can be found near where the old horse stables were. I spoke with two of the trail volunteers, Josh Turner and Beau Spurlock, and I could easily see their excitement about the project. Josh said, “It started with a few of us, Timbo Branham, Tyler Burke, and Beau and I were riding the few trails that were available and talking about the potential. But none of this would have been possible without Prestonsburg’s Mayor, Les Stapleton. Les was able to get the project headed in the right direction by working with Jenny Wiley’s Director Julian Slone. Together Les and Julian were able to “clear a path” for the volunteers to get in there and map out the best natural lines for hiking and biking paths.” Beau explained, "About 3 years ago when we started riding in the mountains, there was about a 3 mile network of existing trail. We've expanded that original trail to nearly 15 miles of narrow mountain bike trail, known as 'single track'. This was done in about two and a half years time, with thousands of hours of volunteer labor. While these trails were getting built, the City of Prestonsburg was busy constructing a nearly eight-mile, multi-use trail that would be open to hiking, biking and horseback riding. This eight foot wide trail serves as the backbone of the trail system, linking Stonecrest with the state park, the top of the mountain with the lake." Most of the volunteers responsible for the mountain bike single track also devote countless hours maintaining and grooming this multi-use trail. Beau explained, "The area mountain bike community has really come together to drive this project, and to ensure that it is done in a way that is very high quality. Part of the reason is so local riders have a great place to ride, but the part that drives a lot of us is the opportunity to provide a real biking destination for those outside of the area. We want it to be a catalyst for change in Prestonsburg, in Floyd County and in the region. None of this could have been achieved without the countless hours of work donated by many, many volunteers, we can't thank them enough!" The next step that followed was the addition of route signs and a trail head. The trails are still a work in progress, but every week progress is made. A website has been created, www.sugarcamptrails.com which has everything needed to educate hikers, bikers and horsemen. In addition, each Sunday afternoon, Les and Karen Stapleton are leading group hikes to help everyone get to know the trails. Currently the group hikes are leaving at 4:30, but that time will move earlier in the day as the fall season continues. If you would like to hike the trails, a great place to start is at Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead. Beau and Josh suggest going with a buddy and parking one car at the Arrowhead Point Trailhead, then loading up in the other car and driving up to the Sugarcamp Mountain Trailhead on the mountain top, then you have a downhill hike or ride. There’s something for everyone to enjoy on Sugarcamp Mountain Trails. Whether you want a tough, challenging, off the hook downhill on your mountain bike, or a nice horse ride with your best friend, you can enjoy nature at it’s best at Sugarcamp Mountain. Imagine spending a Saturday afternoon in the woods with your family, teaching your children the joys of life away from a computer, or a solitary hike with your dog and your camera capturing images of the glory of fall. It’s all waiting for you this fall at Sugarcamp Mountain Trails.