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Off-Roading & 4x4

Q: Where is the best off-roading & 4x4 in West Virginia?

Full-size permitted systems: Several Hatfield-McCoy systems allow full-size vehicles on designated trails. Check current designations — they change. Monongahela forest roads: Hundreds of miles of gravel opening trailheads, fishing access and dispersed camping across the highlands. Forest Road 75: The rough gravel road out to Bear Rocks along the Dolly Sods plateau. Slow, washboarded and worth it.

Designated routes within the Hatfield-McCoy system accommodate full-size vehicles on select trails, and forest service roads across the Monongahela open a large amount of legal backcountry driving and dispersed camping access.

Full-size vehicles are permitted on a smaller share of Hatfield-McCoy trail than ATVs and side-by-sides. The Monongahela National Forest road system adds a substantial amount of legal backcountry driving.

Select Hatfield-McCoy systems permit full-size, and the Monongahela road network offers hundreds of miles of legal backcountry driving.

Our recommendations

Where we'd send you

Purpose-built

Full-size permitted systems

Several Hatfield-McCoy systems allow full-size vehicles on designated trails. Check current designations — they change.

Full guide to Hatfield-McCoy Trails →

For access, not challenge

Monongahela forest roads

Hundreds of miles of gravel opening trailheads, fishing access and dispersed camping across the highlands.

Full guide to Otter Creek Wilderness →

The notorious one

Forest Road 75

The rough gravel road out to Bear Rocks along the Dolly Sods plateau. Slow, washboarded and worth it.

Full guide to Bear Rocks Preserve →

Practical note

Forest roads close seasonally for mud and wildlife, sometimes without much warning. Check the Monongahela National Forest status page before relying on a forest road, particularly during the spring thaw when soft surfaces rut easily.

What to know before you go

Forest service roads close seasonally for wildlife and mud
onX Offroad and Gaia GPS both carry the road layers you need out of cell coverage

Regions that do it best

Off-road trail towns and reclaimed mine country

Southern Coalfields

The five southernmost counties, where deep mining shaped the settlement pattern and, more recently, the recreation economy.

Highest terrain, ski areas, wilderness backpacking

Potomac Highlands

All terrain in West Virginia above 4,000 feet lies in this region, including Spruce Knob at 4,863 feet.

Reservoirs, trout water, developing rail-trail

Mountain Lakes

The geographic center of the state and its least-visited region.

Every place we cover for off-roading & 4x4

Motorized Trail · Southern Coalfields

Hatfield-McCoy Trails

The largest off-highway trail system in the eastern United States — more than a thousand miles across former coal lands in southern West Virginia, split into named systems including Rockhouse, Bearwallow, Buffalo Mountain, Pinnacle Creek, Devil Anse, Pocahontas, Indian Ridge, Ivy Branch and Warrior.

1,000+ mi trail9+ trail systems

Trips built around it

3 days · Year-round

Hatfield-McCoy Riding Weekend

More than a thousand miles of trail across former coal lands, with towns where machines are street-legal so you can ride to dinner.

Questions people ask

Are there 4x4 trails in West Virginia?

Yes — select Hatfield-McCoy trail systems permit full-size vehicles, and the Monongahela National Forest road network offers extensive legal backcountry driving.

Related activities

ATV & UTV Riding

Year-round

Dirt Biking

Mar–Nov

Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.

West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.