Riding Mine-Made Paradise Adventure Park with Kawasaki

Jon Crowley | Jun 03, 2010

I had the opportunity to check out a ride area in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains with Kawasaki. The Mine-Made Paradise Adventure Park has is slated to open in the Fall of 2010, but Kawasaki arranged to get us a sneak peak before the park opens.





Mine-Made Paradise sits on 43,000 acres of private land and will eventually have 200 miles of professionally designed trails for ATVs, Side x Sides and Motorcycles.

The park is also home to the Knott County ATV & Motorcycle Riding Training Center. This facility includes close course training ranges, a skills practice course as well as beginning, intermediate and challenge trails (more info at www.kcrtc.com).

Kawasaki brought out three different UTVs for us to ride: Mule 4010 Trans4×4 Diesel, Mule 610 4×4 XC and the Teryx 750FI 4×4 Sport.



Kawasaki Mules and Teryx Ready to Ride
We landed in Lexington Kentucky and drove about two hours to Hazard County to reach the hotel near the riding area. Mine Made Paradise Adventure Park is just a short drive over into Knott County from the hotel. The park is a public/private partnership that is owned and operated by Knott County but lies on reclaimed coal mine property. At launch next year, the site will have a 200 mile trail system that will also join up with the Breathitt County trail system.

The terrain at the park have deep valleys and hollows and also wide open prairies. The area is perfect for Elk and although we did not see any the day we rode, we were told that the population in the area is huge.

Most of the trails are old gas well access roads turned into ATV/UTV trails. All trails are two-way, and they are also cutting in 32 miles on single track and some new ATV/UTV trails that are real narrow.

It is a breath of fresh air to travel somewhere in the U.S. where a new riding area is being opened instead of shrinking or closing altogether. This area of the country is filled with old coal mining operations, and the recovered land is perfectly suited to creating off-road trail systems that attract visitors to the area. With some careful planning, the Mine Made Adventure Park will not only link up with the trail system in Breathitt, but also tie in with the Hatfield-McCoy trail systems in West Virginia. Now we are talking! I can only imagine a week-long UTV ride through several different trail systems. Only thing missing is access to town for a hotel, some food and supplies. Local politicians and business owners have been helping to push this project forward and promote the park, as they are sharp enough to recognize the financial benefits to the local community. Hopefully they will figure out a way to have access to nearby towns to encourage multiple-day trips without having to trail point to point.

Kawasaki not only organized this sneak peak of the soon to be open off-road park, but they brought along several utility vehicles for us to drive – the 2010 Mule 4010 Trans4×4 Diesel, the new 2010 Mule 610 4×4 XC and the 2010 Teryx 750FI 4×4 Sport.

I have had the opportunity to own and drive many different Teryxs and always have fun jumping behind the wheel to go fast or just tool along and enjoy the scenery. I have had limited time driving a Mule 4010 Trans4×4 Diesel and no time with the Mule 610 4×4 XC.

This type of terrain is well suited for the Teryx. Sport suspension and a powerful v-twin make it a natural. But I was a bit skeptical especially about the Trans4×4. I was actually most surprised with how well the Trans4×4 did on the trails as this thing shouts WORK! With a 953cc, three-cylinder diesel and a rear bench seat that quickly converts from a 4 seater with a small bed to a 2 seater with a large bed, this Mule is more designed for a construction site than exploring trails. I was thoroughly impressed with how well it did. Although it is speed governed to about 25 MPH, its big diesel has tons of torque and smooth power delivery. Put it is 4×4 and it crawls like a billy goat.

The Mule 610 4×4 XC is a new offering to the tried and true Mule lineup. With large 26″ Maxxis Bighorn tires and longer a-arms, the XC edges away from a pure work vehicle to something that is more capable off-road. The Mule 610 XC is a little light in the power department with its 401cc, single cylinder engine, but I still had fun exploring the trail at the park. The 25mph governor will make sure you don’t have too much fun though.

Well folks, anyone hear of this place? Looks like it's going to be another great place for a ride. 43000 acres and 200 miles of trails in Northeast Kentucky.

sounds good like to try it out

I'm in/when?

Gimpy wrote:

I'm in/when?

Looks like it will open this fall.

Ive rode there before. I had no idea it was 43,000 acres though....When I rode it was more like 6,000....which is still a pretty good amount. Theyve been working on this for quite a while...Id like to check it out again because apparently there is a whole ton I didnt see. The area we rode was right by the training center and no offense but i wasnt that impressed. I think our ATV park has a lot of open spaces and needs more wooded trails, but there was literally 2 miles of wooded trails when I was at this one and the rest was just open rolling hills and gravel roads.

Seems like theyve added a ton more acerage though so hopefully theres a lot more wooded trail additions. I hope they get this up and going cause it would be a great thing for that area.

looking at the pics in that article makes it look like theyve added a lot of nice wooded trails...looks like it will be a great new place to ride.

Check it out. Says opening Spring 2011. Anyone have more info?

http://www.knottcountyadventure.com/minemade.html#anchor_atv

PWM sent me some magazines and this place was a feature in one of them. It looks like it is going to be nice. There is also a place there where they do ATV safety classes, and if I remember correctly that is the only one in that general vicinity that does so. I will be willing to check it out once I get back!

Hell, I will check it out. It's in my state!!! Maybe WV Rhino and the Yank will come along?

Big-R wrote:

Hell, I will check it out. It's in my state!!! Maybe WV Rhino and the Yank will come along?

I'm in.

wvyankee2 wrote:

Big-R wrote:

Hell, I will check it out. It's in my state!!! Maybe WV Rhino and the Yank will come along?

I'm in.

Lets look into it and see if we can't plan a ride.

I'll give them a call and get some info.

wvyankee2 wrote:

I'll give them a call and get some info.

me and stealth went late last summer. i think i posted some pics and video on here from the ride. we did not ride much but the trails we rode was good. the trails was not marked that good and it was very very dusty up on the main stripjob roads. lots of elk in the area but we did not see any.

i will look for the pics and video

guess i did not take any pics

https://southernsxsriders.forumakers.com/t8197-mine-made-adventure-park

Called today and talked with Tim Cody. Said the park is open for riding, but the grand opening for April will be delayed until late summer. They are behind on the Campground construction and trail markings etc due to weather this year. Right now no fee's for riding until grand opening. You can primitive camp for free on the property right now. Showers are available for $5.00.

Said with proper notice, some folks would be glad to guide the SouthernSxSRiders around the park.

Sounds like a plan....keep me informed....Im always up for new places!

Tims a super nice guy. Id be up for heading that way.

Well, when would we try and make a ride of it?

Might be a good place to check out when AIRBORNE comes in about mid April.

wvyankee2 wrote:

Might be a good place to check out when AIRBORNE comes in about mid April.

Sounds good. Lets see what he says.

Big R you will be riding this on Friday and Saturday this weekend.

Dean wrote:

Big R you will be riding this on Friday and Saturday this weekend.

Oh this is the same trail system?

Yes we will be riding in this area, they made their trials on my old trails.