No matter how much you love your favorite side by side riding trails, sometimes you want to find something different. Finding new terrain is not always easy, especially in the mountainous parts of the eastern United States. In Kentucky, a group of off-road enthusiasts came together and developed a plan to make a former mine in Knott County their new riding destination.

In the 1960’s, strip mining boomed in Knott County, Kentucky. This form of mining leveled the tops of the area’s mountains, and filled the valleys with coal mining by-products. Many years later, once mining had dropped off in Knott County, the land was deserted and overgrown. In recent years, a reclamation process was put into place to revive the rural Kentucky landscape.

With several hours of manual labor and man power put into the clearing the area and building trails, surrounding landowners partnered together to create a manageable trail system. Shortly thereafter, Mine Made Paradise Adventure Park was brought to life. To date, the park covers over 40,000 acres through the scenic Kentucky countryside. The park’s end goal is to extend across 63,000 acres! The trails are marked with colored flags to distinguish the level of difficulty side by side riders can expect; from beginner to highly experienced, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The trails offer differing terrain, too. There are hard-packed clay areas, mud holes and even creek beds with rocks littered throughout.