Recreational Land in Tazewell County, Virginia: The Spearhead Trails

Two named Spearhead Trails systems sit inside Tazewell County

Spearhead Trails is a real, government-created regional trail network -- the Southwest Virginia Regional Recreational Authority was established by the Virginia General Assembly on March 13, 2008 specifically to build outdoor recreation infrastructure across the region's former coalfield counties (Tazewell, Buchanan, Russell, Dickenson, Wise, Scott, and Lee, plus the City of Norton), with the explicit goal of converting reclaimed mine land into a tourism and economic-development asset. It now totals more than 400 miles of interconnected ATV, side-by-side, Jeep, and equestrian trail.

Two of the network's named systems are physically located in Tazewell County. The Original Pocahontas Trail System runs 73 miles through shaded forest opening to mountain vistas, with its entrance near the historic coal town of Pocahontas. Jawbone, based in the town of Richlands, is Spearhead's only full-size system -- 100 miles open not just to ATVs and UTVs but to Jeeps and other street-legal off-highway vehicles, a distinction that widens the pool of visitors who can use it beyond dedicated ATV/UTV owners.

Built on reclaimed mine land -- what that means for nearby property

The trails run through land that was reclaimed after surface coal mining, part of a broader regional pattern of converting former mine sites into outdoor recreation infrastructure. For a land buyer, this cuts two directions worth knowing. First, proximity to a Spearhead Trails system is a genuine, currently active tourism draw -- land near a trailhead or access point in Richlands or near Pocahontas can support cabin rentals, guided-ride outfitting, or other trail-tourism-adjacent business models with real, ongoing visitor traffic behind them, not a speculative future amenity.

Second, if the specific parcel you're evaluating is itself on or near reclaimed mine land (as opposed to simply being near the trail corridor), treat that the same way you would any former industrial site: request a soil and site history evaluation before assuming standard buildability, since reclaimed land can carry different compaction, drainage, and subsurface conditions than land that was never disturbed by mining.

Practical questions for a trail-adjacent Tazewell County parcel

1. Confirm the parcel's actual distance and access route to the nearest Spearhead Trails trailhead or parking area directly -- proximity on a map does not always mean a direct, legal, or convenient vehicle route exists.
2. If your plan involves short-term rental or outfitting business use tied to trail tourism, confirm Tazewell County's current zoning and short-term-rental permitting requirements for that specific parcel with the county's planning office before assuming trail proximity alone makes the use permitted.
3. If the parcel itself sits on former mine land, request its reclamation and mining history from the county or Virginia Energy's Division of Mined Land Repurposing, and budget for a site-specific soil evaluation before finalizing any building plan.
4. Separately confirm the mineral-rights and surface/mineral-severance status of the parcel via a title search -- Tazewell's coalfield history means severed mineral estates are a real, documented possibility regardless of the parcel's trail proximity (see this county's hub page for that issue in full).