First Frontier Appalachian Trails

First Frontier Appalachian Trails is a multi-county OHV trail network spanning 18 to 21 eastern Kentucky counties: managed by the Kentucky Mountain Regional Recreation Authority as the state's answer to Virginia's Spearhead Trails system, both in geographic scope and in the model of building a distributed, permit-based network across existing forest roads and converted coal-haul corridors rather than building new dedicated trail. With 450+ miles open and a stated goal of 1,000 total trail miles, First Frontier is among the most ambitious OHV trail development projects currently active in the Appalachian region. The permit system is rider-based rather than vehicle-based, which reflects the network's public-access design: $7/day, $15/3-day, $25/year for Kentucky residents, and $40/year for non-residents. Vehicle classes permitted are broad (ATVs, UTVs, Jeeps, overlanders, and dirt bikes on appropriate route designations), which matches the mixed-use character of eastern Kentucky's trail ecosystem where everything from Class II ATVs to expedition-rigged Jeeps shares the same road infrastructure. The system connects with Hollerwood Offroad Adventure Park and shares the First Frontier permit shop for pass acquisition. Trail access is 24 hours, 7 days, year-round on open routes. Eastern Kentucky's broader trail ecosystem (Mine Made, Redbird Crest, and the First Frontier network all within the same county cluster), makes this one of the deepest OHV riding destinations in the eastern US.