It wasn’t long ago that the 20,000 acres of southern West Virginia now home to the Devil’s Backbone Adventure Resort was once home to a lucrative coal mine. Not anymore. Now instead of piles of coal and earth moving machines, the site features log cabins, all-terrain vehicles and mountain biking paths along the famed Hatfield and McCoy Trail.
It is all part of the grand makeover to convert lands once mined by coal operators into something that can make money. Back in the day, the Devils Backbone netted $1 million in coal-mining leases.
