Gauley River (Middle)
| Stretch: | Mason Branch to Wood's Ferry |
| Difficulty: | Class III to IV |
| Distance: | 2.8 miles |
| Flows: | 81,000? To ?,000. Release is 2,800 cfs. Current AW gauge |
| Gradient: | 21 fpm. |
| Put-in: | Access at Mason Branch |
| Take-out: | Access at Wood's Ferry |
| Shuttle: | 3.2 miles (15 minutes one way, good quality dirt road) |
| Season: | 6 weeks in September/October dam release. Winter and spring off of rain coming through Meadow River |
| Written: | © 2025 |
I am not sure if anyone does this section of river on its own, it is commonly done as an extra paddle out to the Upper Gauley to avoid the Masons Branch hassle, an add on to the Lower Gauley to add a few miles, or to bridge the two as part of a marathon day.
My one lap on it was unexpected, so I don't even have any pics of it. We had a babysitter/shuttle-driver lined up but at put in for the Upper Gauley someone asked if they could join us, and mentioned they had a car at the bottom of the middle. So we took the offer. It was a pleasant section, though for us that day, trying to rush back to the kids for an afternoon family biking trip the added hour (roughly) of paddle time ended up a bit of a nuisance. The few fun rapids were fun, and honestly a bit fluffier than I anticipated. But I am not going to go out of my way to add this to the Upper Gauley as it just doesn't live up to the whitewater up there, and for the foreseeable future, I am not rushing to the Lower Gauley at all just because in my limited days of water time these days, I will focus on the Upper.
Mi 0.1:
- Surf Wave (II+). A small surf wave just below Mason's access.
- Perfect Wave (II+ to III-). This very wide, easy to surf, surf wave is catch on the fly. A small waiting eddy is on the river left above it, it spans the left half of the river bed.
- Fuzzy Box of Kittens (III to IV-). This is a fun rapid. The top half was read and run. The bottom half funnels into a poor over that can be avoided easily on the right, or can be boofed into a large lateral that will likely flip an intermediate.
- Julie's Juicer (IV). By far the biggest rapid of the run. The top half is a busy section that we ran down the right of. Rafts run left but at the end of the entrance is a good size hole on the left. We went to the right around it and then worked back hard left for the bottom move. The water drops off a large slab on the right into a folding slot. Melting will take you deep, but it will flush you out. We aimed to get far enough left to avoid the melt.
- Upper Access: Take-out here if you want. Depending on where exactly your car is it may be shorter.
- Last Surf Wave (II+ to III-). A fine surf wave is worth paddling to the lower take-out.
- Lower Access: Last chance to exit before the Lower Gauley starts. Just below that surf wave.
Take-out: This is from the upstream side of things. Depending on where you are coming from, it may be shorter to come in from downstream. From Mt. Nebo and Highway 19, take highway 129 west, and continue towards and past from Summersville dam. Continue for 8.5 miles, a mile before you get to highway 39, turn left on Panther Mountain rd (has a sign marked for river access). Follow this down. At one point there is a big fork, stay right (left takes you back out to Highway 129). After 4.0 miles you will pass the road to put-in. Continue straight. After 1.2 miles take a left towards Wood's Ferry. Continue 1 more mile to the parking.
Put-in. 1.0 miles back out to the main dirt road, turn right back upstream. Follow for 1.1 miles before turning right to drop down 1.1 miles to Mason's Branch. If it is a release weekend parking at the bottom is extremely limited, arrive early or very late. As an alternative, you can continue pass the Masons Branch rd for 1.0 miles further and turn right into the fairly obvious meadow parking. Drive to the left and all the way to the back. In the tree line there is a trail that steeply drops down to the river. Easy enough to hike down with a boat. Hiking up it with a boat is less fun.
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