New River (Gorge)
| Stretch: | Cunard to Fayette Station |
| Difficulty: | Class III to IV |
| Distance: | 6.5 miles |
| Flows: | 1.5 ft to +12 ft. Current AW gauge |
| Gradient: | 20 fpm |
| Put-in: | Cunard |
| Take-out: | Fayette Station |
| Shuttle: | 21 miles (45 minutes one-way) |
| Season: | Spring is rafting season… |
| Featured in Video A Wet State #52 | |
After three days on the Gauley, we decided to head to the nearby New River in order to get on something different. The take-out of the New River Gorge is just below the famous New River Bridge that has an annual shut-down day for folks to basejump off of it. The run itself is an alright beginner run. I thought that there was one set of rapids that was a solid class III to III+ at our flows (1.6’) but that the rest of the run was more of a class III- run. We were hoping for some decent playboating, but alas at these flows there were only a few spots and none of them were all that good. In between the rapids are several long flat sections that certainly started to drag on for us. However, if class III is your normal cup of tea, than these flats may not seem as long. I would imagine with more water, the run becomes more fun and more playboating opens up. In the end, we certainly did not regret doing this run, it was scenic and it was nice to mix it up a little on our trip… but none of us were in a hurry to go do another lap on the run….
For more details on the run, see the AW write-up...
Take-out: Drive north over the New River on Highway 19. Just North of the river, turn right on Fayetteville Mine Rd. In 0.3 Miles turn right on Lansing Loop. In 0.2 miles turn right again on Fayette Station Rd and follow down 2.5 miles down to the river.
Put-in: Turn up the side creek on Fayette Station Rd and follow steeply up to Highway 19. Go South (right) for a half mile. Turn left on N Court St (Highway 16). In 0.7 miles go left on Gatewood Rd (Route 9). Follow 4.1 miles, turn left to continue on Route 9. Continue for 1.8 miles and turn left (follow the yellow line). Around the first hair pin you should now see a sign saying “New River Recreational Area” or something like that. Follow this another 1.6 miles to the parking area to put-in.