Rafting

The New River, near Fayetteville, flows northward through the deep canyons of the Appalachia Plateau to form what is commonly referred to as ‘The Grand Canyon of the East’. The New River Gorge National Rivers includes 53 miles of the best white water in West Virginia, which starts at the Bluestone Dam and ends at Hawks Nest Lake.

Select Adventures

Who knows the best adventures on the Gorge other than a local kayaker?  Mika Kobs started kayaking in 2012. She gives her advice for the best kayaking and rafting on the New:

I love catching the left eddy at Upper Keeney and getting up on Whale Rock. There’s a rock climbing anchor in the rock there , so you can tie-off boats easily. Then climb up on Whale Rock and party. There’s usually groups of private paddlers up there, sometimes with picnic lunches. Also, (this is) a great place to sunbathe mid river trip. Plus, you have the best view of all the other kayaks/rafts coming through. I personally enjoy the looks on the faces of people going on their first raft trip.

Another great one is to do the Upper and Lower as an overnight trip. Paddle the Upper in the evening. There’s a wonderful beach maybe a half mile upstream of Cunard on river right. (There is a) very nice sand beach, plus tons of driftwood piles up there to build a fire with. Camp there then do the Lower New the next day.

There are other beaches along the Upper New, but this one is the best. It’s right immediately below Big Baloney. It’s also not owned by any of the companies as far as I know. The beaches on the lower new aren’t very good. (They are) too rocky (and) not sandy enough.

– Mika Kobs

 

River Features

Mile	Rapid Name	Class	Features (Legend)
0.0	Cunard Putin	N/A
0.3	Pinball	III
0.5	Upper Railroad	III
1.0	Lower Railroad	III
1.5	Swimmers	II
1.8	Strippers	III
2.0	Ender Waves	III
2.3	Third Warm-Up	II
2.5	Fourth Warm-Up	II+
3.0	Upper Keeney	III
3.1	Middle Keeney	IV
3.2	Lower Keeney	IV
3.3	Halls of Karma	II

 

 

3.3	Lollygag	II+
3.8	Duddley’s Dip	III
4.0	Double Z	IV+
5.0	Hook 99	III
5.1	Harmon’s Hole	III
5.2	Greyhound Bus Stopper	IV
5.5	Upper Kaymoor	III+
5.6	Lower Kaymoor	III+
6.0	Miller’s Folly	IV
6.3	Thread the Needle	III
6.5	Fayette Station	IV

Table source: American White Water

Kayaking the New River