Gauley Season Weekend
Six weekends a year, Summersville Dam opens and the Gauley carries the most concentrated whitewater in the eastern United States. Build the weekend around one raft day and use the rest of the time for the gorge.
Day by day
Arrive and get oriented
- 3:00 pmArrive Fayetteville. Check in, then walk the courthouse square for gear and food.
- 4:30 pmLong Point Trail, 3.2 miles round trip on level old roadbed, for the classic bridge view from below the rim.
- 7:00 pmDinner in town. Confirm the morning meeting point and time with your outfitter.
Upper Gauley
- 7:00 amOutfitter check-in. Early starts are standard on release days.
- 9:00 amOn the water. Roughly 10 miles and over 100 rapids, including Insignificant, Pillow Rock, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring and Sweet's Falls.
- 4:30 pmOff the river and back to base.
- 7:00 pmDinner in Fayetteville. Most outfitters run a post-trip meal and photo review.
The gorge on foot
- 8:30 amEndless Wall Trail to Diamond Point. 2.4 miles point to point along the rim; park at Fern Creek and walk the road back.
- 11:00 amCanyon Rim Visitor Center for the bridge overlook and the stairway to the lower deck.
- 1:00 pmChoose one on the way out: Sandstone Falls by boardwalk, or Kaymoor's 821 steps down to the mine ruins if your legs have anything left.
Before you go
Book ahead
- Upper Gauley raft trip, several months ahead for release weekends
- Lodging in Fayetteville or Oak Hill, which sells out for every release weekend
- Bridge Walk tickets if you want the catwalk, which books separately
What to bring
- Outfitters supply wetsuits, helmets and PFDs; bring synthetic layers and river shoes
- A dry bag for the car keys and phone
- Water temperature drops through October, so an extra fleece for the drive out
If flows are cancelled or you want a gentler day, the Lower New runs Class III–IV all season with the same outfitters.
Outfitters and lodging on this route
Itinerary pages carry the highest booking intent on the site. Placement is sold per route.
List your business hereWhere you'll be
Gauley River
The most celebrated whitewater in the eastern United States.
Long Point Trail
About 3.2 miles round trip on mostly level old roadbed to a rock promontory below the rim, which provides the most-photographed view of the New River Gorge Bridge.
Endless Wall Trail
A 2.4-mile point-to-point trail along the gorge rim through hemlock and rhododendron, crossing Fern Creek on a footbridge and reaching Diamond Point, an exposed rock outcrop with a view up the gorge to the bridge.
New River Gorge Bridge
A 3,030-foot steel arch carrying US 19 some 876 feet above the New River — for decades the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, and still the image most people carry of West Virginia.
Sandstone Falls
The largest waterfall on the New River — not tall, but 1,500 feet wide, spilling across the full breadth of the river between islands at the point where the gorge begins to open.
Kaymoor Miners Trail
A steep descent from the gorge rim to the ruins of the Kaymoor One coal mine and processing plant, including 821 wooden steps down the former haulage incline.