I was trepidacious about going to WV Week of Rivers this year. I had two different orthopedic adventures this past winter. With very little time-in-boat to prepare, I wondered whether going was a good idea. My surgeon seemed likely to resent having to repair damage a second time should I reinjure myself and WV, like Maryland and Virginia has been dry.
Results were outstanding. After consulting my inner adult, I paddled every other day to permit recovery between trips. While the choices of rivers were limited by the dry weather, we did find wonderful places to paddle.
Trip one for me was a class 1-2 paddle on the Black Fork of the Cheat River, a 6.35 mile trip from Hendricks to the boat ramp at Holly Meadows. We had low but not too low water which created more cobble bar and ledge rapids and gentle surfing spots. It is very beginner friendly, and the shuttle conveniently passes right by a fine ice cream spot in Parsons. Pro tip—hot fudge. In Parsons, we saw paddlers taking out from the lower Shavers Fork run, another nice, easy paddle with miles of fluffy bunny rapids. The Shavers Fork is more remote and wild than the Black Fork if you like wilderness paddling. We did get to paddle underneath the Corridor H, Rt 48 bridge under construction across the Cheat. It is a good way to use up those extra federal tax dollars sitting around Washington while stripping forested WV mountainsides.
Trip two was the more ambitious Cheat Narrows, a 4.25 mile class 2 to 3- run at low water with the rapid at Calamity Rock bumping up to class 3. Giving a rapid a name like Calamity automatically increases the degree of difficulty via intimidation. The Cheat River is quite wide at Rowlesburg, then narrows dramatically as the river passes into more durable white Pottsville sandstone. Unlike the cobble bar and gentle ledge rapids of the Black Fork, the Cheat rapids are formed by big boulders, including the aforementioned Calamity Rock which is about the size of a kitchen and creates two chutes, left and right that both dump into holes. It is usually scouted. Opinions are divided about the best route. This makes it a good step-up rapid for paddlers who want to improve their river reading and boat control skills.
Trip three was on the middle section of the Middle Fork River, this one a tributary of the Tygart River. This section starts with flat water then gradually increases in difficulty, culminating in a class 3 rapid that Mrs. Google calls “Resort” or “Triple Drop”. I’ve never heard it named while on the river—it is just “the rapid”. Again, whitewater is created by gradient and big sandstone boulders. While most of the run is class 1-2, there are good opportunities to make the run more challenging by picking harder routes and trying to catch more far-flung eddies. You don’t have to paddle right down the middle. Much of the run is beautiful. The acid soil from sandstone bedrock supports thickets of rhododendrons and hemlocks. Some parts of the riverbank have vacation cottages that destroy the sense of wildness but have no real impact on the paddling. We had a bit more water than in the past which filled in the holes in Triple Drop but made the mile of surrounding rapids pushier and more fun.
In addition to the fine paddling, this part of WV abounds in good opportunities for walking and biking. We rode the abandoned railroad bed from Thomas to Hendricks along the Blackwater River. We hiked and walked in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge and in the Dolly Sods Wilderness. We took short scenic walks in Blackwater Falls State Park. For those who want more whitewater or more challenges, there were trips on the North Branch Potomac, the Casselman, the Yough, and the lower section of the Middle Fork into the Tygart Gorge. The Kitzmiller section of the North Branch and the Big Sandy were also runnable and this has been a dry year. There was even talk of an ELF run on the upper Gauley.
For the botanically inclined, the serviceberries were flowering when we arrived and the cherries were in bloom when we left. Ferns abound. We saw white trilliums along the roadside and white foam flower in the woods. The mix of gold and blue is common right now: golden Alexanders and golden ragwort growing among Quaker ladies, blue violets, and spring phlox, with accents of purple wild geraniums and white sweet-cicely.
Best part of all, this trip is based in Canaan Valley, a sweet spot in the panhandle of WV, wedged in between the watersheds of the Potomac, Cheat, and Tygart river systems. Because there is a critical mass of paddlers, there are trips to a wide range of streams of all difficulties every day. You get to meet and paddle with nice new people. You get to run beautiful streams that are too far away for a day trip from home but close by from Canaan Valley. Group house arrangements keep expenses reasonable and there are wonderful suppers waiting at home when the paddling/hiking/biking day is done. WV Week of Rivers has gone on for decades now and it is a fine tradition. If you are interested, look for the announcement this fall for the arrangements for spring 2027.