Robert Farmer---I did this over the May 17-18 weekend, 2008. The level was 3.5. This is the most beautiful valley/canyon in West Virginia!!! Sure, the New River Gorge is bigger, wider, and deeper, but the SBP definitely wins on scenic beauty and unspoiled wilderness. The section just upstream is not at all a good indication of what awaits the intrepid river travelers downstream, so don't be disappointed by the upstream section---downstream, the river canyon is totally different. I agree with the description that it is all Class 1-2, with only one Class 3. This Class 3 is quite a ways down the canyon, past the ridiculous lodge etc., although it did seem to pop up a bit suddenly. There is a good campsite immediately downstream of it on the right. Some of us might think that a Class 1-2 river might be boring, but the current was strong virtually continuously, with very few slow spots; I estimate that I drifted about 80% of the time, and I was certainly never bored, despite the fact that this was probably the easiest river that I've paddled. Sometimes, after paddling a bit for control in a rapid, I would find myself paddling across a flattish section, and suddenly realize, "Why?" There really wasn't much reason to paddle; over most of the river; it's much better to just enjoy the scenery. The cliffs are spectacular, and one has a spring at the base that comes out of apparently solid rock to fall about 30 feet to the river---very special! The tributaries are very scenic, as well---sometimes only one foot wide, dropping over smooth bedrock at about 1000 feet-per-mile in tiny little glens---fantastic!! Once, I floated under a rather large and astoundingly muscular brown eagle, only about 60 feet away; another time, a smaller bald eagle flew by me, also about 60 feet away. Allowing some time to hike would be a very good idea. One bit of advice: whenever you come to an island, you pretty much always should take the narrowest, darkest channel, which one might normally fear could be blocked by a fallen tree---an event which never occurred on my trip. The reason is that the larger channels tend to get too shallow and rocky. I didn't hit a single rock on this river until around about 12 miles in---I hit three going across one gravel bar, and that was the total number of hit rocks for the entire river, not counting takeouts and put-ins. In the event of an emergency, there is a road that crosses the mountain and comes in on river right to an obscenely large mansion/lodge, about an hour below the put-in, but that would involve some trespassing, apparently. My total on-the-water time was around 4.5 hours to the confluence, I believe. I'm thinking that it was another 30-60 minutes to where I took out at the park on river left in Petersburg. I'm not saying that that is a great takeout, just that I used it, and it was marginally adequate, and my car was not vandalized. In summation, this is the best river trip in West Virginia, and everyone should do it at least once, and I hope it stays this wild and unspoiled forever. I want to come back soon. Edit

A good Petersburg take-out is about 100 yards downstream of the US 220 Bridge, on river left, at a Sanctioned WVDNR Access Site. There is no overnight parking, park in the City Park parking lot (west side of 220, before crossing the bridge, adjacent to the DNR Access Drive). Caution, upstream from the US 220 bridge is a class II+ to III- (depending on water level) approx. 150 yard long rapid, Haystacks, consisting of several river wide ledges with hydraulics. At higher water levels, the waves here can easily swamp an unbagged, open canoe.

Something happened to the gauge at Petersburg. It is reading much higher than it used to. I'm guessing about 2 foot. Does anyone know what changed?