Cherry
Richwood Inn to Gauley River
| Difficulty | II-III |
| Length | 8.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 30 fpm |
| Gauge | Gauley River Near Craigsville, Wv |
| Flow Rate as of 28 minutes | 12.77 ftmedium runnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 1, 2025 |
River Description
The Cherry is an excellent novice/intermediate run with many places to practice basic paddling skills (eddy turns, peel outs, ferries, surfing, etc.). Routes 39 runs along the river for the first 3 miles from Richwood Inn to Fenwick. Then Routes 20/55 follow the river down to the confluence with the Gauley. This allows the paddler to choose to run 3, 6, or all 9 miles.
The gradient is fairly constant at about 30 feet/mile, making this almost continuous rock gardens. The rapid just upstream of the Fenwick Bridge signals the point where Laurel Creek adds its volume to what has been coming down the Cherry. Watch out for the hole in the center of this rapid, especially at high water. About two miles downriver from Fenwick the river curves to the right and a long rapid appears. The bottom of this rapid includes a slide into a wave train with a couple of good size waves. The river left eddy at the bottom of the slide provides an easy way to get onto the waves. The second wave has a little curler on the river right side that can flip the unwary paddler.
About 3/4 mile below the Holcomb bridge (where Route 20/55 crosses the Cherry) is series of rapids ending with the last major rapid before Rhododendron Park. At high water the unsuspecting paddler can encounter a couple of good sized holes at the bottom/center of this rapid.
The action continues below the park and all the way to the takeout. Hopefully you still have enough energy to enjoy these last 3 miles.
Putin: River right across from the Richwood Inn
Takeout: Curtin Bridge (Route 20) at the confluence of the Cherry and Gauley Rivers
Alternate putin/takeout points: Fenwick (3 miles) and Rhododendron Park on Rt. 20/55 (6 miles)
River Features
Put-In - Richwood Inn
River right across from the Richwood Inn
Fenwick access
Put in river right at the Fenwick Post Office.
Rhododendron Park
Rhododendron Park on WV Rt. 20/55
Take Out - Curtin Bridge (WV 20)
Curtin Bridge (WV 20) at the confluence of the Cherry and Gauley Rivers. The Curtin bridge takeout is on river left just after the Cherry flows into the Gauley. The Craigsville gauge is on river right, next to the old green bridge. Vehicles can park at the switchback in the gravel road (taking care not to block access or the private gate) or up next to the highway. Curtin bridge is also the takeout for the section of the Gauley upstream and the lower Cranberry, and the put-in for the Top Gauley (Crupperneck section).
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThe Gauley gauge at Craigsville is a loose indicator of the Cherry level. When we ran it at 12.3 ft on the Craigsville gauge it was zero or a couple inches below in paddling terms. If you haven't laid eyes on the river or the bridge gauge at Fenwick, come with a backup run in mind, because the Cherry can run out before the Gauley gauge drops much. It was still a very fun run; a technical workout. Look forward to doing it with another 8 inches or a foot of water.
Caution Large Strainer as of 5/14/24
A few hundred yards after you go under the bridge at Holcomb (route 20 bridge about 1 mile upstream of Rhododenron Park) there is a large tree down spanning from the bank of river left nearly the entire way across the river. After you go under Holcomb/route 20 bridge you will see a small set of class II rapids and a tall section of erroded bank on river left with a right hand turn in the river. This strainer is immediately after. Again this is a very large tree, originating from river left and spanning 90% or more of the river width, at higher/faster flows it may not be immediately visible as it is somewhat hidden around the river bend. When you see the erroded bank, keep close to the shore on river right as it may be passable at higher flows on river right.
*Side note, went out as river was dropping ran at approximately 11.4 ft on gauley gauge, thinking we could pull it off as it was just under 'runnable' level. Lots of carrying/dragging the boat at this level but we were able to succesfully cover approx 5.5 miles of river at this level in about 4 hours.
The 'watergate inn' on the outskirts of Richwood has now been torn down but river access has actually improved at that location with a better path to the river. There is a new put in at Fenwick. Drive to the post office (on river right where you can view the gauge on far side of river ) and continue past the parking lot to a small field with parking on the left (rail trail access). Rhododendron park rapid changed in 2016 due to a flood. It is reforming with the hole at the bottom reappearing.
Great river, ran it at 12' today (roughly zero on Fenwick gauge) with beginners in kayaks, perfect class 2-3. I'll be back but will hope for more water next time. Didn't look like enough water at 'Richwood Inn' (old condemned building on river left?) so we drove down to the next bridge in Fenwick, put in river right next to post office. Have fun!
The two trees at the bottom of 'the islands' (about 1.3 miles above the confluence of the Cherry and Gauley) were partially removed on August 21st. It is still a good idea to scout the area from the pull-out along Route 20 when running your shuttle. See the photos section for before and after photos (taken when the USGS gauge
was about 50 cfs).
We paddled this section on 9/7/11 and the trees were easily avoidable. The level
was 1 foot on the paddlers gauge at Fenwick.
The first tree below 'the islands' after a couple senior citizens removed part of it. The photo was taken on August 21, 2011 and the water level was about 50 cfs on the USGS gauge at Craigsville (just below the confluence of the Cherry and Gauley).
This is the 'before' photo of the tree at the bottom of 'the islands'. The photo was taken on August 20, 2011.
Three of us paddled this section at 12 ft from the Holcomb bridge to the Gauley. This was a fun section of almost continuous class II/II+ rapids. Great section of river for practicing river running skills and there were numerous small waves and holes for surfing. Fun section for the intermediate paddler, a challenging section novice.