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 57 minutes | 10.65 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 1, 2025 |
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)
Put in river right at the Fenwick Post Office.
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).
Jun 10, 2025
The 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.
May 16, 2024
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.
