Gauley
9 Woods Ferry to Swiss(Lower Gauley)
| Difficulty | III-IV(V) |
| Length | 14 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 26 fpm |
| Gauge | Gauley River Above Belva, Wv |
| Flow Rate as of 23 minutes | 391 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | September 24, 2024 |
Projects
The Gauley River is considered by many to be the ultimate big water river in the eastern US. The river, largely protected by the National Park Service, flows through a beautiful forested canyon and among massive house-sized boulders. The Gauley has become the economic backbone of an otherwise rural [...]Read More
River Description
Scheduled releases occur on weekends beginning the Friday following Labor Day. See the Army Corps' web site for the scheduled dates, times, and flows.
The Lower Gauley is big water. It can also be tons of fun. After a short warm-up with a few small play waves you will see a huge rock on River right and the river will drop out of sight. That's Koontz Flume, the first of several class IV/IV+ rapids on the Lower G. There is a sneak on far river left. The biggest hazard with the sneak is the possibility of meeting up with boaters in the eddy at the bottom waiting their turn to play in 5 Boat Hole. The more conventional line is to run on river right but well left of the huge undercut rock. One obstacle that catches some paddlers is a sticky hole just above the main drop. There is a tongue to the right of the hole and left of a smaller rock that forms an eddy on river right. You can catch the eddy behind the smaller rock and above the huge rock or you can paddle back to the left after clipping the upper hole and catch the green water that takes you on a roller coaster ride down to the bottom of the rapid. If you go for the river right eddy just above the rock make sure that you make it. There has been at least one fatality when a boater swam on the eddy line and was flushed into the undercut.
The next major rapid after Koontz Flume is Canyon Doors. It is in a slight bend on the river with beautiful rock cliffs on the right. There are a couple of big rocks in the middle of the river with most of the flow going to the right. The eddy behind the rocks is a nice resting spot before deciding how to run the rest of the rapid. At levels around 1000-1500 cfs there are some great surfing waves between the rocks and the river right shoreline. After Canyon Doors comes Junkyard. Then things quiet down for a while before you get to Psuedo Mash and Twisted Sister. You will recognize Twisted Sister as a squirrely
...River Features
Woods Ferry Put-in
Primary put-in for the Lower Gauley on river right with a large parking area that is used by those running the Lower and also those taking out after running the Upper Gauley. The access can get busy on the weekends during Gauley season. The area adjacent to the river is for loading/unloading with parking a short distance up from the river. This access point was privately owned for many years and was not available to the public until it was acquired in 2008 by the National Park Service, with advocacy from American Whitewater, to provide public boater access to the Gauley River.
Bucklick Access
The Bucklick access off Panther Mountain Road was the historic put-in for many years prior to the acquisition of Woods Ferry Access by the National Park Service. It requires a short hike down from the road down to the river to a point immediately upstream of the confluence where Bucklick Branch joins the Gauley River on river right. This access is a potential for those looking to start their trip immediately upstream of Koontz Flume.
Koontz Flume
Beware the eddy on river right at the beginning of this rapid! It sits just above an undercut rock which has been the site of at least one fatality.
Canyon Doors
Junkyard
Upper Mash
Lower Mash
Diagonal Ledges
Many groups spend time surfing the waves here along river left. It can get busy on weekends during Gauley season as it is one of the most popular places to pull out for a break.
Heaven's Gate
Roller Coaster
StairStep
Cliffside
Pure Screaming Hell
Best is to begin middle left, avoiding some pourovers, and then motor left of the hole at the end. Careful with this one: the hole tends to shove the unwary paddler into a sieve on river right.
Upper Swiss Take-Out
The standard take-out on river right for most boaters. Access at Swiss was privately owned and managed until the National Park Service, with advocacy from American Whitewater, secured this public boater access to the Gauley River.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportOverlook upstream of Koontz's flume, accessible from parking lot for put in at Koontz's flume
If you go far right to start Rocky Top and then cut back hard to the right you can go over the pretty Angel Wing formation drop. Don't go over the drop too far to the left though
Top big hole on Koontz Flume rapide, Lower Gauley release level
Lower Gauley trip the Sunday of Gauley Fest weekend.
The Lower Gauley is a different experience at higher levels. Commercial raft trips put on (or used to anyway) at levels up to 15k or so. The river changes character above about 7000, and there was a fatality at high water sometime in the early 90s, but it's pretty awesome, not that hard, and lots of fun at higher levels. Rapids that are very different above 9k or so include Canyon Doors (chaos in its first drop), Lower Mash / Diagonal Ledges (all one awesome rapid; scout or follow someone who knows the route, and stay way the heck to the right!), Heaven Help you (scout!), Stairsteps (benign, but ten or so of the biggest pyramid waves east of Lava Falls), and PSH (the highwater hole is on the inside of the left turn).
Wide angle view of Pure Screaming Hell
Charlie makes his boat look like a rocket launching from water. You'd have to be there to believe it.
I've always used the Gauley at Belva reading to cover this section rather than adding the Summersville Release and Meadow together. Thjis takes into account other tributariies, most notably Peters Creek but innumerable smaller ones as well. For example, on 3/25/05; the Gauley at Belva was 17,772; the combined gauge 16,209.
Safety gurus Charlie Walbridge and Lee Belknap head for the Doors