Tygart Valley
5. Above Arden to Big Cove Run(Arden)
Nov 20, 2018
The take-out at Cove Run is quite an ordeal! The last half mile of the road requires a bit of clearance and at least AWD. The trail down to the river (when the lake is drawn down) is extremely muddy.
Feb 26, 2018
It is a good idea to check the elevation of Tygart Lake before deciding to set shuttle at the Moatsville Bridge or Big Cove Run takeout. With Tygart Lake at 1107', the drop at Wells Falls shrank. The big hole at the bottom was almost gone and the sloping drop into it was much shallower. At 1102', Wells Falls preserved all its glory, but there were no rapids between it and the Big Cove Run takeout.
According to old topo maps, the conflunce of Big Cove Run and the Tygart is somewhere between 1050 and 1100', probably closer to 1050 given what was observed at 1102. Around 1050 plus some amount more, you will have rapids all the way to BCR.
Mar 9, 2015
I've seen Bill Blauvelt run that far left side just as smooth and pretty as you could ever want to see.
Oct 9, 2011
Moats Falls at 1300 cfs. Probably as low as you want to run it (see next pics)
Oct 9, 2011
There isn't much water up top at this level, and i got caught in shallow water at a pretty unfortunate place.
Jul 7, 2007
Bill Dermota on a first Decent of Wells Falls, What a Sweat Rapid !!!!!.... It funny though when you are scouting the above apoach there are several waves holes to navigate before the finnally and they dont look as big as they really are from the scout rock but still easily managed once your in.......
May 8, 2006
after scouting, Danny Doran a FLOW member of Rochester NY (age 13), felt the 14 footer was no problem. he aced the line and landed great. not bad for his 1st falls, he decided to run it twice.
Apr 15, 2005
Another beautiful day on the Tygart. This is one of my all time favorite rapids to run.
Nov 14, 2003
Just a note: The mileage of the first 4.5 miles from the bridge to classic is way off. We measured it to be 2.3 miles.(I ran it in 15 minutes)
May 30, 2003
Wood hazards at Moats Falls.
The natural bridge above Moats (right side)now has a huge log stuffed into and spanning the entire slot.The drop now creates considerably more suction and should be treated with serious caution.Swimmers at Premonition should be kept away from it at any cost,even if that means swimming the falls elsewhere.This log looks to be stuck for a long time to come.
At the bottom of the right side,heavily undercut route 2 boulders are trapping wood
between them.Flushing under the undercut shelf on the right bank and flipping due to hitting the shelf will leave about 75 ft of heavy water to recover in with about 35% of the flow aimed at the strainer.Ropes on the left side are probably the best alternative for rescue due to the heavily undercut right shelf but be aware there is an undercut angled slab at the bottom left where the flow turns hard left to cut towards the center drop where Moats is most often run.By the time the center drop is runnable most paddlers will want to be very careful with the right side route.
Paul Herring
May 26, 2002
Bernie Lenrow running the waterfall river right, Moats falls Arden section of the Tygart.
Jan 1, 1900
Pretty easy move but I would hate to miss it. Big hole followed by a big undercut. Fun though.
