The Gauley River is one of the most popular advanced whitewater runs in the Eastern United States and is the chief feature of the Gauley River National Recreation Area. It is a tributary of the Kanawha River in central West Virginia. Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a rivers gradient drops enough to form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white. ... The Gauley River National Recreation Area protects a portion of the Gauley River in southern West Virginia. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 miles (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ...

Headwaters and course

The Gauley rises in the Monongahela National Forest on Gauley Mountain in Pocahontas County as three streams, the North, Middle, and South Forks, each of which flows across the southern extremity of Randolph County; they converge in Webster County. The river then flows generally west-southwestwardly through Webster, Nicholas and Fayette Counties, past the towns of Camden-on-Gauley and Summersville, to the town of Gauley Bridge, where it joins the New River to form the Kanawha River. Via the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in eastern West Virginia, within the portion of the Allegheny Mountains that includes the Allegheny Front and the western portion of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. ... Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. ... Randolph County is a county located in the state of West Virginia. ... Webster County is a county located in the state of West Virginia. ... Nicholas County is a county located in the state of West Virginia. ... Fayette County is a county located in the state of West Virginia. ... Camden-on-Gauley is a town located in Webster County, West Virginia. ... Summersville is a town located in Nicholas County, West Virginia. ... Gauley Bridge is a town located in Fayette County, West Virginia. ... The New River is a tributary of the Kanawha River, approximately 320 mi (515 km) long, in the U.S. states of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in the United States. ... The Ohio River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the longest river in the United States; the second-longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (yellow outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (blue lines) of a contiguous area. ...

Tributaries

The Gauley's largest tributaries are the Cranberry River and the Williams River, which join it in Webster County; the Cherry River, which joins it in Nicholas County; and the Meadow River, which joins it at the Fayette-Nicholas County border. The Cranberry River is a river located in southeastern section of the US State of West Virginia. ... The Williams River is a tributary of the Gauley River in eastern West Virginia in the United States. ... The Cherry River is a free-flowing tributary of the Gauley River in southeastern West Virginia in the United States. ... Border stone at Passo San Giacomo between Val Formazza in Italy and Val Bedretto in Switzerland Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or subnational administrative divisions. ...

Dams

In Nicholas County, the Gauley is impounded by the Summersville Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam, to form Summersville Lake. The Gauley River National Recreation Area is downstream of the dam. Summersville Dam Summersville Dam is a rock-fill dam located near Summersville, West Virginia, United States. ... United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. ... Scrivener Dam, in Canberra, Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood event A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... Summersville Lake Summersville Lake is a man-made reservoir located in the US state of West Virginia. ...

Whitewater paddling

The Gauley is run year-round by recreational boaters and from Spring to Fall by commercial rafting companies. During the majority of the year, boating is level dependent and the water level fluctuates dramatically depending on rainfall and the level of Summersville Lake. However, starting the Friday after Labor Day, the Army Corps of Engineers provides a series of twenty-two controlled releases for the express purpose of downriver recreation. These releases are collectively known as "Gauley Season" and are scheduled on six successive weekends, the first five of which are four-day weekends (Friday through Monday) and the last of which is just Saturday and Sunday. Typical release levels during "Gauley Season" range from 2,400 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second) to 2,800 CFS.

These releases are thanks to an act of the U.S. Congress, the first law passed in the U.S. to specifically mandate recreational whitewater dam releases. The releases bring millions of dollars annually to the local economy, as paddlers travel from all over the United States and overseas for this event. The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...

The Gauley has two commonly-run sections: the more difficult 9.8-mile (16 km) Upper Gauley (Class IV-V), and the easier 11-mile (18 km) Lower Gauley (Class III-IV, V). Portions of the 5.5-mile (9 km) Middle Gauley (Class III+, IV) are commonly run in conjunction with either the Upper or Lower Gauley, and it is sometimes run alone as a milder alternative.

There are dozens of rapids on the Upper Gauley; the most notable are the Big Five: A rapid is a section of a river where it loses elevation over a relatively short distance (that is, the stream gradient is locally steepened), causing an increase in water flow and (usually) turbulence. ...

• Insignificant (ironically so named because the first expedition reported "nothing significant before Pillow".)
• Pillow Rock (accessible via a steep trail from Carnifax Ferry Battleground site. Extremely powerful and intimidating rapid.)
• Lost Paddle (a long, treacherous rapid consisting of four sub-rapids: First Drop, Second Drop, Third Drop, and Tumblehome.)
• Iron Ring (so named for a large iron ring which had been anchored in a rock near the rapid by loggers many years before. The ring was cut and removed by vandals in the 1980's.), and
• Sweet's Falls (named for John Sweet, a canoeist and pioneer of the Gauley.)

The Lower Gauley has less rapids and they are more spread out, but it also features big dramatic rapids that pose signififcant challenges. Most notable among these:

• Koontz's Flume (First big rapid below the Bucklick access point, easily identifiable by an enormous undercut boulder clearly visible for a half mile or more upstream.)
• Canyon Doors (Named for vertical openings in the canyon wall on river right.)
• Upper and Lower Mash (A complex boulder garden leading down to a swift flush, big breaking wave, and pinning rocks.)
• Heaven's Gates (Long wave train leading to a narrow "gate" between two rocks at the bottom.)
• Pure Screaming Hell (A long approach leading to a pair of large holes, Purgatory and Hell Hole, in addition to a very dangerous undercut sieve on the far right.)

A significant issue regarding legal access on the Gauley exists. Most of the access areas between the public put-in at the dam on the Upper Gauley and the last take-out for the Lower Gauley at Swiss are privately owned by rafting companies. Use of the popular Mason's Branch take-out has been tenuous at best through 2005 and 2006 and no good access exists for private paddlers to actually park near the river. Most have to hike their boats in or out of the gorge. Recently the National Parks Service has been hampered in its efforts to purchase and develop a public access point by a congressional mandate specifying that public access at Woods Ferry rapid (halfway down the Middle Gauley) be purchased and developed before any other area. This was largely seen as an attempt by two large and influential rafting companies with joint ownership of a developed access area to force the NPS to purchase their land. Whether or not this was the case, the situation was resolved through the development of a disused right of way on public land at Woods Ferry. Although this access point is not sufficient to service the crowds of boaters who descend upon the Gauley every year, its existence now permits the NPS to pursue other options for providing much needed public access.

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Gauley River has also been known as: GNIS (The Geographic Names Information System) contains name and locative information about almost two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its Territories. ...

• Chin-que-ta-na
• Chinquetanacepewe
• Falling Creek
• Gaul River
• Gawly River
• Gualey River
• River of Gauls
• The Falling Creek
• The Falls Creek
• To-ke-be-lo-ke
• To-ke-bel-le-ke
• To-ke-bel-lo-ke
• Tokobelloke

See also

• List of West Virginia rivers

This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of West Virginia. ...

External links

• Gauley River National Recreation Area
• National Whitewater River Inventory: Gauley River (Upper)
• National Whitewater River Inventory: Gauley River (Lower)
• US Army Corps of Engineers: Southern WV
• Gauley River Whitewater Rafting Information