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New River Gorge NP&P

@newrivernps

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Official account for New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

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A few weeks ago a small but dedicated group of our park staff lead by our Preserve WV Americorps member Laura undertook a major clean up of the Historic Erskine Pugh House in Thurmond.

The team removed years of dust, debris, and pest waste from the home over the course of the clean up to get it in the best shape they could. Although certainly preliminary this hard work is incredibly important! This clean out will help protect the home as it currently exists. It will also make future condition assessments safer, and can serve as a stepping stone to future restoration work!

Image Credit: NPS Images Old abandoned two-story house with boarded-up door and windows, surrounded by leafless trees on a sloped, overgrown yard. by @newrivernps

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5 days ago

Interested in learning more about the Candy Darter and other unique fish of the New River?

Join us for a special program at Canyon Rim Visitor Center on Saturday October 3 at 3:00 PM for a presentation and book signing by Stuart Welsh, Author of Hornyheads, Madtoms, and Darters: Narratives on Central Appalachian Fishes. Stuart is Professor of Ichthyology at West Virginia University and a fisheries research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. The program will take place in the theater at Canyon Rim Visitor Center.

Image Credit: 1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2 S. Welsh Colorful freshwater fish with vibrant orange and green stripes resting on a rocky riverbed underwater. by @newrivernps

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7 days ago

“Do you even lift, bro?” - this fence lizard, probably

This Eastern Fence Lizard put on quite the show for Rangers and visitors alike on the Endless Wall trail this week! Fence lizards, as you can imagine, are frequently spotted on fences and pine trees, but they also enjoy the warm sandstone rock formations found throughout the New River Gorge. Fence lizards are spiny lizards, meaning they have rough and pointy scales on their backs. Males are distinguished by their bright blue scales on their throats and bellies, while females are recognizable by the black horizontal stripes on their backs. In some cases, females will also have a small splash of blue scales on their throats or bellies.

When claiming territory or deterring other males, fence lizards will flash their blue scales by doing push-ups or bobbing their heads up and down. After a few territorial push-ups, this fence lizard seemed to have decided the humans at Diamond Point weren’t threatening and chose to take in the beauty of the New River Gorge instead.

NPS Image/S. Davidson A small lizard perched on a rocky cliff edge overlooking a winding river and dense forest below. by @newrivernps

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9 days ago

Sometimes the rapids get their names from folk tales or more recent escapades, but sometimes they give us a glimpse into the history of our area.

‘Iron Ring’ is situated along the Upper Gauley in a section where the width of the river is cut nearly in half. Today it makes for an enormous wave train, but 100 years ago this bend in the river caused some serious trouble for the other industries at the time. Even before coal mining took off in the gorge, logging industries were determined to make money off the timber along the Gauley.

It was common practice to float the logs down the river to the local mills. With this funnel creating blockages and slowing operations though, loggers did the only thing they knew to do to speed things up. They blew it up. Their blasting left us with the still narrow, but more passable section of river we have today. The only remnant of this today is a large iron ring embedded into one of the rocks.

Image Credit: West Virginia & Regional History Collection Two men stand in front of a massive tree stump, each holding an axe, showcasing the scale of the giant cut tree. by @newrivernps

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13 days ago

There is an incredible research project going on in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, and you can be a part of it, too!

Graduate students from Virginia Tech and a team from the WV Division of Natural Resources, in partnership with the NPS, are tagging Indiana bats and Virginia big‑eared bats with cellular tags. These tags are remarkably small — just 3.75 cm long and weighing in at 0.21 grams (about 2% of a bat’s body weight). They are glued to the bat’s back, where they naturally fall off after 1-2 weeks. During this time, researchers will be able to use the data to determine how bats move across the landscape and what areas of the park these bats prefer.

This is where you come in! If you would like to assist in collecting data for this project, follow these steps:
Make sure you have an iPhone. (The CTT tags only ping off of ios towers)
Enable BLUETOOTH and LOCATION SERVICES
Take a leisurely (and safe!) drive between 8 PM – 11 PM on roads in the Northern to Central areas of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
That’s it! You just assisted in bat research!

If you are driving in the park and one of these tagged bats are nearby, the location of that bat will be uploaded to a database and will be used to understand how these bats are utilizing the park. One bat was even picked up over 130 miles away from where it was originally captured, so every data point is important! For more information on bats in the New River Gorge, please visit https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/nature/bats.htm

Image Credits: 1) Maggie Reid 2) Rebecca LaRochelle Person wearing blue gloves gently holds a grey Virginia Big Ear Bat. A thin antenna come from the hair on its back. by @newrivernps

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14 days ago

With the coming of Fall, the temperatures are getting cooler, the leaves are getting more colorful, and birds are flying back through our area!

If you would like to experience a bit of that fall migration with us we will be hosting two morning birding hikes on September, 26 and October, 10 at 7 a.m. We will meet at the Endless Wall Main parking lot (the third one from the Canyon Rim Visitor Center) and hike to Diamond Point seeing what birds we see! The hike is free to attend and no registration is required. We do encourage those interested to bring their own pair of binoculars and some water for the hike. We will have a few pairs of binoculars available if folks don’t have their own.

Image Credit: Van Doren, B. M., and Horton, K. G. Year/s of migration forecast map image. BirdCast, migration forecast map; September 24. University of Illinois, Purdue University, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. birdcast.org. Accessed 22 Sept, 2026. Map showing predicted bird migration intensity across the US on September 24, 2026, with high activity in the eastern states and moderate to low in the west. by @newrivernps

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15 days ago

You may only be here for the weekend, or you may be here for the month, but these little guys have all the experience. The candy darter (Etheostoma osburni) may only be 3 inches long, but he’s made a big impression on us at the park!

This little fish is endemic to the upper Kanawha River Basin, meaning it naturally occurs only in this region, and it’s no question why. They require clean, cold, fast-moving water, and are sensitive to changes in their habitat. Because they are so particular, these fish are considered an indicator species of watershed health, but that also means that they have been federally recognized as endangered.

If you love this fish as much as we do and want to find out how you can help, you can check out this article! https://www.nps.gov/gari/learn/nature/protecting-our-native-candy-darter.htm

Image Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/ T. Travis Brown Small blue and yellow fish with red stripes rests above rock. by @newrivernps

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20 days ago

Program reminder

Join us this weekend at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center, Saturday September 19 or Sunday September 20 at 1 p.m. for a continuation of our 250th series of talks around history in our national park. This weekends talk “Crossroads of Conflict” will focus on some of the many Civil War connections here at New River Gorge. This will include local battles and the many Civil War veterans who shaped our region for decades after the dust of the war had settled.

The program is free to attend and no registration is required.

Pictured is the Fitzwater family who lived in the region both before and after the Civil War. Both James (back row third from right) and Jacob (front row second from right) served in William Thurmond's Partisan Rangers during the war.
Photo courtesy of M. Meadows Sepia-toned vintage family portrait with three generations posing outdoors near a wooden fence and rustic setting. by @newrivernps

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21 days ago

WV Department of Highways is working on a paving project outside of Canyon Rim Visitor Center. Over the coming few days (starting September 15) the entrance to the visitor center from Rt 19 may be closed periodically.

If the entrance is closed, visitors can access the visitor center by driving to the next road north (Lansing Edmond Road). Make a right turn, then turn right at the next intersection onto Fayette Station Road. Immediately bear right at the fork, then stay right at the next intersection. From there you will arrive at the visitor center on your left.

We appreciate everyone's patience while this work is underway.

Image Credit: NPS image by @newrivernps

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23 days ago

Calling all Fall lovers!

The very first signs of fall are upon us. Leaves are slowly beginning to turn in the New River Gorge! These photos were taken at the Sandstone Falls Boardwalk. As you are walking on our trails, remind yourselves to look up and watch the seasons change in real time!

Image Credit: NPS Image/Nicolas Taylor Red maple tree leaves turning from green to orange. by @newrivernps

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24 days ago

What is one thing that we and Virginia Spiraea have in common? We both need whitewater to keep us going!

Last week we touched on a rare ecosystem inside the park, but this week we want to focus on one plant that rides the waves and looks good while it does it. Virginia Spiraea is an incredible example of how evolution will find creative solutions to problems. This flower doesn't need pollinators to reproduce; it clones itself and uses the whitewater to float those sprouts to get wedged in other rocky shorelines.

Virginia Spiraea relies on the consistent flooding of the river to keep an advantage against other plants that may cover the canopy or take its resources. The Gauley River contains the world's largest known population of spiraea, so be mindful when beaching boats, walking along the banks, or camping in designated sites.

Image credit: USFWS Shrubby plant with small white blooms in clusters. by @newrivernps

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a month ago

Today September 10, was the anniversary of the Battle of Carnifex Ferry during the American Civil War and this weekend on Sunday September 13, a reenactment of the battle will take place at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park at 1PM. Although the battle was relatively small in scale it holds a fascinating place in US history both for its role in the creation of the State of West Virginia and in the number of important figures who took part. Future presidents Rutherford B Hayes, and William McKinley as well as a future supreme court justice, Stanley Matthews, all served on the Union side in the battle.

If you are interested in learning more about the Civil War in our area we will be continuing our series of special 250th ranger talks with “Crossroads of Conflict” a talk on the Civil War’s connections to our National Park. The talk will occur next weekend Saturday September 19 and Sunday September 20 at 1 PM at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. The talk is free to attend and no registration is required.

Image Credit: British Library Soldiers crossing the Gauley River on rafts after the September 10th battle at Carnifex Ferry, surrounded by trees and hills. by @newrivernps

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a month ago