Coastals

Please post directions here.

James River: Richmond - link to google map and RTD Map and Live Search maps with awesome bird's eye views: Upper . . . Lower
AW Pages -

• Upper: click here
  Lower: click here

USGS Gauge: click here
NOAA Gauge with forecast level for Cartersville (1 day upstream) and Richmond: click here

PONY PASTURE: Put in for Upper section.

There is a large parking lot at Pony pasture - *gates are locked after dark.*
There is a restroom facility at this location.
There is a 7-11 on Forest Hill where the Pony Pasture turnoff is.

REEDY CREEK: Put in for Downtown/lower section; take out for Upper section.

The parking area nearest the putin is on the north side of Riverside Drive. There is a drive that goes down steeply from Riverside. It is not recommended to 1. leave any valuables in your car or 2. lock your car or 3. leave your windows up or 3. park in the lot if you choose to do 1 and/or 2 and/or 3. Parking is available on the hill by the houses and the residents put up with a lot from boaters, so please be respectful. Breakins occur in both the lot and on the street. Welcome to Richmond!

There is a port-a-potty at this location.

To get to Reedy Creek from 64 west of Richmond: Take 64 toward 95. Just before the 95 exit, exit onto 195. Go to the Forest Hill Ave exit. Pay the 70 cent toll and turn left on Forest Hill Ave. Go through 3 lights and a few blocks down you'll see a sign to Reedy Creek. Turn left (42nd St). When the road ends turn right (Riverside Dr). You're still following signs to Reedy Creek. The next left takes you into the parking lot at Reedy Creek.

14TH ST (NEAR MAYO ISLAND): Take out for downtown/lower section.

See this link for a map. This is the address for La Difference, a furniture store about 1/10 mile north of the takeout. Going south on 14th, pass La Diff (on left), go to first floodwall gates and turn left immediately after - there is a brown park sign indicating the takeout. Drive about 1/10 mile to the parking lot.

There is a handicap-accessible port-a-potty at this location that smells better than the parking lot.
There are fast food restaurants on 14th Street south of Mayo Island.

Legend Brewing Company (the place to "see-and-be-seen" after a run on the James): click here

Rivanna - Crofton to Palmyra
Route 600 bridge near Lake Monticello to Route 15 bridge at Palmyra. Approx. 2 hour trip, only mild riffles but scenery is great.

Both put-in and take-out are DGIF landings with ample parking and are in excellent condition. No services at put-in, small grocery store near take-out.

To get to put-in:
Take 64 to exit 136, go south on Route 15, turn RIGHT after approx. 4 miles onto Union Mills Road (see sign for Lake Monticello), turn LEFT after approx. 2 miles onto South Boston Road (see sign for Lake Monticello), go approx. 1 mile, look for DGIF ramp on right just before bridge over Rivanna. It's called "Crofton"and the coordinate are 37?55.14',78?17.85'.


To get to take-out from put-in:
Turn right out of DGIF lot, cross river, drive until you get to stop sign (about 1.5 miles). Turn LEFT at stop sign onto Route 53. Take Route 53 South to first stop sign (intersection with Route 15, about 4 miles). Take-out is approx. 100 yards before that stop sign on left side. It's "Palmyra" and the coordinates are 37?51.47',78?16.01'

Scenic (but fast) route back to Richmond from the take-out:
Out of DGIF lot, turn LEFT onto Route 53, go about 100 yds to stop sign, turn RIGHT onto 15 South. Go about 6 miles until you hit the town of Dixie, turn LEFT onto Route 6. Route 6 becomes Patterson Avenue.

gage: http://ahps.erh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ahps.cgi?akq&pyav2

Directions to PI and TO for Upper Tye River (NF Tye above Nash to Appalachian Trail)

Take I 64 west from Charlottesville to Exit 107 (US 250).
Drive a few miles West on US 250, turn Left (South) on SR 151 (Patrick Henry Hwy).

Drive South on SR 151 for ~25 miles (Nellysford is the last community of any size you'll pass - watch the speed limit here), turn Right (North) on SR 56 (Crabtree Falls Hwy). (There is a bridge over the Tye on 151 just before you get to SR 56.)

Drive North on SR 56 up the Tye valley. There are about four more bridges over the river in the ~5 miles before you reach the Appalachian Trail crossing. These might be common takeouts, but I don't know as I've never floated beyond the AT.

When the valley pinches out and you're in the mountains proper with the river on your right, look for a big gravel parking lot on the left where the AT crosses the road (there is a swinging footbridge across the river). This is a common takeout for the upper section and possibly a putin for lower reaches.

To reach the putin, continue up SR 56 for another few miles until, with the river on your left, you see Campbell Mtn. Road on your right (I think it's gravel from the get-go, but not certain), the confluence of the NF and SF Tye ahead on the left, and a bridge across the NF Tye just ahead on 56.

There is a gage on the downstream side of the bridge, but no parking is allowed in this area. Turn Rt on Campbell Mtn. Road and continue a short distance to Evergreen Church. Park and put in on the North Fork at the pullout on the left side of the gravel road. Probably not a good idea to park here on Sunday mornings.

Gordon Dalton has emphasized on the AW pages that relationships with the locals are tenuous. In 2003, I was yelled at by an angry resident when I pulled my car to the side further up Campbell Mtn. Road to scout a rapid, so keep a low profile.

Directions from Richmond......I64 west to I81 south to Exit 191 which is Route I64 west.
Go to the first exit, #55, and at the end of the ramp take a left and go through three lights, then cross the Maury River Bridge and take an immediate right into Jordan Point Park and drive all the way to the rear at the river.

North Branch Potomac: Bloomington - link to google map

James River: Balcony Falls - link to google map including nice camping options

another Google map https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewe ... 3553712842

The New and Gauley Rivers

Camping: http://www.nps.gov/archive/neri/pdf/camp02.pdf

A tutorial
Written by Chuck Brabec on 8/30/07 to prepare for the Labor Day Weekend

PDF map of the area: link

For those of you who don't know how the levels on the New and Gauley rivers are related, here is a (not so) brief explanation.

The New river has its headwaters in the mountains of North Carolina. From there, it flows northward into Virginia and then turns west into West Virginia. I don't know of any dams on the New in NC. In VA, there is a dam that forms Claytor Lake, just upstream of Radford. What is released from Claytor Lake heads down past Radford and Pearisburg. At Glen Lyn, the New flows into WV and into Bluestone Lake (the second major dam on the New). Just below Bluestone Dam is the confluence of the New and Greenbrier Rivers. The water in the New from Hinton downstream is what comes out of Bluestone Dam plus whatever joins it from the Greenbrier. The most relevant river gauges for those of us paddling the New below Hinton are at Hinton and Thurmond. The level at Hinton reflects what will happen in 12-16 hours at Thurmond and a couple hours after that at Fayette Station (the takeout for New River Gorge).

The Huntington COE web page (link) includes flows for the New in Virginia at Galax, Radford and Glen Lyn and in West Virginia at Hinton and Thurmond. It also includes the flow that is being released from Bluestone Dam. All of this information will give you some idea of what is and will be happening to the level on the New in and above NRG.

The trend on the New using the data from this morning indicates that it will continue to drop (1451 cfs at Thurmond, 1382 cfs at Hinton, 1240 cfs from Bluestone Dam, 1294 cfs at Glen Lyn and 815 cfs at Radford). How much it will drop depends on rainfall and what the COE decides to release from Bluestone Lake.

My guess is that the New at Thurmond and Fayette Station on Saturday will be about 1100-1300 cfs (-1.5 to -2.0 feet on the paddlers gauge).

What does all of this have to do with the Gauley?

The Gauley is natural flow above Summersville Lake. The COE manages the flow at Summersville Dam based primarily on the lake level and what is flowing into the lake from the Gauley headwaters (including the Williams, Cranberry and Cherry Rivers). However, the COE also has to consider the potential for flooding in the towns below the dam and the requirement for a minimum flow on the Kanawha River. The Huntington COE web page (link above) also includes the river levels for the Gauley watershed and the current flow being released from Summersville Dam (419 cfs). The release from the dam is what you have on the Upper Gauley until you get to the confluence of Meadow and Gauley rivers. Then you have the increased flow from the Meadow (a paltry 31 cfs this morning). There are a few other creeks that flow into the Gauley as it heads downstream, but right now they are even more insignificant than the Meadow.

Why is the Kanawha River important?

The New and Gauley rivers merge at Gauley Bridge, where it becomes the Kanawha River. As I mentioned before, the COE is required to maintain a minimum flow on the Kanawha. When the flow gets too low on the New they have to release more water from Summersville Dam on the Gauley River. The "too low" point is somewhere around 1000-1300 cfs on the New at Thurmond. Another way to look at it is to view the USGS gauge for the Kanwaha River at Kanawha Falls (USGS link). It shows that the COE normally tries to maintain about 2000 cfs at that gauge.

The main question is "Will the New drop enough to cause the COE to increase the release from Summersville Dam?"

My answer right now is "Maybe".

BTW, the COE maintains 2 levels for Summersville Lake - summer pool and winter pool. The difference is 75 feet of elevation!! The COE is mandated by law to start bringing the lake down to winter pool beginning the weekend after Labor Day. That is why we have "Gauley Season".

More from Chuck about the low water New:

Posted by: Chuck Date: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:46 pm ((PDT))

I have some experience with NRG at low levels (zero to -2 feet at Fayette Station). Here are the hazards that I watch out for:

Lower Railroad
I take a line through the rock garden to the right of center, well right of Clamshell Rock. The line far left (almost on shore) is also open but there are some rocks in the drop that can surprise you. That is where the rafts like to play too, so you have them to contend with. I prefer just right of center.

Middle Keeney
There is a ledge that you have to contend with if you take the normal line just to the left of Moss Rock. I find it best to be a bit father left of Moss Rock with a slight angle right to miss most of the ledge and line up with the tongue over the left part of the ledge. Get too far left and there is a pretty sticky hole that can grab you.

Lower Keeney
Stay away from the rocks on river right (Meat Grinder). This actually applies at all levels. That is pretty easy to do as long as you don't swim in Middle Keeney. If anyone in your group does swim, get them to calm water in the big pool well above Meat Grinder on river right or the pool on river left well above the beginning of Lower Keeney. Once you get into Lower Keeney, watch our for the ledge coming out from the large rock on shore near the bottom of the rapid. This ledge, which forms the last hole in the rapid, is barely under water at low water levels. This is not a good place to be upside down. I personally know of 2 kayakers who had pretty bad neck injuries sustained when they went over that ledge upside down. There is a small tongue right next to the rock that you can use to avoid the hole formed by the ledge.

Double Z
I usually run this rapid starting at the eddy on river right. Form there I go behind Barry's Rock (the big rock in the middle of the rapid) and then to the left of Table Rock (the rock in the middle at the bottom of the rapid - where the video boaters congregate). Just don't go too far left and Breadloaf Rock is not in play.

Undercut/Miller's Folly
I think of this as 2 rapids with a short pool at low water levels between the Undercut part and the Miller's Folly part. Stay away from Undercut Rock in the first part. When I get to Miller's Folly, I look for the rock just a bit left of center at the top of the rapid. I go just right of that rock and just right of the rock downstream of it at the bottom of the rapid. Keep away from the left side of these rocks as that route will put you right in Bloody Nose - the really shallow rock slide at the bottom of the rapid. That's not a good place to be.

Fayette Station
Avoid the hole about 3/4 of the way down the rapid by staying to the left of it. The hole is formed by a rock ledge coming out from river right. At low levels, the holes is a grabber. I ended up in it sideways several years ago. When I came out of my kayak, I was sucked down. After what seemed like forever, my toes finally touched bottom and I was able to push off with enough force to get to the top of the water downstream of the hole. I do not want to repeat that episode again!

On the plus (?) side, the pools are long at -1 foot to -2 feet.

Chuck

On 6/24/08, Rich K wrote:
> I'm familiar with the New over a range of levels from nomimal (1') to high (6') but not where it's sitting now: about -1' (Fayette Station approximation based on Thurmond gauge).

Camping options

Burnwood NPS campground http://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/f ... ations.htm
Confluence http://www.confluenceresort.com/camping.htm

1. On I-95 S, get off at TEMPLE AVENUE exit (Colonial Heights).
2. Go to T-intersection and turn LEFT onto Temple Ave.
3. Go to T-intersection and turn LEFT onto Boulevard
4. Go straight for about 1 mile. Turn right at Dupuy St. (WaWa station on the near right corner). Dupuy St. becomes Dupuy Rd. after about .4miles. Go less than .1 mile, then continue on E. River Rd.
5. Pass VSU entrance on your left.
6. Keep on road for about 1-2 miles until it makes T-intersection at stop light. Turn LEFT.
7. You're now on Rt. 36.
8. Follow this road through town of Ettrick (don't speed!). Road will curve to the right and cross the river.
9. Parking lot on left just after you cross the river -- very visible from road.

APPOMATTOX
Google map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 0&t=h&z=14

Live Search map (awesome bird's eye views): http://maps.live.com/?v=2&encType=1&cid ... 4B6E8A!193

James River: Seven Islands map

Rappahannock Fredericksburg

Motts Run to the Old Mill Park
put in: Motts run (5927 River Road)