Destress Outdoors

Ohio River

McMeechen, WV (Mile 96.5) to I470 Bridge in Wheeling (Mile 91.5)

September 2021

NOTE: This section isn't the best for all paddlers. There's barge activity on both sides of the water between miles 95 - 93, providing for somewhat challenging navigation.

The ramp in McMeechen, West Virginia is a really cool place to put-in, although it takes some pre-planning to get here (full directions below). Today my arrival coincided with that of the Steven L. Colby of Marquette Transportation (below). Marquette is based out of Paducah, Kentucky, about 900 miles downriver! I couldn't decide which photo to put up so I put up two. These will provide you with a good overview of the area though.

Once I got on the water I realized that it was going to be quite windy today and that since this section is already somewhat of a navigational challenge to begin with, that was going to make things interesting. As you start upriver you can already see that quite a bit is going on up ahead as, visible already, are a couple bridges along with some of the tallest buildings you'll have seen since New Martinsville or perhaps even Marietta. That's the community of Bellaire, Ohio up there. Before you reach it, however, you'll have one or two businesses on your right side in West Virginia. A CSX Railroad location looks to be one of them. You'll note what I call the "3 Drummers" here. Two are in the photo, but there's another behind them.

The shot below was taken on the Ohio side just before I reached Bellaire at mile 95. McMahon Creek comes in between the barge and the first bridge you see in the photo...

The slack water in McMahon runs back for about a mile. It's pretty peaceful once you get past a few bridges that span it near the mouth. In fact, it was so nice at the back that I actually got out for a little while, something I don't normally do until much later in the day.

As I was coming out I was REALLY spooked by a blue heron, though! These birds are always down along the shoreline hunting fish, but as I was paddling underneath a tree an odd shadow caught the corner of my eye. Something was different... Well, I looked up to my left and not 5 yards away up in a tree was an utterly silent heron, beak open to look as menacing as possible. Normally the birds are passive and quiet, but when the season turns to Fall I've found them to be a little more standoffish, presumably wanting to concentrate on catching as much as possible before the temperatures get much colder. Do you see the bird just above center in the photo below? I had just paddled almost right under it! I thought about going back to get a closer picture, but heron beaks are long and sharp. I presume they could do a paddler a good bit of damage. I continued on my way.

Back on the Ohio you're about ready to get into the thick of all that's going on. The first photo was taken from the mouth of the creek as I emerged. You can see the old B & O Viaduct Bridge going over in the distance while a busy scrap metal facility - Automatic Recycling - will be directly across the water from you. I'd recommend paddling on left side here if you're concerned that you might breathe in any metal dust, but the web link on the bridge contains an outstanding blog article that has multiple photos, past and present.

By the time I got past that first B & O bridge and just before I'd reached a second, I was swept up by quite a wave (below). The large, red complex on your right side here is a business called Leveltec, a company that specializes in flattening metal lest it have to be turned into scrap - an interesting fact given it's proximity to Automatic Recycling that I mentioned above. I imagine there might be some synergies between the two operations. Meanwhile, that second bridge is the old Bellaire Highway Bridge. As per the web link it was built in 1926, making it the second oldest highway bridge over the Ohio River. It ceased operation as a toll bridge in 1991 and you can still see the toll booth on the Ohio side.

Now you're at about mile 94 and this is when you'll want to start being really careful. Both times I've been here there's been a very busy push boat on the right side at a business colored blue. This is actually a river port that supports a coal mine up there, and you can actually see the pipe that carries the coal down. This operation was first operated by Consolidated Energy as the Shoemaker Coal Mine, but it's currently known as Ohio County Coal Resources and it's run by American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, there's a boat repair operation that I've found to be pretty busy too. This is Bellaire Harbor Services, and as I look at their website now it's solved a mystery for me. I've always seen 2 -3 push boats docked just upriver from the Hannibal Lock and Dam on the Ohio side near mile 126. I'd supposed that there was some kind of operation there, but there were no signs visible to tell me what it was. Now I know. That's a Bellaire Harbor Services location and there will be another Bellaire location coming up shortly today. Incidentally, there's a ramp just upriver from this that looks like it could be public, but I'm pretty sure it belongs to Bellaire and that it's for their use only.

Following this, and still on the same side in Ohio, you'll see a ton of old equipment along the shoreline. I'm always fascinated when I see abandoned stuff like this, but seldom do you see so much. It extends for roughly 1/2 mile all the way up to the point where a ton of old, rusting barges litter the downriver tip of Boggs Island at mile 93.5. More on the island in a sec, but I'm having a hard time telling what business this used to be. The charts indicate that Rayle Coal used to operate here, but so did Ohio River Salvage. If someone could enlighten me I'd appreciate it. My email is on my "About Me" page.

Boggs Island... It's small at about 1/3 mile long and it's way skewed toward the Ohio shoreline. I was able to navigate through the channel, but I was doing so on a bed of alga so thick that it felt like I was paddling through the length of a 1/3 mile sponge. I wasn't too comfortable doing this, and I don't think I'd do it again, but I just had to see what paddling through it was like and I paddled as gently as I could so as not to damage the alga. .

If you paddle through the channel as I did, however, you'll miss a business called IMI FABI is on the West Virginia side of the island. This is an Italian talc producing concern that began operation in 1950 as per the web link. In researching it a little, I find that talc is used in more than just talcum powder. It's also used to make crayons and ceramics among other things.

At this point it's getting really busy again with barges on either side of the river. In fact, you've got multiple businesses in Ohio clear down to the Interstate 470 Bridge which is about 1 1/2 miles down. I'll start at mile 93 in Ohio where lies some kind of grain operation. The charts indicate that it's Oxford Mining, but I can't find enough information about them to tell if they're even still around. For all I know they could have changed hands since the charts were printed. Lion Industries is here, but I don't think their business would run grain elevators. It looks like they're more in the line of fabrication services.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia you'll find a landing for what was once the 48th Street Boat Club. It comes just before the first large red brick building you see, but there were no signs of life here. In fact, my view was completely obscured by a long line of barges which I assume went with the operation across the river, a very busy Sidwell Materials/Tri Son Concrete at mile 92.5.

I mentioned Bellaire Harbor Services earlier, and they have another Ohio location at this point, much larger than the others I'd seen. Below isn't the best photo in terms of lighting, but it shows the wide array of vessels that were docked here, to include several sternwheelers. Amongst them was the R.A. Denny that had passed me down in Moundsville this year returning from the Marietta Sternwheel Festival. Belliare must be pretty good at what they do to have all this business!

Finally, just before you reach the blue Interstate 470 Bridge (or Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge) you'll have yet two more businesses. Cravat Coal will be back behind Bellaire on your left and Valley Concrete will be on your right. Neither seem to have much of a web presence, but they're noted on the charts and you can see them up on the shoreline. There was a lot of activity at the former today but I'm not sure if Valley Concrete has a river presence. There are some rusted barges around and an old metal embankment here though (which can be seen to the right in the second photo below). The push boat you see is run by Excell Marine (a subsidiary of McNational, Inc). You can always tell them by the beaver logo on their boats. Like Marquette Transportation that I mentioned at the very beginning of this journal, McNational is based 900 miles downstream in Paducah, Kentucky.

From the looks of it the next section won't be quite as industrial, although it will be quite busy. The large city of Wheeling as well as Wheeling Island are just ahead and I image there will be a lot more recreational boat traffic. I leave you with one final photo of the McMeechen community which looks quite nice on the water...

DIRECTIONS:

This is a little tricky as the ramp in McMeechen isn't as easily accessible as you might think. You might want to just do what I did and consult Google Maps. If you type: "McMechen Boat Launch" you'll be able to pull up directions from wherever you are. It's near the intersection of 10th Street and Ohio Street.