Little Kanawha River Mile 1

Little Kanawha River

Big Tygart/Sams Creek (Mile 7.5) to Hughes River (Mile 18.5)

August 2021

For this section you have a couple choices as far as public put-ins. I checked out the one at the site of the old lock and dam 2 in Leachtown (river mile 15.5) but I found it a little too cramped with no real space for parking and no ramp. I knew from online maps, however, that the next put-in was paved and that it was not too much further away in the community of Greencastle, West Virginia. I opted to use it instead. This is at the furthest upriver point of the section I'll be describing and it's at the intersection of the Little Kanawha and the Hughes River.

As I arrived and looked down the ramp the sight that came to my eyes was truly impressive. What a beautiful spot to access the water! Hopefully you'll forgive the large photos. I do this so as to better put the reader in my place. Anyway, as you look at the photo below, straight ahead is downstream on the Little Kanawha while to your left is upstream. Meanwhile, if you opt to go to the right you'll be heading upriver on the Hughes River. There's a lot of water to explore from this point!

Despite where I put in, I'm going to describe this section from the spot at which I ended my upriver paddle last time - mile 7.5 at the mouth of the merged Big Tygart/Sams Creek - and then narrate upriver. You can paddle into Big Tygart/Sams Creek at least a mile and possibly a lot more. I described it a little in my last journal, but today I wouldn't have time to explore any of the side streams at all. I hope to do so on subsequent trips as there would be a couple more navigable ones coming up later on.

Anyway, if you look upriver from mile 7.5 you'll have a mile long straightaway ahead to start. One thing I've already noticed - at least in this lower section of the Little Kanawha - is that this river runs in straightaways. You'll have one after another, and such will be the case for this entire stretch. Below is an example of one, but this first straight ends at mile 8.5 with a left curve and an unnamed (and unnavigable) stream coming in on your upriver right.

Here I'd also like to mention a really nice multi-purpose trail that will be running up on your left for your first 3 miles. It's the 72 mile North Bend Rail Trail and it's up there just out of sight. Something that may be in sight on your right side, however, are some cows taking rest from the sun. :)

At mile 9 you'll have reached Stillwell Creek on your left. There's actually a ramp right at the mouth but I've got to believe it's private. It's at the end of a very small riverfront neighborhood on an equally short street called Wilderness Valley Road. The stream is navigable.

Then, in another mile and a half after rounding a right curve called Butcher's Bend, you'll see an interesting spot on the left side where a tiny unnamed stream comes in under a very old brick bridge (see below). I'm not sure what the technical name for this type of bridge would be. If anyone could tell me I'd be appreciative, but another larger stream comes in on your left directly afterward. This merged Walker Creek/Kites Run is navigable. The North Bend Trail will break from you at this point, to follow this creek. In fact, it appears that North Bend runs alongside a few more different streams before it ends, making it an excellent way to explore different West Virgnia waterways.

The next 4 miles come in a couple 2 mile straights and I found the first one, in particular, to be incredibly peaceful. Indeed, this section contained some of the most peaceful areas I've ever experienced on a river. One interesting point came on the left side where there's a fairly large hill that appears prone to landslides. At the top, however, you'll see a line of trees and among them I could hear some more cows "mooing" to break my reverie. Other than that, you're basically alone amongst the farmland other than an occassional boat dock or riverside camping setup.

Not too much into the second 2 mile straight I found a spot where there were old wood reinforcements down at the water's edge on either side of the river. Could this possibly have been the location of an old ferry run? The spot comes at a point where Awesome Valley Drive is on the left and Emerick Lane is on the right. However, I'd expect that if this were an old launch that one of these roads would have "Ferry" in the name...

Below are some photos of the area around old lock and dam 2 at mile 15.5. I suppose you could use the ladder in the third photo, but I'm not sure you'd want to. I saw a mighty large spider in residence. Legs and all, it was about the size of a coffee cup lid in terms of circumference! I sure wish they'd clear a little more area for parking up there. If they did this would be a much more viable put in - at least for paddlers. I did see some guys clearing an area as I paddled by, but I'm thinking that they were doing so for the benefit of one of the dwellings. All of this will be on your left side, but on the right you'll see a spot where a railed concrete wall slopes down to the water. It's on the site of a residence now, but was this perhaps a business at one time?

After rounding a left curve just after the dam you'll have a stream coming in on your right that I completely missed both coming and going - Slate Creek at the community of Slate. I don't know how I could have missed it because looking at the online maps it looks to be navigable. I'll have to come back and check it out sometime.

With a couple more miles to go, you're essentially looking at yet another straight, and the first part of this was another very peaceful one amid farmland. Notable to me were some houses on the right that just seemed waaaaay up there on a very steep slope. Another thing I noticed I see a lot - vines killing trees. Check out the photo below where they're actually pulling a tree right down into the water with their weight.

The last section was a little more energetic in that you're apt to find some people down at the water as I did today. It also looks like there's a bar and a campground up there. Some people were also back at the ramp which you can see in the photo below. Luckily they were headed out though. This ramp doesn't have much room on either side. It would have been a stretch to get by them if they'd stayed.

You'll want to be very careful driving out of here! You'll have noticed on your way in that the roads are pretty narrow, but there's one particularly dangerous intersection as you come back out to West Virginia Route 6. You're almost blind as you look to turn onto this road. PLEASE be very careful!! Full directions below this last photo...

DIRECTIONS:

To make this easy I'd simply look up Greencastle, West Virginia on Google Maps and find your way there from where you are. Then, as you get near, you'll start seeing brown signs for the boat ramp. These signs will have you on West Virginia Route 6 and then you'll turn North on a road called 4/3, or Bailey Road. From here you'll be in the midst of a little neighborhood where all the streets end in "Way". You'll be looking to make a left on Apple Blossom Way which is one-way lane that takes you to the ramp. You'll come out on Treasure Island Way.