Little Kanawha River Mile 1

Little Kanawha River

Mouth at Ohio River (Mile 1) to Big Tygart/Sams Creek (rough guess - Mile 7.5)

June 2021

The Little Kanawha runs for nearly 170 miles in West Virginia and today I decided to paddle a little of it to see what it was like. I started on the Ohio River in Belpre, went downriver to Parkersburg and then headed upriver on the Little Kanawha. Interestingly, the Little Kanawha enters directly alongside and downriver of Parkersburg, West Virginia in exactly the same way that the Kanawha enters directly alongside and downriver of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The difference between the two is that the Kanawha is very dangerous for a paddler at it's mouth due to the amount of barge traffic, while the hazard here is more in the line of inexperienced boaters. I had a close call today. Therefore, if you paddle just inside the mouth of the Little Kanawha I'd advise doing so well on the upriver right side and away from the marina alongside Parkersburg if you can.

Please also be aware that the sternwheel boat that takes visitors to Blennerhasset Island departs from downtown Parkersburg and travels upriver on the Ohio for about a mile to the island and back regularly during the day. In fact, as I began the day I was able to clearly hear the announcer in the boat giving some history about the island and if I understood correctly, he said that the island was in his own family's history. Anyway, you'll want to watch out for the vessel. Here it comes... :)

There's also another ferry which runs across the Ohio River from Belpre to Blennerhasset Island and back. Please be watchful of it, too. Below is a photo as it passed in front of the island looking upriver. Want to avoid all this? I later found a ramp about 2 miles up the Little Kanawha inside Worthington Creek. It's in the midst of a park that appears to be off Kenner Road in Parkersburg and I can tell you that it looks like a really nice ramp and facility.

Anyway, as you first look up the Little Kanawha from it's mouth on the Ohio, you'll immediately notice the marina alongside the downtown Parkersburg flood wall which extends up the left side for roughly a mile. On the right side you'll find a bar/restaurant called Kokomo's which is located on Facebook. Going past their sign always reminds me of the Beach Boys song which then proceeds to go through my head for about another 1/2 hour. :) Here are some scenes from the Ohio River/Little Kanawha intersection... I was stunned to see how few people were in the beautiful riverfront park.

As you might expect being near a large city, there are quite a few things to notice as you enter the Little Kanawha and notable are the 5 bridges within the first two miles. Four of these are for roadways (needless to say, you won't find peace for a little while yet!). There are also remnants of even older spans present and you can see their large concrete supports in the photo below which was taken from this point looking back downriver at the Ohio. A couple private ramps come in on the right side here too across from the marina.

Then, not quite a mile in, Neal Run enters on the right side. I didn't paddle into this stream today, but I did once before and I can tell you that it goes back a little way before ending in a pool of shallow water less than 1/2 mile in.

From this point you'll be looking at a straightaway with 3 more bridges in sight. It gets more industrial in here. I couldn't decipher whether or not the facility on the left in the photo below was still operable on the river, but the facility on the right side with the crane certainly was. It might have been part of Silicon Processors Inc., Tetra Technologies or Cardinal Concrete. They're all here. Perhaps they share the spot.

Just before you go under the last of the 5 bridges I mentioned (a Route 50 Bridge at about mile 2) you'll find that Worthington Creek enters on the left side. This is where that ramp I mentioned was. It's in the photo below. I now wish I'd paddled into this creek to see how far back it went, but my thinking at the time was that it wouldn't go back too far. Looking at online maps now, however, I'm not so sure. Check out this park though! It's really nice!

Once having emerged from the creek you'll have another point of industry on your upriver right. Martin Marietta and Camden Materials are both here and today a crane operator was quite busy on the water. They had a barge load of something that they were offloading and they were at it all day. The barge was well sunken into the water by the weight of it's cargo when I passed in the morning, but at the end of the day the barge was empty and floating high. That worker was no loafer!

Now you've got streams entering on either side, both of which are very short - they're marina's. I found the one on the right to be particularly attractive so I paddled in, only to encounter the line of boats almost immediately - and a few of them were sternwheelers. One classy marina, this one! One last point of industry to mention on the left side and that would be it for the day aside from some old remnants of facilites. I couldn't get a name on this business, but I found Atlas Towing's "Dutch" pushboat docked here.

One thing I noticed about this stream is that, at least in the section, it doesn't meander terribly much. What I mean is that there will be a curve, then a long straightaway - curve, straightaway. Something else - little circles of green algae all over the water in many places. Algae is supposedly healthy though, and at about mle 4 you'll see what looks like it could have been an old lock and dam structure at the site of Hanson Ready Mix off Murray Lane. There are steps and ladders in the concrete. Did this river used to be dammed? I later found the answer to be yes. Indeed, the next upriver public access site in Leachtown is at an old lock and dam.

Another bridge next - an I77 span - and then you'll make a right curve to enter into your next straightaway. It got interesting in here with a couple fantastic riverfront houses first, followed by a sternwheel boat - the P.A. Denny of Charleston! Apparently this vessel has quite a history, having once been a tour boat on this river and the Kanawha for decades according to this Wikipedia article. There's another interesting read here.

Then at mile 5 you have a bar/restaurant called The Old Corral which is located on Facebook. This would provide a nice resting/refeuling point. Also, and directly across the river from here, is something fairly significant if you happen to be a hiker, bike rider or equestrian. You won't be able to see it, but one end of the 72 mile North Bend Rail Trail is up there. I only realized this after pulling up an online ramp as part of my research for this journal. What a great resource! It's actually an old railroad line that they've repurposed for recreation and it runs alongside quite a few different West Virginia rivers before it ends in the community of Wolf Summit.

For now, back to the Little Kanawha... I would continue paddling another couple miles from here. Things had gotten much quiter even though I77 had stayed on my right side ever since I'd passed under it's bridge. The left was all farmland. I also went past a few different little river neighborhoods which seemed to alternate river banks. Then, by the time I neared the point at which I eventually stopped, I had been looking for a notable place to stop and note as a starting point for the next upriver trip. This came at about mile 7.5 where the Big Tygart Creek (merged with Sam's Creek) came in on the right side. I didn't realize it until now, but this was also roughly the point at which I77 veered away from the river to technically end the Parkersburg city limits.

Big Tygart Creek was nice. There's an old iron structure just inside on the right at a point which looks to coincide with a boat house location. I noticed what looked like quite a few paddle racing boats up there but I can't find a name. Anyway, I went about a mile up before I had to turn back due to time constraints. Here's a scene from the creek, which at some points looked like it might have bordered an orchard. All this was a pleasant respite from the sun on this mid 80's summer day!

As for the next upriver section, it looks like it'll be quite peaceful and it looks like I'll want to try the Leachtown, WV boat launch. It doesn't look like there's a ramp there, but it does look like the point was the spot of an old lock and dam. I've since found that the Leachtown access point is, indeed, on the site of an old lock and dam. It's a feasible spot to access the river along an easily sloped mud bank. However, there's hardly any parking at the spot outside the turnaround circle. It isn't paved either, so I'd recommend a 4 wheel drive vehicle if you use it.

I leave you with a photo of what reminds me of a river monster coming out of the trees and ready to devour the unwary paddler... :) Directions below photo...

DIRECTIONS:

If you look up Civitan Park in Belpre you'll find it on the online maps. The ramp itself is directly downhill from the Hardees restuarant in town. In fact, you can walk right up to the restaurant if you like. The park is very nice and it has restroom facilities too, although the ramp is quite popular with the boaters and it can be crowded when you put in or take out later in the day. I'd advise coming in early. Incidentally, it looks like this is the point from which a lot of the Blennerhasset Island workers get to and from work.