In an effort to remove parking and people from the shoulder of southbound Route 19, just north of the meadow river, the West Virginia Department of Highways has created a new parking area on the left side of Deitz Road.
To get there, turn off Route 19 onto Underwood Road and left onto Deitz Road. You should see the parking lot on the left. This lot can fit about 20 vehicles, so please carpool to the crag! Parking is not permitted on the shoulder of Route 19! Hope everyone is enjoying the great weather this week!
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As climbers, it is important for us to recognize the impacts that we have on the areas that we visit and enjoy. For that reason, we want to highlight some things that you may not think about when you are out enjoying your day at the crag!
Last week, we highlighted a few things you can do to reduce your impact by respecting the land, established trails and vegetation that you come in contact with. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸⬇️ -𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄, 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 -𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁. 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 -𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗪𝗮𝗴𝗕𝗮𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗽, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼? 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 We hope you can take away these points and share them with others, the more we share this valuable information the more we can help to preserve and sustain our most beloved lands! -𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣! As climbers, it is important for us to recognize the impacts that we have on the areas that we visit and enjoy. For that reason, we want to highlight some things that you may not think about when you are out enjoying your day at the crag!
𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦? It is probably hard to quantify!! For this reason it may seem apparent that when we are utilizing the land that we are so fortunate to have, we are also slowly damaging it over time. So… what can you do to help reduce your impact? -𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀. -𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀! 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵. -𝗕𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗱𝘀, 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀, 𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗲𝘁𝗰!! 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁. We hope you enjoyed our first Episode of climber impacts, look out for more to come! 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤’𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣?
As a part of our 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘞𝘝 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯, we want to highlight the importance of recognizing Indigenous communities! In the 18th century, peoples of the 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘦, 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰, 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 lived and hunted within the gorge. As they migrated, they would utilize rock shelters, also known as overhangs throughout the Gorge that are popular with climbers today. -𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀? When climbers walk under the cliff line, they disturb the micro-root systems that bind the soil full of indigenous artifacts together. Rain comes along after the soil is loosened and removes artifacts from their original location, effectively ruining the context needed to inform us about the use of such artifacts. The Park has modified climbing routes in the past to save archeological sites that were disturbed by climbers. -𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆? We encourage climbers to diversify their climbing locations to protect archeological sites. Always practice “leave no trace” and do not remove anything, including indigenous artifacts, you find within the park. While climbing, think about the native peoples who were stewards of the land you’re on for thousands of years, and think about how they utilized the very climbing features you enjoy today. Shout out to Jessica Lynch, Museum Technician at the New River Gorge National Park and Reserve, for sharing this information with the community! 𝘽𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚! This week we're introducing you to Bill, who is one-half of the Climber Stewards Team. Throughout the Summer and beginning of Fall, make sure to catch them in the mornings for climber coffee chats! Here's where they will be: Fridays: Kaymoor Parking Lot Saturdays: Summersville Lake Parking Lot Sundays: Sandstonia Parking Lot ![]() 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself (where you're from, when you started climbing, your background) I’m from a small town in central North Carolina and found climbing in the late part of 2018 after a Groupon deal at my local climbing gym. I first climbed in the New in 2019 but spent a fair chunk of time hiking around the area and viewing wildlife. Prior to rock climbing I am an avid hiker and a balanced naturalist, with a specialty in Reptiles & Amphibians. I graduated with an Associates in Science during the start of the pandemic and hope to return to school soon to pursue a bachelors in a biology-related field. 2. Why did you pursue the opportunity to become a Climbing Steward here at the New? I pursued the opportunity as a climbing Stewart in the NRG because in my few years of climbing outdoors I have seen just how impactful our sport can be, especially on well-loved areas like the New. I hope to bring awareness to issues like erosion and overcrowding, to users who are not aware of it. 3. What's something you hope to be able to help educate climbers on through the Climbing Steward Program this year? I hope to educate other climbers and recreational users on how we impact our outdoor areas as an individual and as a group, how to best mitigate it, and also share with them about what flora & fauna calls that spot home. 4. What's your favorite climb here at the New and why? This is truly a tough question, the New has so much variety to offer in all disciplines. I’d have to say Under The Milky Way is at the top of my list right now. 5. What's your favorite crag snack? All my friends know that I stay loaded up with fruit snacks, rice crispies, and tuna packets! NRAC, the New River National Park Service, and the Summersville Lake US Army Corps of Engineers have teamed up with the Access Fund to bring two stewards, Ryan and Bill, to the New River Gorge area for the 2022 season. The program launched the weekend of May 6-8th and since then, the stewards have been busy holding climbing coffees and crag chats. This week, we're introducing you to Ryan! ![]() NRAC: Why did you want to become a Climber Steward here at the New? Ryan: I heard about this opportunity and got excited about the prospect of being a voice for this place that is so dear to my heart. I hope to get others to care about this area and start thinking about what impacts their actions have. I've traveled all over the US climbing and I've seen the impacts that more and more climbers can have on these unique ecosystems and I got excited about the prospect of being able to help this area. NRAC: What's something you hope to be able to educate climbers through the Climber Steward Program this year? Ryan: I hope to get others to care about this area and start thinking about what impacts their actions have. I'd love to get people to take responsibility and ownership for their actions and the conditions and health of our climbing spaces. NRAC: What's your favorite climb here at the New? Ryan: Puppy chow. What a wild and unique pitch that is one of the best anywhere. I'll take a lap on this mega pitch anytime I'm at the lower meadow. NRAC: What's your favorite crag snack? Ryan: Gummy bears all day, every day. Cold pizza is a close second. Thanks Ryan! [Edited for length and clarity] This work isn’t easy. But it sure is rewarding. ![]() Thanks to incredible volunteers who came out to this year’s (Not) Work Week, we were able to get a ton of work done on the connecting trail from Butcher’s Branch- Climbing Access to White Wall! From Saturday, May 14th to Saturday, May 21st over 1,000 volunteer hours were put in towards making rock steps, retaining walls, and other sustainable trail infrastructure to help provide safe climbing access. You can now easily connect from Butcher’s Branch- Climbing Access Trail to White Wall and all the way to The Hole without worrying about rolling your ankle on the wobbly pile of rocks that you used to have to traverse! This route provides safe access to these wonderful climbing areas using technical rock features which will last for generations to come. Check out some pictures of the work done, and get a sense to how much fun these crews had out there over the week! Photo Credit: Matt Threlfall, Brittany Chaber, and Dana Bakker
![]() TL;DR (A summary): The route climbing and bouldering along the section of Meadow River and Glade Creek, often called “the Southside,” is owned and managed by three entities: The Heartwood Forest Land Group (TFG), Nuttall LLC (Nuttalls), and Fayette County. Climbers have never had explicit permission to climb on either TFG or Nuttall land. After ATV accidents along the Meadow River rail grade near the Southside in the early summer of 2021, and with continued trespassing by climbers, the landowners have formally asked that climbers and other recreationists cease further use of this land. NRAC is actively communicating with landowners to gain formalized access to the climbing on both sides of the Meadow, stretching from Nallen to US Route 19, including the Southside climbing areas. NRAC asks climbers to NOT climb any routes or boulders in this area. We also ask that climbers avoid the use of the rail grade from Nallen to Glade Creek. While this is public land managed by Fayette County, it is surrounded by private property, does not access any currently open cliffs or boulders, and motorized vehicles are prohibited. Background: The New River Gorge is lined with cliffs and littered with boulders, however it is not the only river corridor with these gifts. This region includes two other rivers: the Gauley River and the Meadow River. While established climbing along the Gauley is sporadic below the Summersville Dam, the Meadow River holds several large, well-established crags and boulder clusters. The route climbing guide book for the region documents much of the established roped climbing, including the highly popular Lower Meadow as well as the currently closed Southside areas, while the bouldering guide showcases the high concentration Meadow Top boulders. Unfortunately, while much of the climbing in the New River Gorge is on public land, the tracts along the Meadow River are almost entirely privately owned. Climbers have historically been a small, low-impact user group to the area, but this is no longer the case and the climbing community has to respectfully navigate private land owners and their wishes. Another growing outdoor recreation user group is motorized off-roaders. The Meadow River rail grade through the Southside gained popularity for riders over the last few years as it provided miles of scenic, uninterrupted, and previously unregulated access to the Meadow and Gauley rivers. In the early summer of 2021, there were multiple off-road motorized vehicle accidents, including fatalities. This prompted a meeting of the primary land owners through this area of rail grade. To avoid further trespassing and potential accidents with associated liability, the land owners formally closed their land to all user groups. To be clear, climbers never had permission to use most of the Southside and have always been trespassing. Now that climbing access to the Southside has closed, NRAC and the Access Fund are pursuing formal agreements to allow future use. ![]() For the time being, please do not climb at any of the Meadow River South Side crags downstream of Glade Creek. And please do not drive on the rail grade at all, regardless of location. You can still access the rail trail upstream of Glade Creek, but NOT by motorized vehicle. Access to the South Side of the Meadow River has been tenuous at best for some time. For years now, climbers have occasionally faced locked gates and adamant land managers, but access has always opened back up, often for long periods of uninterrupted time. Nevertheless, access has never been entirely legal; regulations have only been unenforced. Now, land owners, the NPS and WVDNR have made decisions to shut down access due to the irresponsible actions of a small number of ATV riders. To be clear, this is not just a prohibition on driving the rail trail. The South Side of the Meadow downstream of Glade Creek is closed to all recreation. We recognize that the vast majority of off-roaders on the rail trail have been responsible resource users. This is a case of a few bad actors tipping a formerly balanced scale. We applaud efforts to shut down the erratic, occasionally violent, behavior of a few irresponsible people—but we want to draw a distinction between them and the rest of us. For more than a year, NRAC and the Access Fund have been engaged in dialogue with the owners and managers of the land on which Glade Creek and many of the South Side crags lie. We were pretty optimistic about the future of access there, but we are unsure what that looks like right now. Our hope is to eventually regain legal access to these cliffs via Propps Ridge Rd. and the Glade Creek rail trail. We hope to also secure land near the bottom of the trail for a parking area, but we are doubtful that it will ever again be acceptable to drive on the riverside rail trail. Discussions like those underway between climbers and land managers tend to be long and delicate. Adding further confusion to the situation is the involvement of multiple agencies. Please be patient while we try to work this out. We’ll try to keep you updated on the regular. We are all stewards of land once explored and occupied by Moneton and Tutelo tribes, as well as many others now long lost to history. Respect for them must be present in everything we do. ![]() We have awarded our first ever Diversity in Guiding Grants to Andre Hoyos (@and_hoyos) and Maria Nuñèz-Olivér (@the_minotaur_). We wish you two the best! In partnership with Kai and Connie Lightner's Climbing for Change, Appalachian Mountain Guides and New River Mountain Guides, we created this grant to help BIPOC climbers into leadership positions in the climbing community. Our board of directors unanimously approved funding for this initiative near the end of 2020, applications closed on June June 1, and now it’s a reality. The grant covers travel expenses, a small amount of gear and all necessary AMGA membership fees for two recipients. Appalachian Mountain Guides generously donated two slots in its SPI course and test. Both Appalachian Mountain Guides AND New River Mountain Guides also donated two follow/training days to help awardees practice for the exam. We are all stewards of land once explored and occupied by Moneton and Tutelo tribes, as well as many others now long lost to history. Respect for them must be present in everything we do. |