Deep in the heart of West Virginia, carved from the diamond-hard sandstone by one of the oldest rivers in North America, the New River Gorge is a gorgeous natural setting, offering breathtaking vistas and echoes of a vanishing past; an incredible setting for over 1,500 climbs .

Once known as the Crack Climbing Capitol of the East Coast, the Gorge, like so many other crags, underwent a sport-climbing transformation in the last three decades of the 20th century, evolving into a tantalizing mix of trad and bolted lines to eventually become a "destination crag" for climbers from around the globe.

Although the routes usually run 5.9 or harder (with most sport routes between the 5.10 to 5.13 range), there's still more than a little climbing for the beginner, once you get your bearings. The Junkyard Wall and Bridge Buttress are great places to start, and will invariably be rather crowded due to this convenience. Almost everything can be toproped, aside from the taller areas around Nutall and Fern Point Cirque, on the Endless Wall. Bouldering is underdeveloped here so you might want to bring a brush, but please DO NOT destroy live vegetation... "gardening" is strictly verboten in the Gorge, as is the use of power drills.

The Gorge is a riparian habitat, which is a fancy way of saying that it is a pretty "lush" setting, with abundant rainfall, heavy dews, seeping pockets and cracks, acres of poison ivy, greenbriar, honeysuckle and stinging nettles at the bases of some walls, especially near the tipple in Kaymoor). Add to this an insect population that explodes during the spring and summer months to a ratio of 1 bazillion skeeters, chiggers, and no-see-ems: 1 human, and you can see why the veteran campers and climbers advise you to bring an extra change of clothes (or three), your rain gear, bug repellant and TecNu, and a willingness to wander around in order to find those incredible sheltered havens that do exist, along the clifflines, from April through October.

CAMPING: Roger's Campground (AKA: Rocky Top Retreat): If you like partying and staying up real late, or you're looking for The Scene, Roger's is located right before the parking lot at Kaymoor. Chestnut Creek is a more secluded campground located on Lansing Road. Take the 2nd left before the bridge if heading south. Chestnut Creek features a very clean showering and bathroom facility.

ACCESS: While most of the Gorge belongs to you and I and the rest of the citizens of this country, despite Congress's endless and ongoing attempts to rent it to us again and again, there are sections of Junkyard Wall & Bubba City wghich are on private land- so be courteous to the landowners and don't jeopardise access for everyone.

ANEMITIES: Taking a day off.. whether by choice or because you are simply too smoked to even try? No problem... there's more to New River Gorge than climbing, amigos. Good restaurants and assorted merchants are starting to filter into Fayetteville and Beckley... go wander around and take a look at the town.

Mountain biking down the side roads can be an adventure.... wear a helmet and bright-colored clothes. The whitewater here is EXCELLENT for rafting or kayaking. There is always a rafting guide here who will take your money for a run down the river. Here is the link for the visitor's bureau website.