- West Virginia Whitewater Rafting -
Spring & Summer Gauley Trips

Each September and October the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowers Summersville Lake seventy feet, providing 23 scheduled release dates of optimal water flows for downstream recreation.  During the fall drawdown the Gauley River's reputation is immortalized as America's Best Whitewater® by the thousands of whitewater enthusiasts who make the journey.  

So what happens the other 342 days of the year?  The Gauley River doesn't dry up!  Far from it! Winter flows average 3,000 or more cfs (cubic feet per second).  Spring rains jack the cfs up into the high thousands, flooding the Upper section and creating a churning, boiling river of massive whitewater on the Lower section. At these levels, our guides say this is the best whitewater anywhere in the country. Summertime flows are usually mellow, creating technical whitewater channels through boulder fields, forming stronger hydraulics, and bigger drops. 

The major benefit for rafting during the other 342 days of the year is the wilderness experience.  You have this cool clean river to yourself!  The only draw back is the lack of predictable flows.  Water levels change daily and depend, not on a special dam release, but on Mother Nature.  With the right attitude, rafting the Gauley River on one of these 342 days will challenge your skills, senses and imagination!  With our five different accesses, let Class VI pick the best section of river and put you into the sportiest boat...you won't be disappointed.

Summersville Lake Outflow

Summersville Dam was built in the early 60’s and dedicated by President LB Johnson in 1965. It is the largest earthen dam east of the Mississippi. Summersville Dam was built with three project purposes, flood control, low water augmentation, and recreation in the lake. In 1988 Summersville Dam became the first facility to make down stream recreation a project purpose. Each fall, starting the weekend after Labor Day, the Corps of Engineers begins to lower Summersville Lake 70 feet for flood control. The whitewater industry has worked closely with the Corp to coordinate the releases to optimize whitewater flows. Each spring, usually around the middle of March, the Corps begins to fill the lake. The graphic below shows the lake level and flows in real time. Bookmark this to follow the ups and downs of the lake and river flows.

Spring Gauley prior to May 24th It is HUGE!  Gauley rafting in the spring is a totally different whitewater animal than what you have tried to tame on the river before... - {trip detail}

Summer Gauley starts May 24th Our summer Gauley rafting trips are custom made to go wherever the best whitewater is...- {trip detail}