Lansing, WV: 3 - 5 October 2019




A bucket list item trip to Lansing for some whitewater rafting on some class V rapids.  We found Adventures on the Gorge by googling the best whitewater rafting near KY.  The two rivers they use are the New River Gorge and the Gauley River.   No truck to pull trailer and it being a short trip we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Oak Hill, WV which was only minutes away from Adventures on the Gorge.  The drive from Frankfort was about 4 hours on I-64 east toward Beckley, WV.

Our first rafting trip was on the Lower New River.  The weather was perfect upper 70s and sunny.  The river is natural flowing with class I-IV rapids and two class Vs.  Our trip left at 1010 with a bus ride about 45 min to the river entry point.  The boats are inflatables with a guide in each boat.  We had a boat of 6 passengers with Guido as our guide.  He has been doing this for over 30 years and  made it a great trip.  The other 4 in the boat were 2 other married couples that were traveling together and camping nearby.  The company provides helmet and life vest and offers wet suits for 15.00 rental.  For the Lower New river no need to for wet suit as the water temperature this time of year was near 70.  North Carolina got some rain prior to our arrival which provided good white water levels.  The trip covers 14 miles spending nearly 5 hours on the water with a provided lunch.  Cost per person was 115.00.  We had a great ride down the river and learned a lot about how to navigate the boat over the different kinds of rapids.  The trip ends with a scenic trip under the longest arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere.  The New River Gorge Bridge is an amazing architecture feat completed back in the 70s.

After we got off the trip we immediately scheduled the Lower Gauley trip for Saturday.  This trip is more difficult with more higher class rapids mostly class III-V.  Scheduled water releases from Summervilles Lake dam guarantees white water levels regardless of recent weather.  This time we rented wet suits due to the water temperature from the lake was in the upper 50s.  Again the weather was beautiful sunshine with temps in the low 70s.  Another 45 minute bus drive down a very narrow gravel road to the river entry point.  We had a full boat of 8 on this trip with the others in the group being form NC, DC, and WV.  The rapids were more frequent and intense but the paddling was less frequent with the swifter current.  Everybody stayed in the boat through all the rapids despite Jen being the only female on this trip and considering throwing a couple of the men out of the boat.  Our guide, Clint, was another very capable guide who kept the mood light and was full of information about every rapid series we went through.  A very well prepared hot lunch was provided enroute.

Both rivers were gorgeous, reminded me a lot of Pigeon forge river only on a much larger scale\]
de]\vfg.  The company videos all the upper class rapids and creates a video for purchase along with all numerous still shots.  Adventures on the Gorge is a campus with tent/cabin camping and all kinds of guided outdoor adventures from rappelling to zip lining.  Very laid back personalities that creates a party like atmosphere.

We will definitely go back and do the most difficult Upper Gauley trip with 70 class IV-V rapids that drops 335 feet over 13 miles.  It is considered one of the top 5 rivers in the world for rafting.  They also offer an overnight trip that covers both the upper and lower Gauley.  Talking about scheduling it for next year already.











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