Rock climbing at the New River Gorge in West Virginia
The New River Gorge in West Virginia is one of America’s best and largest rock climbing areas, and is within a day’s drive of 60% of the country’s population. This sandstone gorge provides a mixture of traditional and sport routes, with the climbing based around the town of Fayetteville. The solid heavy featured sandstone provides world-class face climbing, from thin edges to pumpy overhangs, and fine cracks of all shapes and sizes that provide many excellent single pitch routes.
At the main gorge, around Fayetteville there are several crags (as shown on the map) that provide over 2,000 routes across a wide range of grades. The largest of these crags is called Endless Wall, which stretches for nearly 4 miles and is the definitive New River Gorge crag. This wall of immaculate sandstone has hundreds of cracks, corners, technical faces, arêtes, overhangs and slabs.
Map of the rock climbing areas at the New River Gorge in West Virginia
Rock climbing at the Meadow River, Summersville Lake and Gauley River
Not as well-known as the New River Gorge climbing, but equally as impressive, are the areas around the Meadow River, Summersville Lake and the Gauley River, where there are a further 1,400+ routes.
The rock climbing at Meadow River Gorge is located about 13 miles north of Fayetteville. Compared to the New River Gorge, the climbing here is generally a bit steeper and more featured. This area has some of the most impressive features in the region, with many pockets, huecos, perfect edges and jugs. Again there is a good mixture of traditional and sport routes that are mainly single pitch. Further north of here is Summersville Lake, which has some of the best sport routes in the area.
New River Gorge Climbing Logistics
The best time of year to climb at the New River Gorge is during the autumn with perfect conditions found in October when it is usually fairly dry with cooler conditions. The spring is also a great time with ideal temperatures but tends to be a little wetter. It is possible to climb throughout the year at the New River Gorge as shade can be found in the summer and the sun in the winter.
There two guidebooks that cover the rock climbing at New River Gorge, Meadow River Gorge and Summersville Lake. Volume 1 covers the New River Gorge (over 2,000 routes), whilst volume 2covers the Meadow River Gorge and Summersville Lake (over 1,400 routes). Both guidebooks use a colour code to differentiate between traditional and sport routes: Blue = Sport climbs, and Red = Traditional climbs. All the routes are clearly shown on colour photo-topos along with a detailed description. Buy these rock climbing guidebooks for the New River Gorge from our shop.
