Qualla: End of the World Turn https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: End of the World Turn https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn End of the World Turn: Introduction https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn/ Photo credit Squashpup, Public domain. A raftsman coming down the Elk River for the first time, sometime in the early 1800s, would have spent days steering his log raft through the gentle curves of central West Virginia toward Charleston. At a point about 70 miles above the mouth of the Elk, in what is now Clay County, the river makes a sudden left, then bends back right, then bends back left again - a nearly complete half-circle that turns the channel almost a full mile out of its westward course. Beetling cliffs rise sheer from the river to elevations approaching 1,100 feet. From the deck of a raft sweeping into the curve, with the cliffs ahead apparently barring all forward motion, the raftsman would have looked up and concluded the obvious: this was the end of the world. The name stuck. The river still bends. The cliffs still rise.

Read more: End of the World Turn on Qualla

Image: Squashpup | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/dny7-end-of-the-world-turn-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full End of the World Turn: The Curve of the Elk https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn/ Photo credit Squashpup, Public domain. About 5.6 miles upstream from the small village of Ivydale, the Elk River encounters a band of resistant sandstone in the surrounding ridges and is forced to follow it. The result is one of the most dramatic meanders in central West Virginia - a sweeping turn just under a mile lo...

Read more: End of the World Turn on Qualla

Image: Squashpup | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/dny7-end-of-the-world-turn-the-curve-of-the-elk.mp3 0:06 2 full End of the World Turn: The Pioneer Raftsmen https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn/ Photo credit Squashpup, Public domain. Before railroads reached this part of central West Virginia in the late 1800s, the Elk River was the principal commercial route from the upper valleys to Charleston. Timber from the high country was assembled into rafts at gathering points along the river and floated downstream d...

Read more: End of the World Turn on Qualla

Image: Squashpup | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/dny7-end-of-the-world-turn-the-pioneer-raftsmen.mp3 0:06 3 full End of the World Turn: View from the Top https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn/ Photo credit Squashpup, Public domain. There is no developed trail to the top of the End of the World cliffs. Local hunters and a few hikers have worn paths up the back side of the ridge from the surrounding country roads, and visitors who are willing to bushwhack can reach overlooks above the curve. The view down at ...

Read more: End of the World Turn on Qualla

Image: Squashpup | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/dny7-end-of-the-world-turn-view-from-the-top.mp3 0:06 4 full End of the World Turn: The Tale of the Elk https://qualla.com/end-of-the-world-turn/ Photo credit Squashpup, Public domain. W.E.R. Byrne's 1940 book Tale of the Elk is the source of much of what is recorded about the river's history. Byrne was a Braxton County lawyer who practiced in Sutton and spent much of his life fishing and working the Elk River valley; he collected the oral history of the river ...

Read more: End of the World Turn on Qualla

Image: Squashpup | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/7/end-of-the-world-turn-wp/dny7-end-of-the-world-turn-the-tale-of-the-elk.mp3 0:06 5 full