Qualla: Gauley River

Gauley River: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The name is one of the more interesting questions in Appalachian etymology. Most likely it comes from French - Gaul, the historical region of Europe, dating to the brief period in the mid-eighteenth century when this part of what is now West Virginia was claimed by New France, before the French and Indian War shifted the boundary east. The river acquired the name on French maps and kept it after the English took over. Earlier indigenous names have been mostly lost. The river itself rises in the Monongahela National Forest as three small streams - the North, Middle, and South Forks - that converge in Webster County and run for 105 miles west and southwest through some of the most rugged terrain in central Appalachia. At Gauley Bridge in Fayette County, it joins the New River to form the Kanawha, and through the Kanawha and the Ohio, eventually the Mississippi.

Read more: Gauley River on Qualla

Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

Gauley River: Headwaters and Course

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The three forks of the Gauley rise on Gauley Mountain in Pocahontas County, in the high country of the Monongahela National Forest where elevations exceed 4,500 feet. They cross the southern edge of Randolph County, converge in Webster County, and the river begins running steadil...

Read more: Gauley River on Qualla

Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

Gauley River: Tributaries from the East

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. All the Gauley's largest tributaries enter from the east. The Williams River drains a piece of the Monongahela National Forest and joins the Gauley in Webster County - long a favorite of trout anglers. The Cranberry River, also out of Monongahela, joins in Nicholas County. The Ch...

Read more: Gauley River on Qualla

Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

Gauley River: Gauley Season

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wwkayaker22 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0. Beginning on the Friday after Labor Day each year, the Army Corps of Engineers opens the gates of Summersville Dam in a series of 22 controlled releases scheduled across six weekends - the first five running Friday through Monday, the last a Saturday-Sunday closer. Typical releas...

Read more: Gauley River on Qualla

Image: Wwkayaker22 at English Wikipedia | CC BY 3.0

Gauley River: Civil War and Modern Life

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel (Book authors). Signed "W.L.S after W.D. Washington., Public domain. The Gauley canyon was the setting for one of the early Civil War engagements in western Virginia. On September 10, 1861, Union forces under William S. Rosecrans attacked a Confederate position on the high rim of the Gauley Canyon at Carnifex Ferry. The battle was tactically incon...

Read more: Gauley River on Qualla

Image: Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel (Book authors). Signed "W.L.S after W.D. Washington. | Public domain