Qualla: Kanawha Falls https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls 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/1/kanawha-falls-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Kanawha Falls https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls Kanawha Falls: Introduction https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The fish above the falls are different from the fish below. Kanawha Falls has been blocking aquatic movement up the Kanawha River for more than a million years, and over that span the watershed above the falls has evolved into a distinct biological community. Above the falls: fewer species overall, a high proportion found nowhere else in the world, and an unusually large number of non-natives that humans introduced. Below: the standard mix of Ohio River drainage species. The falls themselves are not particularly tall - the diagonal sandstone ledge across the river drops perhaps twenty feet - but they are absolute as a barrier. They divide more than fish. The flat-water barge navigation industry ends below the falls. The world-class whitewater rafting industry of the New River Gorge begins above. The same line of rock that sorts the fish sorts the boats.

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Kanawha Falls: The Sandstone Ledge https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The falls are not a single straight drop but a long diagonal sandstone ledge that runs across the river at an angle, with the highest portion on the southern bank tapering down toward the northern. The geology dates from the Carboniferous period; the same sandstone bed runs throu...

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-the-sandstone-ledge.mp3 0:06 2 full Kanawha Falls: Where Three Rivers Become One https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. Just upstream from Kanawha Falls, two of the most consequential rivers in Appalachia merge to form the Kanawha. The New River, which runs upward from North Carolina through the famous New River Gorge of West Virginia, joins the Gauley River, which drains the mountains east of Cha...

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-where-three-rivers-become-one.mp3 0:06 3 full Kanawha Falls: Hydroelectric Generation https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The first hydroelectric plant at the falls dates from around 1899, making it one of the oldest continuously operating hydro stations in the American East. The plant has been rebuilt and modernized multiple times. In 2010, a major rehabilitation began, with the facility returning ...

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-hydroelectric-generation.mp3 0:06 4 full Kanawha Falls: The Flood Memory https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. The U.S. Geological Survey has continuously measured streamflow at Kanawha Falls since 1877 - one of the longest hydrologic records in the United States. The record shows how flood discharges have changed across more than 140 years. In the twentieth century, construction of three...

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-the-flood-memory.mp3 0:06 5 full Kanawha Falls: Flying Over the Junction https://qualla.com/kanawha-falls/ Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. From the air, Kanawha Falls is a wide white line across a broad river, with the small communities of Glen Ferris on the south bank and Kanawha Falls (the community shares the name with the natural feature) on the north. The Gauley and New rivers meet about a mile upstream at Gaul...

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Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/y/1/kanawha-falls-wp/dny1-kanawha-falls-flying-over-the-junction.mp3 0:06 6 full