New River (Kanawha River)
The New River is a tributary of the Kanawha River, approximately 320 mi (515 km) long, in the U.S. states of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in the United States. Much of the river's course through West Virginia is designated as the New River Gorge National River.
It is formed by the confluence of the South Fork New River and the North Fork New River in Ashe County, North Carolina, then flows through southwestern Virginia, and into West Virginia, where it joins the Gauley River to form the Kanawha.
Despite its name, the river is considered by geologists to be one of the oldest rivers in the world, between 10 million and 360 million years old. It is sometimes considered to be second in age only to the Nile River. The New River is one of the Heritage Rivers of the United States.
It is the home to many species of fish suitable for fishing including bass, trout, walleye, muskellunge, crappie, bluegill, carp, or flathead and channel catfish.
The New River is spanned by the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville, West Virginia.
Cities and towns along the New River
- Fairlawn, Virginia
- Fries, Virginia
- Gauley Bridge, West Virginia
- Glen Lyn, Virginia
- Hinton, West Virginia
- Narrows, Virginia
- Pearisburg, Virginia
- Pembroke, Virginia
- Radford, Virginia
- Rich Creek, Virginia
- Thurmond, West Virginia
Variant names
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the New River has also been known as:
- Conhaway River
- Great Konhaway River
- Kanawha River
- Kunhaway River
- Mon-don-ga-cha-te
- Wood River
- Wood's River
- Woods River