Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.
Elk River
One of the finest and least-known trout fisheries in the Appalachians. Below Sutton Dam the tailwater runs cold and clear year-round, holding wild and holdover brown trout, with a celebrated catch-and-release section and a sulphur hatch that draws anglers from several states. Downstream the river warms into outstanding smallmouth water. Upstream near Webster Springs it goes underground for a stretch in limestone.
Know before you go
- The catch-and-release section below Sutton is the marquee water
- Check the dam release schedule before wading
- Smallmouth fishing downstream of Clay is excellent and lightly pressured
What you can do here
Below Sutton Dam the tailwater stays cold and clear year-round, holding wild and holdover brown trout, and the catch-and-release section is the marquee water. The sulphur hatch is the signature event and pulls anglers in from several states. Check the dam release schedule before you wade; that number decides whether the day happens at all.
One river, two fisheries. Cold tailwater below Sutton Dam holds trout year-round; downstream of Clay the water warms and the smallmouth fishing is excellent and lightly pressured. Upstream near Webster Springs the river runs underground through limestone for a stretch. Match your season and your target to the reach.
The smallmouth water downstream of Clay rewards a boat you can carry: excellent fishing, little pressure, and long stretches with no road alongside. Releases from Sutton Dam change the flow, so read the schedule before planning a float. Confirm public put-ins and takeouts locally, because none are listed here.
Dam control governs the upper river, so the release schedule out of Sutton matters more than the weather when you pick a day. Farther downstream the water warms and slows into smallmouth river, the kind that is pleasant to fish from an open boat. Check flows first, and scout access points, since none are published here.
The Elk is among the rivers named in West Virginia's water trail development, and its length gives you a long menu of reaches, from cold tailwater near Sutton to warm smallmouth water below Clay. Dam releases govern the upper section, so read the schedule before setting a shuttle. Local paddling groups carry the access detail this record does not.
True flat water is limited here, because this is a river and the tailwater below Sutton Dam moves on the release schedule. The slower warm-water reaches downstream come closest, at low and stable flows. Sutton Lake is the reservoir in this drainage if still water is what you actually want. Check the dam schedule either way.
Guides, gear and lodging near Elk River
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Mountain Lakes
Elk River Rail Trail
A developing rail-trail on the former Buffalo Creek & Gauley and Elk River Railroad grades, opening a long, remote corridor along the Elk between Gassaway and Clendenin.
Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park
A 2,650-acre lake with the most developed resort facilities of any West Virginia lake park — a lodge, marina, Arnold Palmer golf course and the state's largest open-water fetch for small-boat sailing.
Sutton Lake
A 1,440-acre Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Elk River in Braxton County, with several campgrounds, quiet coves and the dam that creates the Elk tailwater fishery below.
Burnsville Lake
A 968-acre Corps reservoir on the Little Kanawha with the Bulltown Historic Area on its shore — Civil War earthworks, a preserved farmstead and a well-regarded campground.
Holly River State Park
West Virginia's second-largest state park at 8,101 acres, in a narrow valley of hemlock and hardwood with waterfalls, cabins and a rugged trail network.
Cedar Creek State Park
A 2,483-acre park in Gilmer County with three small fishing lakes, a campground and a network of easy trails.
West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.