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.
Know before you go
- Strong current below the falls — bank fishing only in most conditions
- One of the best hybrid striper spots in the state
What you can do here
Below the ledge where the New and the Gauley join to form the Kanawha, current is strong enough that bank fishing is the only realistic method in most conditions. This is one of the best hybrid striped bass spots in the state, and walleye and catfish are here too. Access is roadside. WVDNR regulations cover licensing, seasons and limits.
Overlooks here
A wide ledge falls spans the river at Glen Ferris, right at the point where two rivers become one, and you can shoot it without leaving the roadside. The historic inn across the highway gives you a built element if you want one in frame. Flow changes the falls completely, so the same position yields a different picture month to month.
Overlooks here
Read the warning first: current below the falls is strong, and the record says bank fishing only in most conditions. That makes launching a fishing kayak near the falls a poor default, whatever the season listing suggests. If you paddle here, work the calmer water well away from the drop and judge the flow yourself before you get in.
Overlooks here
Local organizations
Kayak Fishing across West Virginia →Guides, gear and lodging near Kanawha Falls
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Metro Valley
Kanawha State Forest
9,300 acres of steep, wooded hollow just fifteen minutes from downtown Charleston, with more than 25 miles of trails, a well-known mountain bike network, a swimming pool, campground and some of the best spring warbler birding in the state.
Coal River Water Trail
An organized water trail on the Big Coal, Little Coal and main-stem Coal rivers south of Charleston, with maintained access points, mapped mileages and signage — the product of sustained work by the Coal River Group to turn a working-class industrial river back into a recreation asset.
Beech Fork State Park
A 3,981-acre park around a 720-acre Corps reservoir near Huntington, with one of the largest campgrounds in the state park system, good bass fishing and easy trails.
Chief Logan State Park
A 4,000-acre park in Logan County with a wildlife exhibit, trails through reclaimed coal country and an outdoor amphitheatre.
East Lynn Lake
A 1,005-acre Corps reservoir in Wayne County with a strong bass and crappie fishery, a large wildlife management area around it and very little traffic.
Tu-Endie-Wei State Park
The smallest park in the system, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers in Point Pleasant, marking the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant.
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.