New River Gorge Climbing

This digital New River Gorge climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your New River Gorge days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

The New River Gorge is world renowned for it's perfect single-pitch climbing, but that bullet hard Nuttall sandstone extends beyond the cliffs. The New, Meadow, and Gauley River Gorges have thousands of high quality sandstone boulders lurking in the vast forests, just waiting to be climbed on. Most of the climbing areas here are small with quick approaches. The overall concentration of rock in and around the New River Gorge is particularly high: nearly every tributary of the three rivers contains boulders. It has been posited that there is more rock in a 30 minute ... Show more

This digital New River Gorge climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your New River Gorge days smoother, safer, and more dialed. The New River Gorge is world renowned for it's perfect single-pitch climbing, but that bullet hard Nuttall sandstone extends beyond the cliffs. The New, Meadow, and Gauley River Gorges have thousands of high quality sandstone boulders lurking in the vast forests, just waiting to be climbed on. Most of the climbing areas here are small with quick approaches. The overall concentration of rock in and around the New River Gorge is particularly high: nearly every tributary of the three rivers contains boulders. It has been posited that there is more rock in a 30 minute radius of Fayetteville than anywhere else of similar size, east of the Mississippi. If there is anything that the New lacks, it’s a high concentration area such as Stonefort or Rocktown, although Hawks Nest, Pirates Cove and Meadow Top are not far off. The distribution of boulders allows for hundreds of climbers to be in the region without any one area seeming crowded. You can boulder year round at the New River Gorge, but some seasons are definitely better than others… Visitors swarm to the New in the summer, and even though it isn’t prime bouldering conditions and you probably won’t send your hardest, you’re still climbing great boulders in a beautiful place. It’s hard to plan a climbing trip for the winter, because the weather is all over the place. It is, however, when you can find the best friction, so those looking for an edge on their projects will want to come in winter. October and November are beautiful months here. Highs are usually in the 50s and 60s, lows from the high 20s to 40s. October is the driest month of the year on average, and November’s not far behind and offers better temps. Spring is identical to fall, except a bit rainier and more humid. Still, if you watch the weather, you can get prime bouldering conditions through April. Bouldering at the New River Gorge is just now coming into the spotlight, so help make sure that all of the attention we get is positive attention. Here’s some pointers to follow: Leave No Trace. Follow all park rules. Some examples: keep all pets leashed at all times. Don’t trespass on private property. Park in designated parking only. Use existing trails only. Don’t be a jerk. Remember that everyone has an equal right to be out there in the boulder field. Walking on railroad tracks is illegal. If you walk near tracks, you are doing so at your own risk. Never walk ON the tracks. This topo builds on the excellent efforts of previous guidebooks, in particular “New River Gorge Bouldering” by Micah Klinger and Stella Mascari published in 2015. Stella Mascari and Aaron Schneider are the primary authors for the New River Gorge region topos. For any questions, concerns or suggestions, please use the Report Content feature in the app and your comments will be sent directly to the authors. Accomadations: There are numerous places to stay as a climber visiting the New. Here are some popular options: The Arete Hotel – Climber owner and operated, this beautiful hostel includes a training facility for rainy stretches. The AAC Campground – A mainstay for those looking for a cheap n’ dirty camping option. Bonus, there are boulders IN the campground. ACE Adventure Resort – Offers cabins and grub close to town. The New River Gorge is located in south central West Virginia, just outside of the town of Fayetteville. There are several major freeways connecting cities around Fayetteville, so directions are different depending on where you're coming from. From the Northeast (PA, NY, etc.): Take I-79S until exit 57, where you merge onto US-19S. It's about 50mi to the town of Fayetteville from there. From the east (DC, VA, etc.): Take I-64W to exit 156 where you turn onto US-60W. After 35mi, merge onto U-19S. It's about 6mi to the town of Fayetteville. From the South (NC, TN, etc.): Take I-77N to exit 48,where you merge onto US-19N. It's about 15mi to the town of Fayetteville. From the West (KY, MO, etc.): Take I-64E to exit 85, where you turn onto US-60E. After 30mi, turn straight/left onto WV-16S. From there it's almost 10mi to US-19 and the town of Fayetteville. From the Northwest (OH, MI, etc.): Take I-77S to exit 85, where you turn onto US-60E. After 30mi, turn straight/left onto WV-16S. From there it's almost 10mi to US-19 and the town of Fayetteville.