White Water Rafting On The New River, Wv

Sometimes when you get lemons, you have to make lemonade, and that’s what we did! Nancy and I had signed up for a 5 day adventure race extravaganza, that was to include races, land nav classes, rock climbing, and so much more. Of course, due to COVID (BTW COVID sucks), it was canceled. I was going to just move on and do something else, but decided that we should spend a couple of days there anyway (really only because I couldn’t get all of my money back for the campsite). 

We stayed at Ace Adventure Resort. I have to say that it was not my most favorite place, especially during COVID. Many of the staff were not wearing masks (and if they did they wore them below their nose) and there were no attempts at social distancing at the water park. It felt just a little dirty to me. There was mold on the life jackets and the water park was in a small lake (which I saw no way that they could sanitize the water). There are other activities at the resort, but everything costs money (and it could add up quick with a family of four). Our campsite was mediocre at best. We got lucky because we had the only hammock trees in the entire campground. It was nice to have full hook-ups, but it was basically a field that you pull right next to the other campers. It looked like they also use the area to store old equipment. 

The actual whitewater rafting was FANTASTIC! Our guide Brennen, was on point the entire time. We got to the check-in site an hour (OK, maybe 50 minutes) before departure time. We were given the rules and signed all of the waivers. We were then fitted for life jackets, vest, and helmets. 

We were all given masks for the bus ride (which by the way was INSANE! Bad ass Jennifer KNOWS how to drive that bus!). 

When we got to the launch site, we were given another safety talk and shown how to paddle properly. Then we were off! They don’t mess around. Within 5 minutes of being on the water, we hit Class IV rapids! We lost two people from our boat with that one. It was pretty wild. We went through several Class III and IV rapids. When we went through some Class II, we were able to get out of the raft and swim through them. I have to admit I think I inhaled several gallons of the New River.

Lunch was fantastic! It was the most delicious homemade pulled chicken sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookie. There was also a bag of chips and pasta salad. We pulled over on a sandy beach area to dine. 

After lunch is when the real fun started. We went through two Class V. We went “surfing” and were one of the only boats to be able to do it (again thanks to our awesome guide!). We also jumped off a 20 foot rock (yes Nancy, I do think it was 20 feet!). We swam through more Class II rapids (again with large quantities of water inhaled). We had the best time! I made a video of it using footage from my new Akaso EK7000. Check it out!

We headed home the next day, but not without more adventure! We looked for the Visitor Center for the New River National River, and ended up on some crazy narrow, windy, dirt road! We found what looked to be an abandoned town. It was pretty cool (maybe a little scary!). We then came upon a beautiful waterfall!! It was just our lucky day. As we continued our convoluted path home, we stopped by the Grandview Visitor Center and it was indeed, a “Grandview”!