Waterfall Pit Stop

Since our big trips were cancelled this year, we’ve been going on more local trips. Last week, we went up to the Gauley River in West Virginia and had extra days off work, so decided to lengthen the trip and also go up to the Youghiogheny River in Maryland. The Gauley is about a 4 hour drive from home, and the Yough adds an extra 3 hours. To break up the drive, my husband Daniel suggested a waterfall pit stop.

The waterfall pit stop was Tygart Valley Falls, in West Virginia. This is a park and huck waterfall located in one of the state parks. It is also conveniently located on the drive between the Gauley and the Yough. Since we have a 1 year old daughter, we need to break up the drive anyways. Might as well kayak on the break!

After parking and taking a quick walk over to the river, the falls consists of two parts, an upper and a lower falls. The top falls are smaller and about 7 feet high and the bottom falls are bigger, about 12 feet. Each have multiple lines that can be run. We were short on time so opted to run the slide line for the top falls and then take our time running multiple lines on the bottom falls.

These falls were new to me, and a very fun way to break up the drive from the Gauley to the Yough. Also, the multiple lines and the height of the falls make them a great beginner falls for trying to dial in your boat angle and boof stroke. Hope these photos entice some other people to make this waterfall pit stop! ~ Diane Brasuell (Gaydos)