Lower New River

Description

Grab a canoe, or borrow or rent one! How you get a canoe doesn’t matter as much as where you take it — and the New River is the place. You can drop in the water right in downtown Radford and float through the city on a quiet weekend morning or drive over to Eggleston and drop in just past the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. From there, float down to the Class III rapids at Narrows. Stay afloat long enough and the water will carry you all the way to the Gulf of Mexico! The stretch just past Eggleston is reputed to be one of the most beautiful canoe trips in North America. It’s certainly worth the day or two needed to fully explore it. A float along the New River is sure to be accompanied by many of the river’s residents. Stately great blue heron stand silently in the shadows of hulking sycamore. The crowns of these colossal trees host belted kingfisher and the occasional osprey. Families of wood duck are spaced evenly along the route. The banks regularly transform from forests to fields to cliffs and back again. After floating the river, retrace your steps along its edge or head to the hills for terrific views and the palpable comfort of mixed hardwood forest, Appalachia’s distinctive signature.

Loop Map

Services

Blue Ridge Travel Association
276.619.5003
info@virginiablueridge.com

Giles County Chamber of Commerce
540.921.5000
gcc@l-plus.net

Montgomery Regional Tourism Office
540.394.2120
bleakleyts@montgomerycountyva.gov

New River Valley visitors Alliance
540.763.2196
jamisonr@swva.net

Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce
540.980.1991
pcchamber@swva.net

Radford Chamber of Commerce
540.639.2202
info@radfordchamber.com

Radford Visitor’s Center
866.605.6442
info@visitradford.com

Wythe County Parks, Recreation and Tourism
276.223.6022
rekohl@wytheco.org

Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce
276.223-3365
chamber@wytheville.org