New access for Cheat Lake

If you’re a paddle sports enthusiast, your options just opened up wider on one well known West Virginia water.   The DNR completed a project in cooperation with the Department of Highways and Brayman Construction last fall creating a new “carry down” access ramp on Cheat Lake in Monongalia County.

“It gives access to the upper part of the lake,” said DNR district fisheries biologist Frank Jernejcic. “Although there is a lot of powered boat activity in the summer, during the fall, winter, and spring there isn’t much activity with the powered boats so it’s an ideal place for canoes and kayaks.”

The ramp is a gravelled lot on the east end of the new Ices Ferry Bridge.    The location was originally created on the lake shore to provide a staging area for construction crews to build the new bridge.   Jernejcic saw it as an opportunity.

“We knew the bridge was going to be replaced eight or ten years ago,”  he said. “We started thinking some of the access they would need for construction could be left in place and we could utilize it for boating and fishing.”

In addition to the carry down ramp and parking lot, the area offers a rocky shore for bank fishermen to enjoy.  The project came at a bargain for West Virginia’s anglers and boaters.

“We purchased about $5,000 worth of stone to put down on it.  That was our only cost,” said Jernejcic. “We probably couldn’t have afforded to do a site like this.”

It’s a unique feature to the lake which until now had no real boating access for canoes and kayaks.   Jernejcic believes it will become a popular attraction once those who enjoy paddling find out.

“Nobody knows about this yet.  We finished this in November and the bridge was finished in November.  We just put up a sign and there’s been no real publicity about this site,”  he said.





More Outdoors

Outdoors
Gold Rush to run April 1-13 across West Virginia
Starting Monday, the streams of West Virginia will have a golden hue in hope of attracting anglers young and old
March 27, 2024 - 2:10 pm
News
Final elk from USFS facility in Western Ky. have arrived in West Virginia
DNR officials say a large number of the cows received are bred and will start dropping calves in May
March 21, 2024 - 3:06 pm
Outdoors
Mason County angler hauls in a record bowfin
Lauren Noble of Letart, W.Va. was looking for pre-spawn bass, but found another hungry mouth in the an Ohio River backwater in Mason County this week
March 15, 2024 - 10:15 am
Outdoors
Barnick wins air rifle; Mountaineers finish runner-up to TCU
West Virginia had individual champions in both events for the first time in seven years, but narrowly missed out on a 20th National Championship.
March 9, 2024 - 10:27 pm


Your Comments