LANSING, W.Va. — The recent rainfall and flooding has not spared the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Some rafting companies have lost business or had to reschedule because of this week’s weather. Some of the key roads within the park remain closed.
“We’ve had so much rain over the last few weeks, the soil was so saturated with that last rain event we had it really caused a lot of slides. Probably the hardest hit road we’ve had is the road down to Cunard,” said Eve West Public Information Officer for the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
The wash out on Cunard Road is just the start of problems in that part of the Gorge. The town of Cunard has taken severe damage as well. According to West, they hoped with some dry weather and luck they might be able to have Cunard Road back open by Monday or Tuesday. There are two other key arteries in the Park which were impacted by slides.
Nuttalburg Road is closed until further notice and visitors are cut off from driving to that area of the park. The repairs on this problem will be up to the West Virginia Division of Highways.
West said the other key Park Service road which is down is Glade Creek Road past the Grandview Campground. The campround is still open, but nobody can go past there due to damages from the weather and a fear more could be on the way.
“We still have a slide there, we’re working to remove, but we’re so saturated we decided to leave it closed out of an abundance of caution,” she explained.
West added throughout the Park and Preserve hiking trails could be treacherous. Washouts along the trails will take many months to fully find and repair. She also encouraged anyone hiking to be very aware as the winds pick up. There are a number of broken trees with severed limbs hanging precariously. The limbs are typically called “widow makers” for a reason. The least bit of wind can dislodge them and anybody below is in danger of severe injury or worse.