In southern West Virginia, the New River carves a rugged, steep-sided gorge through a plateau of ancient sandstone and shale. From its headwaters high in the mountains of North Carolina, the New flows northward hundreds of miles through Virginia and into West Virginia.

The name is unintentionally ironic because the New is probably one of the oldest rivers in North America. In West Virginia, the New River (running south to north through image center) has sliced a canyon that reaches 1,600 feet at its maximum depth, exposing layers of rock created more than 300 million years ago.