LIMESTONE
DRIFT
KENTUCKY WATER, TOLD STRAIGHT
FIELD CARD
New River Gorge · No. 24-1
NPS / WVDNR · Summers County, WV · Bluestone Dam to the I-64 bridge
Upper River
From the “Golden Mile” to the I-64 bridge: NPS Class I–III water.
THE UPPER-RIVER CORRIDOR
Schematic · NPS and USGS published points
Three things to get right
| What you hear | What the agencies actually say |
|---|---|
| “Fish right below the dam.” | Not yet, not everywhere. The Corps (2 Mar 2026): “observe posted signage, stay out of the marked construction area, off the Bluestone Dam catwalk.” Basin and pier fishing are to be “opened to the public by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2030.” |
| “Catch-and-release starts at the falls.” | It starts at the I-64 bridge at Sandstone, 12 miles down to the Grandview Sandbar (NPS; WVDNR 2026). From the dam to that bridge the 14–22 inch black-bass slot applies. Walleye are no-harvest from Meadow Creek up to the base of Sandstone Falls. |
| “You can float through Sandstone Falls.” | Nothing we read says so. NPS: “very swift and dangerous.” WVDNR’s float table starts at Sandstone, below the falls. No portage route is described in any source read. |
The agencies’ own access words, verbatim
NPS Finding Your Way (8 Sep 2025): “After crossing the New River, narrow Route 26,
River Road, follows the river for 10 miles.” Public access at Akers, Brooks Falls, Tug Creek
Beach and Hellems Beach along it; Sandstone Falls parking “on the right in 8.3 miles”
from the visitor center turn, vehicles over 25 ft not recommended. WVDNR 2026: spearfishing
prohibited “from Bluestone Dam downstream to the lower bridge at Hinton.”
The dam can pass more water than it used to
Corps: with the new stilling basin “Bluestone Dam can now reliably discharge significantly more water than in the past.” No siren or release warning is described on any page we read. NPS: “do not wade in water above your knees”; “never fish alone.”