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Summersville Lake & The New River Gorge

written by Amanda October 13, 2015

Everyone seems to be interested in how people who travel full-time in RVs plan their route and decide where to go. It’s one of the most popular questions we get asked — right behind “What’s your favorite place?” (To which we reply, the Colorado mountains, Maine coast, Arizona in the winter, New Mexico in the spring, oh…and Utah, Oregon, the Florida Keys, Montana, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and…umm, l guess we can’t pick a favorite).

As for the route planning question, our answer is that it depends. It depends on the time of year, whether we’re visiting a popular area where we need reservations, and if we are working around any specific engagements. In general, we tend to have some sort of plan for the next few months. Sometimes it’s full of reservations and set in stone dates, while other times it’s a bit more free and loose.

Right now we’re in loosey goosey planning mode. Meaning that we have a specific destination (Tucson, AZ for the week of Christmas), a general route (southwest!) and a list of places we want to visit along the way. Actually, we don’t have a list, have we a map. A shared Goggle map where we add all the places we might want to stay or visit.

We plan to spend the next 6 weeks or so in Kentucky and Tennessee. A few weeks ago I asked for recommendations in the area and you all responded with some great ideas (thank you, thank you, thank you) that I added to our already crowded map.

Fall 2015

So many places, so little time

Of course, we won’t have time to visit all these places. I think we have 10 state parks marked in Tennessee alone. The good news is that none of the public campgrounds around here take reservations this time of year, so we don’t have to worry about making specific plans, and can easily add on days if we really like a place, or the weather is exceptional. Which is exactly what happened last week at Battle Run Campground in Summersville Lake, West Virginia.

We arrived on Sunday morning to find that this Army Corps of Engineers campground that boasts something like 90 waterfront sites, had all but two loops closed for the year (they close the whole campground on Columbus Day). Bummer. We also discovered that the lake was undergoing its annual winter draw down which means that the water level was really low. Double bummer.

Summersville Lake

Low water at Summersville Lake

We did get a waterfront pull-through site, but our view had a pretty high ratio of exposed muddy bank to water. So we paid for three nights and figured we would move on mid-week.

Summersville Lake

Battle Run Campground

Summersville Lake

One of the closed loops — Lots of waterfront sites, but also not much privacy

But then we got out on the lake for some kayaking. Despite the low water, this large lake, which is actually a river dammed for flood control, was absolutely gorgeous. We spent 4 hours one calm afternoon paddling around looking at the cool cliffs on the edge of the lake.

Summersville Lake

A little color starting to show in the trees

Summersville Lake

Cool cliffs

The excellent kayaking, combined with a perfect weather forecast led us to extend our stay until Friday. With lots to do in the area it was a good choice. One day we drove around to the other side of the lake and hiked the Long Point Trail to an overlook on the edge of the water.

Summersville Lake

Long Point Trail

Anther day we visited one of the main attractions in the area — the New River Gorge Bridge. This massive structure has an impressive set of stats, including a 1,700 foot arch that marks it as the fourth longest single span arch bridge in the world (the top 3 are in China), and a height of 876 feet making it the third highest vehicle bridge in the U.S. (the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado is number one). But perhaps the most impressive stat is that this bridge turned what used to be a 40 minute, twisty turny drive down into the gorge, across the river, and back up the other side into a one minute crossing. On top of all that, it’s pretty cool to look at.

New River Gorge Bridge

The New River Gorge Bridge

In addition to being an engineering marvel, the bridge is big tourism draw. You can learn the history of the bridge and surrounding area at the visitor center, hike the trails along the rim of the gorge, take a guided Bridge Walk on the catwalk under the bridge, or participate in the annual Bridge Day where hundreds of crazy people BASE jump and rappel off the side of the bridge. Since we didn’t time it right to do any bridge jumping (kidding) we took the tame route with a hike on the ridge of the gorge instead.

New River Gorge

Hiking the Endless Wall trail

We also drove the old road down to the bottom of the gorge and crossed over the old fashioned way. It was a scenic route, but I can’t imagine having to cross that way on a regular basis.

New River Gorge Bridge

View of the bridge from the river level

So far our lack of planning is working out for us. After a long winter and summer on the very populated east coast where we couldn’t get into anywhere without a reservation, we’re enjoying the freedom to come and go as we please. Up next — a few weeks of (mostly) unplanned fun in Kentucky.

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Amanda

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8 comments

gary simpson October 13, 2015 - 8:43 pm

maybe a little late but may i suggest if your in the area to stop into Paduka, Kentucky. They have a wonderful historic downtown area with a beautiful wall mural that has about 24 panels depicting the history of the town. They also have the International Quilt Museum there. May sound hokey but we stopped in, all i can say about it is…awesome!!…well worth the visit and price of admission. another place to visit within a short drive is Pattis 1812 settlement…if you get the oppportunity, hope you enjoy…

Reply
Amanda October 14, 2015 - 2:49 pm

Thanks Gary! That sounds like a cool town, and I actually really like the idea of a quilt museum :) Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll make it this year since we plan to only go as far west as Mammoth Caves before heading south. I’ll certainly keep it in mind for the next time we’re in the area though.

Reply
Laurel October 13, 2015 - 10:24 pm

We love not having to plan or make reservations! Right now, the only reservations we have are for the first two weeks of December at Curry Hammock in the Keys. We’ve had those reservations for months! But it does make us feel a bit pushed as we’re just now starting our journey cross-country from Oregon. Ha! We’re so spoiled. Looks like a gorgeous spot you found in Kentucky. Enjoy your freedom to not have to plan! :-)

Reply
Amanda October 14, 2015 - 2:50 pm

I really wish that we never had to make reservations. We’ve lost so much money on cancellation fees because inevitably we end up changing our plans after making a reservation! Have fun in Florida and maybe we’ll cross paths when we come back east next summer.

Reply
Steve October 14, 2015 - 9:28 am

Wonderful post. My wife and I will be full time RVing in early 2017 and we’re always interested in what other couples are doing on the road and how they plan their travel. Nice read!

By the way, as Tucson, AZ residents, welcome! Though, you did make a small typo with the city. It’s Tucson, not Tuscon. :)

Reply
Amanda October 14, 2015 - 2:42 pm

Thanks Steve. We’ve found that our route planning strategy has evolved over the years to the point where we’ve “almost” perfected it :) We love Tucson (thanks for mentioning the typo – I’m the typo queen) and this will be our third visit. We’re excited to show Tim’s mom since she’s never been to the area.

Reply
Jodee October 14, 2015 - 1:08 pm

What a beautiful shoreline to explore! Our leaves here in California are changing now so it’s surprising to see everything so green there! Great pic of the bridge, and I love the fungi :-) Enjoy Kentucky. We’re looking forward to some time in AZ in early December as well (we do have reservations).

Reply
Amanda October 14, 2015 - 2:45 pm

The fall colors are just starting down here. Peak season is supposed to be around late October so hopefully we’ll get a nice show over the next few weeks. Have fun in AZ!

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About The Watsons

About The Watsons

This is the story of Tim & Amanda. Since 2012, we have traveled the U.S. while living and working from our renovated 25-foot Airstream. Follow us on our crazy journey in search of beautiful scenery, fun adventures, interesting people, tasty foods, and more…

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