New River Conservancy (NRC) wishes to invite the public to Journey’s End – a celebration of the New River Expedition 2026 (NRX26) as the 4-member crew completes their 320-mile journey on the New River in two Esquif Prospecteur 17’ canoes. Journey’s End will be held at The Gaines Estate in Fayetteville, WV on August 9, 2026 from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. Tickets for this event are $20 and include heavy hors devours, soft drinks, a presentation from the NRX26 crew of their journey, and opportunities to win door prizes.
Additionally, the NRC Wallace & Peggy Carroll Vigilance Award winners from West Virginia will be presented to WV Rivers for the Advocacy Group of the Year and Jennifer Flippin for the WV Volunteer of the Year Award. Eve West, Chief of Interpretation at New River Gorge National River, Gauley River National Recreation Area, and Bluestone National Scenic River will receive the Doug Blatney Public Service Award, one of the highest honors NRC can bestow upon an individual.
The NRX26 began on June 1, 2026 from Green Valley Park in Todd, NC, and will end on or about August 8 in Gauley Bridge, WV. Along the way the crew has experienced the New River in all its beautiful ways. Low flow, high flow; small rapids and big rapids. They have experienced camping along the New with and without trains rolling by all night long. HipCamp sites and AirBNB stays sprinkled here and there. The crew has attended festivals and breweries and river clean ups and community paddles. On one very special afternoon, they snorkeled a creek in Virginia and found Candy Darters. Their experiences will inform the work to expand the New River Water Trail (NRWT) by identifying gaps in recreation infrastructure, highlighting areas that deserve more effective protection, and documenting locations that need the attention of NRC clean-up crews.
The New River Water Trail is a celebration of America’s oldest river- of a river that is entirely Appalachian. The trail, already begun in Giles County, VA, is a way to connect the unique river communities that call the watershed home. New River communities will find benefits like improved access points, a safer trail experience through consistency and signage, and the ability to plan long distance or multi-day trips with ease. As with many trail systems, however, the benefits are also held within the relationships between users, between humans and beyond human species, which are the aspects that build regeneration through stewardship and take a trail from concept to reality.
On the connectivity of the New River, Andrew Downs, NRC Executive Director says “The New River physically provides a context for so many communities, businesses and visitors to connect and share an identity across three states. A watershed is like a leaf. The vein in a leaf is not just in the center, it connects to every extremity of that one leaf together, as a whole.”
NRC wishes to thank The Thrasher Group, Astral Design, Esquif, Kind Snacks, Northwest River Supply, Orvis, and Werner Paddles for believing in the mission of NRC and the importance of a connected river trail and this expedition.
The New River Conservancy is a 501c(3) non-profit organization that has worked for over 50 years to protect the waters, woods and wildlife of the New River Watershed. To purchase tickets for Journey’s End, please visit newriverconservancy.org/events, or contact Lisa Stansell – Galitz at Lisa@newriverconservancy.org.
