New River

New River. . "Forged by mountains, river and America's desire for progress, the 57-mile New River Trail State Park provides you unparalleled opportunities for physical, in intellectual and spiritual adventures.", Flowing across the Appalachian Plateau, the New River is one of the oldest in the world, and certainly the oldest in North America., How did the river get such a name? Various Native American tribes supposedly named it "River of Death" and it has also been called Wood's River. It has been documented that Colonel Abraham Wood, a fur trader, sent men to explore the outreaches of Virginia. When they came across this river they had never seen before, they wrote on their map, "new river" which was never edited., A journey of 2,000 miles , The New River is one of the few rivers in the world that flows north. Starting near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, flowing 324 miles through southwestern Virginia, it eventually joins the Gauley River in West Virginia, and soon becomes part the Kanawha River., However, its journey doesn't end there. What began in the foothills of North Carolina, flows through the Ohio River to the Mississippi River, eventually emptying 110 days later into the Gulf öf Mexico., (Right) Map of New River, from headwater to the Kanawha River. , The above map was provided by the The New River Conservancy.