Description

🔴 THIS AREA IS HIGHLY WATER LEVEL DEPENDENT, PLEASE SEE INFORMATION BELOW

Nuttallburg is the largest area with the easiest access for boulders on the banks of the New River. A long, beautiful drive down Keeneys Creek meanders past the bottom of Short Creek before ending at the Nuttallburg town ruins. The rock here is arguably the best in the entire region, bullet hard and often water polished. This guide has been split into different sectors within the whole of Nuttallburg, due to the widely varying directions and the long stretch of river encompassed by this area. Most importantly many of the boulders are water level dependent, best visited in late summer and early fall when the New is routinely at its lowest.

The Greyhound boulders have an excellent, large selection of moderates up to V9 and a few worthy projects. This zone is reasonably high concentration and it is easy to hit multiple classics in a day. This area is a great introduction to the magic that Nuttallburg has to offer.

🚶‍♂️ Approach summary - Moderately rugged. 20 to 25 minutes.
💎 Notable problems - "Paul Bunyan" V1, "Harvestmen" V2, "Cobble Face" left and right variations V2, "Coke Oven" V3, "Room Temp IQ" V3, "Neurodivergent" V5, "Bobmentia" V5, "Fine Wine" V5, "Awesome Mix Vol. 2" V6, "Echoplex" V6, "Spirit In The Sky" V7, "There For The Taking" V8, "Cobble Arete" V9
💧 Dry time - Hours. When landings are not under water this area dries extremely quickly. No additional wait time is needed once the rock is visibly dry.
🍂❄️🍃 Seasonal Beta - Best in the late summer and fall when the New River is at its lowest, however many of these boulders are climbable year round and tend to stay snow-free when the rest of the area is covered.
🌊 Water Level Beta - Different boulders require different levels. The most sensitive to water levels are the Echoplex Boulder and "Greyhound Bus Stopper" V9, both needing close to negative 1 foot on the Fayette Station gauge. The room with the Stay Classy Boulder, the Room Temp IQ Boulder and the right side of the There For Boulder goes under water above +1 foot on the Fayette Station gauge. The Spider Boulder and Greybeard Boulder are river level but still climbable at 4ft, while the hillside and trailside boulders are climbable no matter the water level.
Fayette Station --> https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Gauge2/detail/id/43472/
Thurmond --> https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/03185400/
🚗 Drive from downtown Fayetteville - 33 minutes
🚗 Drive from Summersville - 46 minutes
🚽 Bathrooms - Pit toilets at the parking area.
📶 Cell phone service - 2/5, spotty. There is spotty service in the parking lot and on the bank just downstream of the RIpple Effect Boulder.
🐶 Dogs - Must be leashed at all times. This is National Park land.

Routes on Nuttallburg - Greyhound Boulders
75 boulder
Browse topos
Premium topo by New River Gorge and Surrounding Areas
Stella Mascari
S. Mascari
from New River Gorge
Aaron Schneider
A. Schneider
from Mount Lookout, West Virginia
Other Premium topos by New River Gorge and Surrounding Areas 69
Nuttallburg - Greyhound Boulders

The area is access sensitive!

🔴 The Greyhound Boulders are HIGHLY water level dependent. Please see the "Description" page for river water level information.
🔴 ACCESS WARNING: Walking along railroad tracks is illegal and DANGEROUS. This not only includes the tracks themselves, but the cleared land around the tracks as well. If you happen to be near tracks, keep your eyes and ears open for trains. If one is approaching, get as far as possible from the tracks. This is not only the safe thing to do, it's the polite thing to do. Trains can't stop. Don't make the conductor think they have any chance of running you or your dog over. Be respectful and polite to any railroad worker you see. This is VERY important to future access.

🚗 Driving Directions:
Please note that Keeneys Creek Rd is a long, winding, steep, mostly gravel road and only wide enough for one vehicle. It is usually navigable carefully with all vehicles, however is not maintained in the winter and will need 4wd for any ice and snow. This road regularly washes out in the spring after heavy rains. The beginning of the road goes through a neighborhood and close to several houses with children and pets, so please drive slowly.

From Fayetteville - turn right and drive on US-19N and cross the NRG bridge. Take the second right after the bridge onto Lansing-Edmond Road. Follow Lansing-Edmond road around many curves and turns, eventually driving down a steep hill to the town of Winona. After 6 miles on Lansing-Edmond Rd, turn RIGHT onto Keeneys Creek Rd at the stop sign. Follow this all the way down to the main parking lot for the Nuttallburg Coal Tipple, with the pit toilet.

From Summersville - Head SOUTH on US-19S. Drive about 18 miles (depending on where you turn onto US-19) and take exit for US-60 E/Midland Trail. Turn LEFT off the exit onto US-60 E/Midland Trail. Drive 4.4 miles then turn RIGHT onto Lansing-Edmond Rd. Drive 2.1 miles then continue STRAIGHT onto Keeneys Creek Rd. Follow this road to the bottom as described above.

🚶‍♂️Hiking Directions - From the parking, walk towards the coal tipple by continuing on the gravel road, headed in a DOWNstream direction. Pass the tipple, continuing along a wide trail that goes on either side of the coke ovens (old furnaces). As you enter the woods, the Seldom Seen Boulders are trail-side. Continuing on this trail DOWNstream, the Spray and Pray Boulder are also trail-side. To reach the boulders uphill (Bobmentia Boulder, etc) bushwack up the hillside talus from the Spray and Pray Boulder.

For the river boulders, continue on the main trail. The trail will narrow and begin to wind down the hill. Take a right turn just before reaching the tracks to bypass a treacherous drainage. Once on the tracks, there are several paths to the river. Head upstream for the Echoplex boulder, the most downstream trail goes direct to the There For Boulder and is behind a huge stack of railroad ties. Cairns mark many of the trails in between. Once at the river, depending on water level, you can traverse the bank up and downstream.