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 Conflicted Boulders sit just below the impressive Keeney Rapids, a highlight of rafting the lower New. An elevation dip in the road provides one of the shortest walks to the river at Nuttallburg (similarly short to the Ripple Effect trail). A couple stand out classics sit just beside the water, but those looking for higher concentration areas should venture to the zones farther downstream.

🚶‍♂️ Approach summary - Moderately rugged. 5 to 15 minutes.
💎 Notable problems - Cherry V3, Sleeping With The Fishes V5, Indication Creep V5, Lollygag V7, Conflicted 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. Lollygag and Cherry stay out of the water other than after exceptional rain. Conflicted should be out of the water with the Fayette Station gauge below 3 feet.
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 main Nuttallburg parking area, a few minute drive past the pullout for this zone.
📶 Cell phone service - 2/5, spotty.
🐶 Dogs - Must be leashed at all times. This is National Park land.

Routes on Nuttallburg - Conflicted Boulders
14 boulder 1 Likes
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Nuttallburg - Conflicted Boulders

The area is access sensitive!

🔴 The Conflicted 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. The road terrain varies from pavement to gravel. As the road curves to the right, going from parallel Keeney Creek to parallel the New River, the road will turn from pavement to gravel. Pass a locked gate on your left, continue on the gravel a short ways as you lose elevation, look for a pullout on the RIGHT large enough for 3 to 4 cars, with a faint trail over the guardrail to your left. Park here.

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 parking pullout as described above.

🚶‍♂️Hiking Directions - Hop the guardrail and follow a trail down to the tracks. Carefully cross directly over the tracks for the Lollygag and Cherry Boulders. For Conflicted and adjacent boulders, walk parallel the tracks DOWNstream about 0.2 miles, until you find a small cairn marking the path down to the river. Watch out to avoid tripping on the old wiring along the trail between the tracks and the Conflicted cluster.