A few weeks ago, Eleni and I attempted to get to Ramsey Branch Falls. We were thwarted by purple paint on a gate and “Video Surveillance” signs everywhere, and at the time I didn’t know if it was safe or legal to proceed down the access road. On that trip, we decided to turn back and choose a different hike for the day, and I made a mental note to do some more research and ask around about access.
Fast forward to today, I’ve made some new West Virginia friends who assure me we can drive down this road, and we are going to do it. Melody and Devin join me again today, and we hop in the 4Runner and head over to Gauley River National Recreation Area. In a few more weeks, this are will be teeming with rafters and buses as the Gauley River opens for commercial rafting for six weeks in September and October. Today, though, it’s quiet. Our access is via Woods Ferry Rd, a steep, rocky road that leads down to river level and to a small pullout on the right just before you reach the river– this is where the hike to Ramsey Branch begins. If you don’t have 4WD, an option is to park at the top of Woods Ferry and walk the road to this point. Doing so makes this a 1.76 mile round trip hike.
The Gauley
This is not our plan today, however. We DO have 4WD, and Devin wants to drive down the river on an old railroad grade and check out the rapids. The Gauley is running slightly higher than commercial flow today, significantly higher than it was the last time I was down here. We decide to drive down the river to Sweets Falls, a class V rapid, then come back and hike to Ramsey Branch. Along the way we pass a truck with an NPS logo and the words “RANGER” on the door. I have a moment of anxiety, wondering if they are going to stop us and tell us we can’t be down here. They just wave, however, and keep going.
An old railroad grade follows the Gauley upriver on river-left. The only indication that this was once a rail bed are a few crumbling concrete mile marker pillars and one trestle you have to drive across; the trestle was the most nerve-wracking part of the drive for me, being somewhat rotted with bolts sticking out every which way. Wonda made it with no issue, despite my trepidation. Otherwise, the road is gentle and mostly smooth, passable by most vehicles. Along the way we pass several roadside waterfalls which I cannot find names for and did not know existed until I saw them. We even see a waterfall across the river that falls off a cliff right into the Gauley. Devin tells me the guides call this Cowpasture Falls, since there’s a cow pasture just upstream from it.
Ramsey Branch Falls
We spend some time enjoying sitting by the river and then drive back down the railroad grade to the pullout for Ramsey Branch Falls. As we enter the woods and head upstream, Devin isn’t so sure we are going the right way. My friend Beth sent me a Gaia track for this hike, and we are on top of it, so I know we are at least heading the right direction. This is a very short jaunt, but the path fades in and out as it criss-crosses the creek. Soon, though, I can hear the waterfall, and when I top a small hill I am absolutely stunned by the sheer magnitude of this waterfall. Recent rains must have it swollen, because this is NOT what I was expecting. Photos that I’ve seen are pretty, but the real thing blows me away. We spend a lot of time taking photos and taking in the scenery before heading back toward the car.
I had noticed a lot of trash on the way in, and while my pack is off I rummage around in it and find a grocery bag to use as a trash bag. Devin, Melody, and I pick up a whole bags worth of Skoal cans, cheap beer cans, and various wrappers on the short walk out. Unfortunately, I’ve found many West Virginia Waterfalls to be littered with trash. It makes me grateful for Waterfall Keepers of North Carolina, and wishful that such an organization existed here.
Still She Roams 