Cathedral Falls, Gauley Bridge, WV

Gauley Bridge is a small town in Fayette County, West Virginia. The Kanawha River is formed at Gauley Bridge by the confluence of the New River and the Gauley River. The community was named after a bridge over the Gauley River, close to the site of the Hawk's Nest incident, in which hundreds of lives were lost in the 1920s and 1930s.


Below: A cabin on the rocks	Railroad-themed mural in Gauley Bridge


Below: Views of the bridge at Cathedral Falls, as seen from the road

Cathedral Falls
Cathedral Falls is a 60 foot tall waterfall on Cane Branch, a small tributary of the New River. It cascades down a narrow canyon and lands right beside US-60. The creek really begins on Gauley Mountain and makes a short trip to the New River. It actually drops nearly 100-feet over a series of upper sandstone ledges, but the final 60 feet of drops are the ones the two RV Gypsies saw in three (3) different stages from the roadside parking lot, as shown on this page.

Below: Lee Duquette on the rocks




Below: Several hours later on this same day, the two RV Gypsies learned that a Flash Flood hit their nearby campground, so they returned to Cathedral Falls and were amazed at the difference. The clear, white water was now brown and much wider, and flowing a lot stronger. The rocks at the bottom of Cathedral Falls that the two RV Gypsies walked on earlier were now covered with heavily flowing water.


The next day, Cathedral Falls changed yet again. It was back to being white in color, but still flowing much heavier than seen before the Flash Flood.