Catch and release applies to more than fishing. Think of rivers that are dammed, creating reservoirs behind earthworks. On signal, the water that is caught in a reservoir can be released, just like a fish caught on a hook.
This happens predictably after Labor Day on West Virginia’s Gauley River that becomes a rafter’s paradise during Gauley Season when adrenaline is charged to the max over successive fall weekends.
This year Gauley Season at ACE Adventure Resort in Minden, set on 1,500 acres in this state’s southern hills, will be Sept. 9-12; Sept. 16-19; Sept. 23-26; Sept. 30-Oct. 3; Oct. 7-10 and Oct. 15-16.
“The significance of this flow at this time of year,” said Heidi Prior, ACE Marketing Director, “is the fact that everywhere else in the US rivers have slowed down by the end of summer. This means that the Gauley River provides some of the most exciting Class IV & V white water available anywhere in the country.”
To whitewater enthusiasts, the Gauley is a “must do!” on these weekends when water gushes down from the upriver dam at a rate of 2,800 cubic feet per second or more. As it rushes downriver, the flow creates huge waves, runnable waterfalls, eddies and holes that provide all the thrills a rafter could wish for.
Fall Gauley Camp Package includes a full day of river rafting, a half-day pass to Wonderland Waterpark, two nights camping and one each breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rates (depending on day of week) are from $129 per person. Other longer stay and play plans are available.
ACE Adventure Resort (http://aceraft.com/) throws in extra splashes to make lifetime memories of a rafting weekend here. Welcoming guests this fall is a recently completed $1 million refurbishment including embellishments to a five-acre lake known as Wonderland Waterpark with two brand-new 300-foot industrial-strength waterslides, 40 new inflatable lake toys, an expanded beach area, new hardscape and greenscape, a new retail store, snack shack and arcade, and the addition of seven new bathrooms and eight changing rooms.
Once at the resort, people like to stay put. This means that on premise dining and beverage venues are integral to the resort. The current improvements herald renovations to the bar, both inside and out, including a large outdoor pavilion. Also new pizza ovens have been added to facilitate ACE’s award-winning brick oven pizza.
In addition to being the region’s largest private campground for tents and RVs, the resort hosts overnight guests in more than 55 cabins and lodges that sleep from four to 14. Nearly all of the deluxe cabins now have new beds, comforters, window dressings, lamps and furniture. Nine one-room Cozy Cabins have been renovated to offer two bedrooms. Full bathrooms have been added to 10 Cedar Cabins. Four other cabins that formerly utilized ladders to access sleeping lofts now have staircases.
