OH

IO R

IVER

W

AT

ER

TR

AIL

Trip M

ileageG

PS C

oo

rdin

ates

TH

E H

AZ

AR

DS O

F PAD

DLIN

G T

HE

OH

IO R

IVE

RT

he O

hio

is a magn

ificen

t river. For w

ater enth

usiasts, n

oth

ing b

eats flo

ating d

ow

n th

e Oh

io R

iver in a

kayak; neverth

eless, many h

azards exist o

n th

e Oh

io R

iver such

as river crossin

gs, com

mercial traffi

c, w

ind

, waves, sw

ift-river curren

t, high

water levels, lo

w w

ater temp

eratures, an

d strain

ers. Th

e Oh

io

River p

rovides a w

ide ran

ge of exp

eriences, th

erefore w

e suggest th

at you

com

plete a safety class

and

pro

fession

al instru

ction

befo

re pad

dlin

g the m

ighty O

hio

River. N

o o

ne sh

ou

ld attem

pt kayakin

g w

itho

ut p

rop

er trainin

g.

RIV

ER

CU

RR

EN

T &

WA

TE

R LE

VE

LSA

void

kayaking at h

igh w

ater con

ditio

ns, w

hich

cause stro

ng cu

rrents an

d fo

rce deb

ris from

the

ban

ks into

the river. R

ainfall also

increases th

e risk of treach

erou

s curren

ts and

sub

merged

deb

ris th

at can cau

se acciden

ts and

inju

ries. Real-tim

e stream fl

ow

info

is available at th

e USG

S Water

Watch

web

site at waterw

atch.u

sgs.gov.

WIN

D, W

AV

ES, &

RIV

ER

CR

OSSIN

GS

Th

e Oh

io R

iver is very wid

e and

it takes a con

siderab

le amo

un

t of tim

e and

effort to

cross via

a cano

e or kayak. O

nce o

ut in

to th

e river, you

may exp

erience w

aves and

cho

ppy co

nd

ition

s, esp

ecially if it is win

dy. D

ue to

the w

ind

ing n

ature o

f the river, w

ind

directio

n ch

anges o

ften.

You

can m

inim

ize the w

ind

’s infl

uen

ce on

you

r bo

at by kayaking d

irectly into

the w

ind

.

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L TR

AFFIC

Th

e Oh

io R

iver is classified

as federal w

aters, and

all bo

aters mu

st com

ply w

ith th

e U

.S. Co

ast Gu

ard req

uirem

ents. R

ecreation

al bo

aters mu

st yield th

e right o

f way to

co

mm

ercial vessels. An

imp

ortan

t con

straint is th

e pilo

t’s blin

d sp

ot. T

he b

lind

spo

t exten

ds fo

r hu

nd

reds o

f feet in fro

nt o

f the b

arge. Th

erefore, d

o n

ot can

oe o

r kayak in

the p

ath o

f barges. B

arges also h

ave limited

navigatio

n d

ue to

their size an

d w

eight

and

therefo

re cann

ot tu

rn o

r stop

qu

ickly. It can take u

p to

three m

iles for a to

wb

oat

to sto

p a strin

g of fu

ll barges. In

add

ition

, wh

eel wash

is a stron

g un

derw

ater curren

t cau

sed by a to

wb

oat’s en

gines th

at can resu

lt in severe tu

rbu

lence h

un

dred

s of yard

s b

ehin

d a large vessel; co

nseq

uen

tly, recreation

al watercraft m

ust m

aintain

at least 1

,00

0 feet in

clearance b

ehin

d th

e rear of to

wb

oats.

RE

STR

ICT

ED

AR

EA

Th

e section

imm

ediately ab

ove and

belo

w each

lock an

d d

am is d

esignated

as a R

estricted A

rea. Waters in

these areas are tu

rbu

lent, u

np

redictab

le, and

d

eceptively d

angero

us. Stro

ng cu

rrents can

easily trap an

d d

row

n a p

oten

tial victim

with

ou

t warn

ing. Sign

s and

/or fl

ashin

g red ligh

ts mark th

e limits o

f th

e regulated

sectors at each

lock an

d d

am. N

o p

erson

, vessel, or o

ther

flo

ating craft sh

all enter any su

ch gu

arded

zon

e at any time an

d are su

bject

to a su

mm

ary offen

se and

pen

alties. Lockm

asters enfo

rce the ad

heren

ce to

these law

s and

, if requ

ired, so

licit aid fro

m lo

cal po

lice. In th

e interest

of p

ub

lic safety, please articu

late to o

ther b

oaters o

r anglers ab

ou

t the

hazard

s of lo

ck and

dam

structu

res.

Safety A

s T

ho

mas

Jef

fers

on

on

ce s

tate

d, “

the

Oh

io is

th

e m

ost

bea

uti

ful r

iver

on

ear

th.”

Pad

dle

rs c

an fe

el a

sen

se o

f rem

ote

nes

s an

d n

atu

ral b

eau

ty h

ere.

Alt

ho

ugh

ro

ads

and

rai

lro

ads

follo

w t

he

rive

r, th

ey a

re g

ener

ally

no

t vi

sib

le fr

om

th

e ri

ver

bel

ow

. Tr

ees

alo

ng

the

rive

r b

ank

oft

en b

lock

ou

t vi

ews

of h

om

es, f

arm

fiel

ds,

an

d

ind

ust

rial

sit

es.

Th

e is

lan

d c

hu

tes—

the

nar

row

er, n

ot

com

mer

cial

ly n

avig

able

, sec

tio

ns

bet

wee

n a

n is

lan

d a

nd

th

e sh

ore

—al

so o

ffer

rem

ote

nat

ura

l set

tin

gs.

Th

e O

hio

Riv

er o

ffer

s ab

un

dan

t w

idlif

e to

en

joy.

Th

e w

ater

tra

il m

ean

der

s th

rou

gh s

ever

al h

abit

at t

ypes

, res

ult

ing

in h

igh

sp

ecie

s d

iver

sity

alo

ng

the

rive

r. M

ore

th

an 2

00

sp

ecie

s o

f bir

ds

visi

t th

e ri

ver

each

yea

r, in

clu

din

g o

spre

y an

d b

ald

eag

le.

Th

ere

are

mo

re t

han

10

0 s

pec

ies

of fi

sh in

th

e O

hio

Riv

er, i

ncl

ud

ing

spo

tted

bas

s, s

auge

r, fr

eshw

ater

dru

m, c

han

nel

an

d fl

ath

ead

cat

fish

. B

oth

Wes

t V

irgi

nia

an

d r

esid

enti

al O

hio

fish

ing

licen

ses

are

ho

no

red

o

n t

he

Oh

io R

iver

an

d t

he

vari

ou

s b

ackw

ater

s (u

p t

o t

he

firs

t ri

ffle)

, an

d o

n t

he

Litt

le K

anaw

ha

wes

t o

f th

e Le

ach

tow

n L

ane

acce

ss s

ite.

Th

ere

are

mo

re t

han

25

mam

mal

sp

ecie

s al

on

g th

e O

hio

Riv

er

and

Lit

tle

Kan

awh

a R

iver

, in

clu

din

g w

hit

e-ta

iled

dee

r, ra

cco

on

s,

mu

skra

ts, m

ink,

co

tto

nta

il ra

bb

it, a

nd

red

fox.

Fro

gs, t

oad

s,

turt

les,

dra

gon

flie

s, d

amse

lflie

s, b

utt

erfl

ies,

an

d 4

0 s

pec

ies

of

fres

hwat

er m

uss

els

add

to

th

e as

ton

ish

ing

bio

div

ersi

ty o

f th

ese

rive

rs.

Th

ree

of t

he

isla

nd

s o

n t

he

trai

l are

par

t o

f th

e O

hio

Riv

er

Isla

nd

s N

atio

nal

Wild

life

Ref

uge

. Vis

ito

rs a

re w

elco

me

to

pu

ll th

eir

can

oes

an

d k

ayak

s u

p o

nto

th

e sh

ore

an

d e

xplo

re

thes

e is

lan

ds

on

foo

t d

uri

ng

the

day

. Th

e O

hio

Riv

er

Isla

nd

s N

WR

is w

ork

ing

to p

rote

ct, c

on

serv

e, a

nd

res

tore

th

e ri

par

ian

fore

st h

abit

at o

n t

hes

e is

lan

ds;

vis

ito

rs w

ho

ex

plo

re t

hes

e is

lan

ds

will

fin

d t

hem

in v

ario

us

stag

es o

f tr

ansi

tio

n fr

om

agr

icu

ltu

ral u

se t

o r

esto

red

fore

st.

Wat

er t

rail

use

rs c

an g

et m

ore

invo

lved

in c

on

serv

ing

and

res

tori

ng

nat

ura

l hab

itat

s al

on

g th

e tr

ail b

y co

nta

ctin

g th

e Fr

ien

ds

of t

he

Oh

io R

iver

Isla

nd

N

atio

nal

Wild

life

Ref

uge

.

Scen

ic B

eau

ty ww

w.g

reat

erpa

rker

sbur

g.co

m

designed by Mollee Brown

Mileage is ro

un

d trip

.

DU

Ck

CR

EEk

13

MILe

S | 6-7

hO

UR

S | PU

T-IN:

WILLIA

MSTO

WN

BO

AT

RA

MP

WO

RT

HIN

GT

ON

CR

EEk A

ND

TH

E LIT

TLE k

AN

AW

HA

5.3

MILe

S | 2.5

hO

UR

S | PU

T-IN:

CO

RN

ING

PAR

K

LEE CR

EEk

8.6

MILe

S | 5 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: Lee

CR

ee

K

NEA

L RU

N

3.5

MILe

S | 2 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: PO

INT

PAR

K

AR

OU

ND

BU

Ck

LEy ISLA

ND

6.2

MILe

S | 3 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: W

ILLIAM

STOW

N B

OA

T R

AM

P

TO

BLEN

NER

HA

SSETT

ISLAN

D

3.5

MILe

S | 2 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: PO

INT

PAR

K

AR

OU

ND

BLEN

NER

HA

SSETT

ISLAN

D

10

.2 M

ILeS | 5

hO

UR

S | PU

T-IN: P

OIN

T PA

RK

AR

OU

ND

NEA

L ISLAN

D7

.1 M

ILeS | 3

hO

UR

S | PU

T-IN: P

OIN

T PA

RK

AR

OU

ND

VIEN

NA

ISLAN

D

14

MILe

S | 7 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: PO

INT

PAR

K

AR

OU

ND

MU

SkIN

GU

M ISLA

ND

1

1 M

ILeS | 5

.5 h

OU

RS | P

UT-IN

: WILLIA

MSTO

WN

BO

AT

R

AM

P

WILLIA

MST

OW

N T

O D

EVO

LA1

2 M

ILeS | 6

hO

UR

S | PU

T-IN: W

ILLIAM

STOW

N B

OA

T R

AM

P

1. O

LD LO

Ck

20

39

.13

77

33

, -81

.74

05

94

2. LEE C

REEk

39

.14

90

61

, -81

.71

53

24

3. LO

Ck

19

39

.25

52

5, -8

1.6

91

94

9

4. B

ELPR

E AC

CESS PA

Rk

39

.27

50

47

, -81

.59

74

97

5. P

OIN

T PA

Rk

39

.26

55

42

, -81

.56

72

52

6. M

AR

IETTA

LEVEE

39

.41

03

71

, -81

.45

12

65

7. W

ILLIAM

STO

WN

BO

AT

RA

MP

39

.40

69

95

, -81

.45

00

81

8. O

RIN

WR

HEA

Dq

UA

RT

ERS

39

.39

05

63

, -81

.41

76

46

9. C

OR

NIN

G PA

Rk

39

.25

86

94

, -81

.53

55

2

10

. LEAC

HT

OW

N LA

NE

39

.14

00

11

, -81

.44

77

44

11

. SPR

ING

VA

LLEy3

9.1

39

83

4, -8

1.3

95

56

3

map

and

inform

ation

Lear

n m

ore

: ww

w.g

reat

erp

arke

rsb

urg

.co

m/o

hio

-riv

er-w

ater

trai

l/

O

hio

Riv

er W

ater

Tra

il - P

arke

rsb

urg

, WV

OHIO RIVER WATER TRAIL

Old Lock 20

Lee Creek

Lock 19

Belpre Access Park

Point Park

Marietta Levee

Williamstown Boat Ramp

ORINWR Headquarters

Corning Park

Leachtown Lane

Spring Valley/Mouth of Hughes

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11