1. (Narrows) Rowlesburg to Friends of the Cheat takeout lot

> *Source: Connelly (Editor), Appalachian Whitewater : The Northern States, 4th Edition. Text used with permission.* The putin for the Narrows is opposite a worked-out limestone mine approximately three miles below Rowlesburg. Here you encounter the first big waves below Rowlesburg called Cave Rapids. For the rest of this five-mile \[actually 3.8-mile if you take out at Lick Run; 3.5 mile if you take out at Pringle Run\] trip, the rapids become increasingly more difficult. There are good rescue spots after each rapids, but in high water (three to four feet), it's not so easy. After passing several Class II-III rapids, the paddler enters a long series of similar rapids, properly called the 'Narrows.' > > In the first significant rapids, the entire river is necked down by the presence of an automobile-sized boulder (Calamity Rock) in midstream which makes passage at any level difficult...Usually this boulder should be run through the passage to the right. At very high levels, however, it's best to run along the left bank... Though you can putin and takeout at several spots along the road (Rte. 72), the typical takeout is at Lick Run, about 3-4 miles South of Kingwood. The river pretty much flattens out after that.(2025Update: Takeout is now a parking lot built by Friends of the Cheat just south of Preston and just North of Lick Run) Downstream is the more difficult and more committing Cheat Canyon. For bad craziness, you might want to grab a look at Pringle Run, which drops into the Cheat just upstream of Lick Run.