"BEST hosts! Best guides - great presenters - great beer - good food - beautiful birds - FUN!" - Repeat Visitor

Located in the picturesque Appalachian mountains and valleys in Fayette County, West Virginia we explore meadows, wetlands, successional and old growth forests, from river-level to ridge tops in and beyond the New River Gorge National Park & River. Our venue at Opossum Creek Retreat is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump (or within 500 miles) of 66% of the U.S. population and 33% of the Canadian population - we're easy to find... if you know where to look. ;)

As the bird flies, follow U.S. Route 19 to the New River Gorge Bridge and you're here. From that vantage point Smithsonian's Aerial America named the area one of the "Top 13 Landscapes of 2013!" Coincidence? We think not. Our beloved deciduous forests provide crucial stopover habitat for migrating birds and birders alike.

Did you know...

• The New River Gorge National River leveled up with a new designation of National Park & Preserve, in December of 2020 making it country's 63rd National Park.
• WV is the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state during the American Civil War.
• WV is the only state to be admitted under presidential proclamation.
• WV became the first state to have a sales tax, effective on July 1, 1921. That one's a little bit embarrassing.
• The New River Gorge Bridge is on the WV state quarter. It would be weird if it was on another state quarter.
• The NRG Bridge is the longest single arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the 3rd longest in the world.
• The third Saturday of October is "Bridge Day." Thousands of people attend to walk across the NRG Bridge and watch thrill seekers B.A.S.E. jump to the river-side 876' below. Yep, they parachute off the Bridge. On purpose.
• Mother’s Day was first observed as a holiday in Grafton, WV in 1908. It became a national holiday in 1914. Today it's celebrated internationally. We love our mommas.
• Golden Delicious apples are native to West Virginia (Clay County, WV, 1775). Juicy, just the right amount of sweet, and yum! 
• The "New" River is the second oldest in the world. I was talking to a local old timer about it just the other day... said he was there and gave me a first-hand account.
• WV is the third most heavily forested state in the nation. It's wild and wonderful. It's almost heaven. It's home.
• West Virginia's state motto is "Mountaineers are Always Free."

Intrigued? Ask for more when you get here. We're full of it (interesting facts!) and love to share.

Concho Overlook to Thurmond, WV - by Chad Foreman

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Vagrant: one that has strayed far from normal ecological rang. We are defining bird terms aren't we? Yes. Vagrant birds.