Adventures on the Gorge — Local services in Fayetteville

This is a detailed review of the Upper New River rafting trip with Adventures on the Gorge. I like details and knowing what's going to happen and couldn't really find specifics tips so hoping this is helpful. Our boys are 9 and 11, and we had never done any white water rafting- just some kayaking and canoeing in small rivers. Our head guide (Guido) recommended 2 person inflatable kayaks (duckies) while some families that had smaller kids went in a larger rafts with guides. Definitely wear quick dry clothes/swimsuits, and sandles that strap onto your feet. I recommend a waterproof pouch/strap for your phone, straps for sunglasses. A baseball cap will fit under the required helmets if you want extra face coverage from the sun but other hat styles won't work. Sunscreen and extra water are a must but keep those strapped to you if possible because they could easily fall out in a rapid. We got geared up and took about a 45 min bus ride to the drop off site. During this ride, Guido gave us a very informative and sobering safety briefing. I thought, "What did I sign up for?!" We met up with the rest of our guides and got loaded into the river. The biggest take aways that i learned were 1- Help each other. 2- If you fall in, float on your back- don't try to stand bc your foot can get caught on rocks. 3- When pulling someone up, grab them by the straps of the floatation device, not by the arms. I did my best to follow the guides directly into the rapids, dodging rocks. We got stuck at one point but a guide was able to free us up. I am fairly physically fit but my t-rex arms were pushed to the limit at times. You will get soaked. But it was amazing fun. We pulled off onto a sandy beach area where they set up a sandwich line to fix your own lunch (deli meats, cheese, pb&j, dessert). Took another brief pause at jumping rock so you could climb up and jump off. Then went the rest of the way. There were spots between rapids where you were able to hop out and swim/float but caution- it is not easy getting back into your kayak without help! My arms were exhausted but I cannot say how much we loved the experience. Teamwork to help pull all the kayaks and gear out of the water made loading up go faster. We were provided ice cold beverages (adult and kid friendly) for the shorter bus ride back. We opted to hang out at the pool area (we were already wet) for an hour until the video footage of our day was available to view. You can buy a copy from the store and it comes on a flash drive. Once home, I was able grab screenshots for my photo album so much more economical than buying the photo packages. And the videographer (Guido's son, Rylie) was amazing. By then, it was nearly 5 and time to shower and grab dinner. For our first ever rafting experience, I think this was fantastic. We met lots of nice people (that I apologize profusely for bumping into!) ALL of our guides were excellent and obviously passionate about nature and love their jobs. I was nervous but I never felt unsafe. Some people fell out and were immediately scooped back up. Highly...

This is my detailed experience at Adventures on the Gorge.

I had to cancel my vacation trip to Jamaica with my husband due to the pandemic. We were looking for an alternative vacation spot, and after doing some research, I found this place in West Virginia. It's less than 4 hours drive from where we live, and from the reviews it seems like people love coming here. So we booked one of their cabins and stayed there during last week of July 2020 (July 26 to 31).

This was a wonderful vacation I wish I could give them more than 5/5 stars! Everybody on site was wonderful! The Kaymoor cabin is hotel-style and very comfortable, very beautiful and had everything that we needed. We booked three activities with this mountain resort - zip lining, rock climbing, and white water rafting. All three activities were awesome and I would go back and do all of them! All the guides and staff members were funny, but also made sure we were safe during the activities. If you love outdoor adventure, you will not be disappointed! Just make sure you aren't afraid of heights or afraid of crazy water currents. The pool was opened when we were there. We didn't swim but we laid down on the beach benches for an hour to relax. The overlook next to the pool was very pretty, you could see a nice view of Route-19 bridge and the valley.

The restaurant on site (Smokey's) produced very great food. Due to pandemic, they served everything on paper products. But food was delicious so that's most important. Their mixed drinks at the bar were very good too. The office staff that took calls were also very nice and helpful when we called to book our cabin and activities. There's this one male staff member that picked up the phone and wasn't as nice, he was rushing a lot. But I let that go since everybody else were so friendly and he probably had a bad day.

Overall, very very very nice vacation in the mountains and woods of West Virginia. I would go...

We have been to AOG multiple times over the years. So here are my family take aways Pool is awesome,but being told to get out every 45 minutes sucks.Lifeguards are great, but they seem like they are short-handed. I suggest hiring a few more. Food and Beverage - Very upset Chettys was closed and website was not updated. Smokey's still is not good. And $20 for side shrimp crazy. Employees seemed lost.Looks like a lack of training and leadership.Watched FB leader sitting playing on phone. Tend to wonder how local restaurants in Fayetteville can be so good and AOG is not.Maybe pay more or go benchmark popular spots in town. Rendezvous is getting better. Most Bar tenders do not know how to make drinks,worse Margeritta ever had. Even witnessed an employee struggling, and the leader said, "Send me a photo(Lazy)."Good leadership supports team. Cabin- was nice enough for a cabin. Stayed in Heaven help us. Update tv and stereo.Stereo does not even work. Also I would suggest either upgrading to ductless A/C units.(two heads o e outdoor unit). Or Install seal in top of windows we got alot of bugs in cabi ,then we put a towel in top lower window no bugs then. CABINE CAN USE A DEEP CLEAN. Hot tub jets kept popping out but still enjoyed hot tub Adventures - From rafting to ziplines to horseback riding was AWESOME.....wish we had names of all our guides to compliment them. Frontdesk- everybody really nice.Especially the elderly lady.If you really want to add a cool touch,a welcome back greeting will be nice,for returning guest.considering how many times we have there. Overall, we probably will go back.But we wonder if Aramark is...