Bluestone River

Bluestone River at Pipestem Resort State Park

The Bluestone River is a 124 km long left tributary of the New River in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia in the United States.

About New River, Kanawha River and Ohio River, the river is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. A 18 km long section of the lower reaches is reported as Bluestone National Scenic River.

Run

The Bluestone River rises on the East River Mountain in Tazewell County, Virginia, and follows a general north-eastern direction through the counties Mercer and Summers in West Virginia. Here, the river passes through the cities of Bluefield, Virginia, and Bramwell and Montcalm in West Virginia. The river flows about 6.5 km south of Hinton in the Bluestone Lake, which is formed by a dam on the United States Army Corps of Engineers New River. The wine classified as a National Scenic River section of the river is for the most part in Summers County, as well as the Pipestem Resort State Park, which extends along a gorge that has cut into the landscape of the river.

Pollution

The Blue Stone River suffers from contamination with PCBs, largely a consequence of the former coal mining in Appalachia. As a result, Virginia spent the recommendation not to eat above Bluefield, Virginia caught carp. West Virginia again recommends the restriction to one meal per month.

In Virginia, the Department of Environmental Quality warns because of high levels of fecal coliform bacteria also about to swim in the river or to come in some other way directly in contact with the water.

Little Bluestone River

The Little Blue Stone River is a tributary of the Bluestone River in Summers County; of its formation by White Oak Branch and Jumping Branch to the mouth of the Bluestone River is less than 15 km.

Name Variants

According to the Geographic Names Information System of the Bluestone River was historically also a number of other names:

• Big Bluestone River
• Bluestone Creek
• Bluestone River
• Bluestone Creek
• Mec - ce - ne - ke- ke- ce - pe -we
• Mec - cen - ne - ke- ke
• Mon -mom -ga -sen eka - ce - pe