Author: Herschel Finch (doahriverrat)…

About the river: The main stem of the Shenandoah River begins at the conflux of the North and South Forks at Riverton, VA.  Riverton is actually a part of Front Royal, VA (my hometown) these days. But back in the day, it was a separate town and was a main stop for the flat boats I mentioned in the South Fork article. Here at Riverton, the flatboats would be unloaded, goods sold and even the boats themselves would be knocked apart for the lumber they contained and the lumber then sold, because you sure as heck weren’t getting a boat that was 12-14 foot wide and up to 80 feet long back upriver! Many houses and out buildings in the old parts of both Front Royal and Riverton contain structural beams and timbers with tell-tale mortises, holes and square joints that were used to hold the boats together.

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About the river: The North fork of the Shenandoah River is an entirely unique river. Where the south fork is wide, with lazy sweeping bends with wide vistas and scenic views of the Blue Ridge and fairly benign in nature, the north fork tends to be narrow, winding, heavily forested with overhead tree canopy and have some chutes and drops that can be downright dangerous at certain water levels. You can float the south fork all year round, regardless of gauge levels, although I don’t recommend trying it above Continue Reading

Submitted by: Herschel Finch (DoahRiverRat)

About the river: The Shenandoah is actually 3 distinct Rivers: The south fork, the north fork, and the mainstem. It’s easier to write about as three separate rivers so I’ll begin this series discussing my favorite (and my ‘home’ water), The south fork of the Shenandoah River.

The Shenandoah figures large in American History and especially the during the years after the Revolution and the westward expansion into the interior. The Shenandoah Valley was never home to vast numbers of indigenous Americans. It was used more as a warring and hunting ground and the river itself as a fishery. Many old Indian fish dams are still present on the river (all three sections) and were used by the colonials and well into the 1800s as well. You’ll recognize them as being Continue Reading