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Bluestone River

Type
Freestone river, West Virginia (East)
Designation
Catch and release
USGS gauges
2 live
Guides
None listed
Shops
None listed

Today on the Bluestone River

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The Bluestone River is a freestone river in West Virginia, listed as Catch and release by West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

More about the Bluestone River

2 USGS gauges on the water report flow.

Updated · Sources: Catch-and-Release trout waters, USGS Water Data

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Bluestone River is a freestone river in West Virginia.

Flow now at 2 gauges
Reading the gauges…

Check any river's flow

Follow Bluestone River for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

West Virginia stream access points

Bluestone River on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Bluestone River: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Bluestone River with 2 USGS gauges.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

Restrooms near Bluestone River

Restrooms near Bluestone River

Restrooms within 2 miles of Bluestone River in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Bluestone River

  • The Elk River at Clendenin, a wide, slow river below wooded hillsCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Barkers Creek
    Photo credit

    The Elk River at the Clendenin access, West Virginia (downstream of the trout water near Webster Springs). Photo: Jcyoung1981 2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Barkers Creek.

    Barkers Creek

    West Virginia · about 14 mi

  • The Jackson River flowing clear over cobbles through the wooded Hidden ValleyCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Glade Creek
    Photo credit

    The Jackson River in the Hidden Valley, Bath County, Virginia. Photo: Nyttend, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Glade Creek.

    Glade Creek

    West Virginia · about 19 mi

  • Green water churning out of the South Holston Dam powerhouse into the river below the grassy dam faceCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Elkhorn Creek
    Photo credit

    South Holston Dam releasing into the South Holston River tailwater, near Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Elkhorn Creek.

    Elkhorn Creek

    West Virginia · about 20 mi

  • The Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, a broad, calm river between bare autumn treesDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Clear Fork
    Photo credit

    The Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, Tennessee. Photo: Jan Kronsell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Clear Fork.

    Clear Fork

    West Virginia · about 35 mi

  • The Smith River at dusk between dense, dark green banks in Henry CountyDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Paint Creek
    Photo credit

    The Smith River in the evening, Henry County, Virginia. Photo: MarmadukePercy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Paint Creek.

    Paint Creek

    West Virginia · about 40 mi

  • The Dan River at DanvilleCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Second Creek
    Photo credit

    The Dan River at Danville, Virginia. Photo: MarmadukePercy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Second Creek.

    Second Creek

    West Virginia · about 40 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Catch and release

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
85.6 mi (65.1 in WV)
Drains
446 sq mi
Drop
2,111 ft · 24.7 ft/mi
Flows into
New River
Watershed
Middle New

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

13.5 of 82.9 mi on public land

  • Bluestone National Scenic RiverNational Park Service · 7 mi
  • Pipestem Resort State ParkState Department of Natural Resources · 3.8 mi
  • Bluestone Recreation AreaArmy Corps of Engineers · 2.7 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Bluestone River

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

No guide within 40 miles yet.

All West Virginia guides

Shops nearby

No shop nearby yet.

All West Virginia shops

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Plan a trip here

Gear checklist

About this

A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler stands on a boulder at the edge of a fast forest stream and fishes the run

Small mountain streams

7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Bluestone River.

No stories from here yet.

Write the first story Share your day

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 13 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge BLUESTONE R NR SPANISHBURG, WV. Water type is our own classification.