Possibilities include being a new river that was not on the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia, an Indian name meaning "new waters", or the surname of an early settler.

[6] However, a claim that the river is the second oldest in the world is disputed by the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey and the National Park Service.

[7][8] This low-level crossing of the Appalachians, many millions of years old, has long been a biogeographical corridor allowing numerous species of plants and animals to spread between the lowlands of the American East Coast and those of the Midwest.

North of the dam the New River accepts the Little River, bends around three sides of the city of Radford, Virginia and bends again around the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, marking the boundary between Pulaski and Montgomery County, Virginia, before passing through Walker Mountain via a narrow water gap.

A few miles northwest of Fayetteville, much of the New River's flow is diverted through the 3-mile (4.8 km) Hawks Nest Tunnel for use in power generation.

The New River dissects all physiographic provinces of the Appalachian Mountains, and therefore is believed to be a corridor facilitating the movement of southern plant and animal species into West Virginia.

[14] New River Gorge lies at the core of the largest remaining block of relatively unfragmented, mid-latitude forest in the world.

[13] Also located in the gorge is the rare Appalachian Flatrock plant community which includes sedges, cedars and pines.

This plant assemblage occurs on flat sandstone ledges along the New River and is dependent on the scouring caused by occasional flooding for its long-term integrity.

For this reason, animals more commonly found much farther south may reach the northern extent of their range in the New River Gorge area.

Continuous forest, abandoned mine portals, rivers and streams provide habitat for a diverse variety of amphibians like hellbenders (large aquatic salamanders).

And many benthic macroinvertebrates including worms, crustaceans and immature forms of aquatic insects, such as dragon fly, stonefly and mayfly nymphs.

[13] The New River and the gorge area provides critical habitat for birds such as bald eagles, osprey, great blue herons, kingfishers, numerous ducks and migrating waterfowl like loons, cormorants, hooded mergansers and other migratory birds including the Cerulean warbler, a species in decline elsewhere in its range.

[15] The fur trading Batts and Fallam expedition of 1671, sent by Colonel Abraham Wood, was the first recorded exploration of the river.

[17] Hiking or driving through New River Gorge today will provide glimpses of old stone walls, foundations of homes and buildings, coal mine entrances, and coke ovens decaying alongside the railroad tracks.

The initial goal, however, was not protective designation of the gorge in West Virginia, but stopping an engineering project on the Virginia-North Carolina border.

Plans had been proposed in the early 1960s to dam the New River in Virginia, backing up water into North Carolina for pumped storage, the production of hydroelectric power, and the regular flushing of pollution downstream.

[19] The New River exhibits class II to IV rapids in the summer, making it a popular whitewater rafting and kayaking destination.

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve contains numerous trails for hiking and mountain biking, as well as over 1400 established rock climbs.

Data from these studies suggest the presence of metals, organic contaminants and influx of raw sewage are common in many tributaries of the New River.

Other sources of pollutants within park boundaries include unlined landfills, illegal dumps, pesticide sprayed directly into the New River, agricultural runoff, road salt runoff, direct discharge of residential sewage, inadequate municipal sewage treatment facilities, recreation waste streams, and industrial discharges.

[13] Most of the original deciduous forest stands and understory species have been impacted by past and current activities associated with timbering, mining, agriculture, transportation, utilities, and the exclusion of fire.

Internal development projects, increasing recreational activities, and expanding commercial and residential influences on the boundary continue to put pressure on a highly fragmented base resource.

[13] Many areas within New River Gorge have been impacted by either strip or deep mining for coal, as well as by oil and gas operations.

Since 1987, the National Park Service and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) have worked together to mitigate the most severe safety hazards identified on this inventory.

Asbestos has been found in several historic structures within the park, and this has lengthened the time and costs involved in renovation of these buildings.

[13] Over time, the New River Gorge has provided a refuge for plants and animals as habitats have shifted with changing weather patterns.