New River State Park is open for year-round recreation, including canoeing, hiking, picnicking, fishing, camping and environmental education.

[3] The river was named in 1651 by Edward Bland a cartographer in England made a map describing the western reaches of colonial Carolina and Virginia.

Archaeologists have found arrowheads, stone axes and pottery of the Kanawha, Cherokee, Shawnee and Creek tribes.

The valley of the New River in what is now Ashe County was a hunting ground for all the tribes and was a major highway from north to south.

Rock shelters along the river have been found, but there is little evidence pointing to any sort of permanent settlement by indigenous peoples.

[4] Colonel Abraham Wood was the earliest European pioneer to reach what is now New River State Park.

He arrived in 1654 and found a valley with virgin forests, open meadows and abundant wildlife including, black bear, bison, beaver, and elk.

Shrubs found at New River State Park include dogwood, huckleberry, alders and sassafras.

Carolina and Carey's saxifrage, rattlesnake root, spreading avens and purple sedge are protected and the picking of their flowers is prohibited.