New River State Park
| New River State Park | |
| North Carolina State Park | |
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| Named for: New River | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | North Carolina |
| County | Ashe |
| Elevation | 2,716 ft (827.8 m) |
| Coordinates | 36°24′55″N 81°23′14″W / 36.41528°N 81.38722°WCoordinates: 36°24′55″N 81°23′14″W / 36.41528°N 81.38722°W |
| Area | 2,911 acres (1,178.0 ha) |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Management | North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation |
| IUCN category | III - Natural Monument |
  Location of New River State Park in North Carolina
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| Website: New River State Park | |
New River State Park is a North Carolina state park in Ashe County, North Carolina in the United States. Located near Jefferson, North Carolina, it covers 2,911 acres (11.78 km2) in the protected New River watershed. The New River is, ironically, one of the oldest rivers in the United States. It is considered by some geologists to be possibly one of the oldest rivers in the world, between 10 million and 360 million years old. New River State Park is open for year-round recreation, including canoeing, hiking, picnicking, fishing, camping and environmental education. The park is just off U.S. Route 221 in northwestern North Carolina.
The New River is one of the oldest rivers in the United States and possibly in the world, with only the Nile River being older. The exact age of the river is impossible to pinpoint, but some geologists believe that it is between 10 million and 360 million years old. The river flows in a generally south-to-north course, which is against the southwest-to-northeast topology of the Appalachian Mountains and the west-to-east flow of most other nearby major rivers. This peculiarity may mean that the New River's formation preceded much of the surrounding landscape.
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. The New River had not been placed on any preceding maps of the area, so Bland named it the "New River". The river was known as Woods River from 1654 until about 1754 for Colonel Abraham Wood at noted pioneer who traded with the native tribes in the area. It was renamed the New River by Peter Jefferson, father of the second President of the United States Thomas Jefferson when he led a surveying party through the mountains of western North Carolina. Apparently the river had again been left off a map so Jefferson named it the New River. The name Woods and New River were used interchangeably until about 1770, when the consensus name became what it is today, the New River.
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