Kayakers enjoying the beauty of the Coal River as viewed from the pedestrian bridge over the river at Hayes Middle School.

The Tour De Coal is recognized as the nation’s largest flatwater river kayak event. Really? How can a small river in a small state with a low population base be the site of the largest of anything?

Numbers do not lie. The more than two thousand kayakers who took to the water at Meadowood Park in Tornado on Saturday, June 14, 2025, were not graphic images created using artificial intelligence. They were real people enjoying the Tour De Coal, the 11-mile stretch of the Coal River between the Upper Falls and the Kanawha River.

So why is the Tour De Coal attract kayakers which other flatwater events do not? Maybe it is what other events are not. The Tour De Coal is not a competition. It provides a scenic, close-up look at all that can be seen as the river meanders 11 miles to traverse the less than the straight-line four mile distance between Meadowood Park and the Great Kanawha River.

The banks of the Coal River are pleasing to the eye because of the efforts of a river restoration group which launched an initiative to clean up the stream twenty-five years ago. Once the mask of debris that hid the beauty of the stream was removed, kayakers have responded in increasing numbers. The small river is able to accommodate a large number of kayaks because participants are required to first drop off their kayaks at the park, drive to the Gateway Shopping Center on MacCorkle Avenue in St. Albans, park their vehicles, and ride a shuttle back to the launch site.

Bill Currey, founder of the event, said, “We are proud to have created a uniquely popular event which the public seems to love. It’s not a race, but rather a community’s celebration of its most important natural resource — its rivers.”