CUNARD, W.Va. — Tales of a "monster" said to haunt the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia have surfaced in recent years, and a lodging entrepreneur who's developed a cryptid-themed vacation rental is looking for corroborating stories.
"There's something in the New River Gorge—at least on paper there is," says Nate Adams, the owner of Mothmanor, a vacation rental that plays on the legend of the Mothman of the nearby Ohio Valley. West Virginia is renowned for its lore, notably that which concerns strange creatures.
"I've heard rumblings about a cryptid since we moved here, and I was glad to find bits and pieces of information. Particularly in the large forest areas in the northern and central sections of the gorge, you can get the feeling that something's watching you. It can be remarkably eerie at night."
To help find information, Adams coincidentally turned to David Sibray, the publisher of West Virginia Explorer Magazine. Sibray personally knew two of the sources of written accounts and has spent time touring the region with Adams. The pair recently explored the forests near Fayetteville, home of the landmark New River Gorge Bridge.
"I've been spooked at times in the gorge," Sibray said. "I grew up with the knowledge that some people were unsettled about certain areas, notably on Garden Ground Mountain where the Bechtel scout camp is today."
Adams says he's come across two references to a creature in the immediate area of the gorge. The first was in a story published in Sibray's magazine, which quoted the late historian Scott Worley.
"I've heard tell of a bigfoot-like wild man said to roam the area," Worley said about a large area of forest just west of the gorge near Oak Hill and Mount Hope.
Adams said that a second reference he found came from Sibray's former associate C. Lloyd Gibson, a webmaster for Sibray in the early 2000s.
"He spoke often of the Garden Ground monster, as he called it, but what he thought it was I could never tell," Sibray said.
"He referred to it as a kind of guardian and connected it to the eastern Sioux, who lived in the region. In his mythology, it was a guardian that was here to protect the land."
Sibray said Gibson composed a musical piece in 2009, titled "A Night on Guardian's Mountain," regarding the monster, which is still available online.
Adams said he suspects that if something is roaming the gorge, it's occupying the central region of the national park and the forest lands to the northeast that extend into the Monongahela National Forest.
Sibray reminds readers that folklore is an integral part of traditional West Virginia culture, particularly in its respect for ghosts, witches, monsters, and other supernatural beings.
"Certainly not everyone believes in these things, but there's nothing like a good campfire tale," he said.
Individuals who may have information about the cryptid, whether through a possible encounter or a legend, can contact Adams on Facebook.
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Map of the New River Gorge region in West Virginia
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