Only the rooftops of two buildings at New River Junction near McCoy can be seen during the October floodwaters associated with Hurricane Helene.
Marty Gordon
The New River Junction Campground near McCoy Falls was in the direct path of rising waters this past October when the New River decided to rise higher than it had in over 30 years.
Floodwaters rose over the riverbank and completely covered the campground.
Jake Mondy and his family have operated the campground on Great Falls Road outside Blacksburg since 1982. In so many ways, he said, the site was lucky.
New River Junction (NCJ) labels itself as Mother Nature’s Waterpark and is open from April to September, offering tubing, camping and canoeing, located on the banks of the New River. It is the only camping area on the river in Montgomery County.
We managed to get all of our tubes and boats to higher ground, and we were able to move some of the small houses out of the campground. We were not as bad as others along the river,” he said last week as he continued to clean up the campground.
Mondy pointed to a water line that rose to the side of the campground’s office.
“It was ruined, but it gives us an opportunity to renovate.”
“Again, we were a lot luckier than others,” he said.
The site did lose 80 percent of the firewood it had assembled for future campers, and there was the small fenced in area where some kayaks floated out of the corral and were thrown un the bank near the railroad tracks. That’s where NRJ faced a natural disaster of a different kind—looters.
“I came down one day and saw the kayaks, and then the next day they were gone. People amaze me especially to take items after such a disaster,” Mondy said.
Despite that little setback, the campground operators are optimistic everything will fall back in place.
“We were lucky that our season on the river and in the campground was over, so were able to handle it,” he said.
He will have to rebuild a small storage area to the rear of the office, and renovation is underway on several homes NRJ owns and rents farther down the river toward the falls.
Mundy also took a moment to thank neighbors, past campers and others who helped to move everything to higher ground so quickly when the water to rise.
“We have so much to be thankful for this year,” he said. “To our McCoy community, thank you for feeding and taking care of everyone on Big Falls Road. To our campers, thank you for your help, support, and hard work getting us started on a path to recovery. To our friends who came from far and wide with food, help, and support, we couldn’t have done it without you.”
‘Out of tragedy came an amazing amount of love and support,” he continued. “NRJ feels incredibly blessed and grateful. Thanksgiving has special meaning for us this year. We thank you all and we will be back in 2025 better than ever.”
This week, the river was back to its beautiful self and definitely calmer than it was just two months ago.
New River Junction plans to open as normal in April.
