When coal jobs left New River Gorge, its rapids carried on. National park status is powering its revival.

Whitewater rafting along the rapids of West Virginia's New River is fueling the revival of a region that once roared to the rhythm of coal cars.

Larry Nibert, a rafting guide and descendant of coal miners, sees reminders of his family's history everywhere.

"I feel an overwhelming sense of pride. Three generations of us had been in the mines and I was the first one to ever step out otherwise. I was this close to going to the coal mines," Nibert said.

Coal once powered the economy here, but those jobs have dwindled to a fraction of what they were as cheaper natural gas undercut demand for coal. But hope is now streaming through this part of West Virginia, centered around the New River Gorge National Park .

"When the last coal mine in the Gorge closed, which was in the early 1960s,