In West Virginia's New River Gorge, whitewater rafting — and a 2020 national park designation — is breathing new life into a region once defined by coal mining.

We begin our tour in the mountain village of Monodendri, whose cobbled streets curve with the hillside. We don't encounter a single person, only a dog trots along with us to the entrance of the Vikos Gorge.

The Gorge's singular vision of heavy music is rooted in eclectic influences ranging from Meshuggah and Botch to Igor Stravinsky and John Coltrane. They have shared stages with Dillinger Escape Plan, Everytime I Die, Protest The Hero, and The Armed, and plan to celebrate Mechanical Fiction with East Coast tour date in the fall.

The gorge in question, to be fair, is a beauty. In some northern forested wilderness sit two concrete towers, one for each side of a wide, foggy ravine encircled by sheer rock steeps.

The 1899 Queen Anne mansion, once home to an Oregon Supreme Court judge, features 7 bedrooms and a ballroom on 1.38 acres.