The Bluestone River begins on East River Mountain in Tazewell County, Virginia, at an elevation of about 3,500 feet above sea level and flows about 77 miles to the New River at an elevation of about 1,400 feet above sea level. Upstream from Pipestem State Park, it passes through a nearly half-mile-wide valley with several farms along its banks, then about ten miles upstream from the park its flood plain narrows to nearly nothing as it enters a canyon that ranges in depth from about 300 feet to nearly 1,200 feet in the park; about ten miles downstream from the park, the river bottom is inundated by Bluestone Lake. Human activity along the river may date back as far as 10,000 B.C.; Native Americans called it Bigstone River because of the large boulders in the stream bed, Europeans first explored the region along the Bluestone in the mid 1700's, subsistence farming long provided sustenance along the river, and extensive logging occurred in the early 1900's, with signs of earlier inhabitants including log cabins, remains of grist mills, and old railroad ties. A variety of animals live in and around the river because of the availability of water, differences in temperature and elevation, and the composition of the rocks and soil. Most warmwater gamefish species found in West Virginia also occur in the Bluestone River, including sunfish, bass, and catfish. Along the banks are northern watersnakes, snapping turtles, and bullfrogs, while wood frogs, spring peepers, and chorus frogs use temporary pools and puddles, and dusky and seal salamanders live in and around springs and small streams feeding the river. Fence lizards, northern copperheads, and hognose snakes prefer drier areas such as shale banks and sandstone cliffs, while eastern box turtles and American toads may be found nearly anywhere in the canyon. About two dozen mammal species and more than 100 bird species have been identified within the canyon, including groundhogs, raccoons, white-tailed deer, beaver, black bear, bobcats, Louisiana waterthrushes, belted kingfishers, more than a dozen wood warbler species, and even golden eagles. Millions of years ago, this area was part of a shallow sea, as shown by the sedimentary rocks forming the canyon and by marine fossils. When the mountains were uplifted and the water receded, erosion wore away softer rock until the stream reached more resistant rock, causing it to meander until it cut down to another soft section and creating the level area halfway down the canyon called a bench, as well as the steep hillsides and cliffs. The Bluestone Formation consists of red shale with some gray shale and a few limestone layers; Glady Fork Sandstone, a resistant sandstone, is responsible for the wide, rolling ridge tops; the bench area is formed by the Princeton Conglomerate, a resistant sandstone containing quartz pebbles; and the lower two-thirds of the canyon is formed by the Hinton Formation, which contains red and gray-green shales as well as some marine limestone.