Our newest national park has long been known as a premier east-coast adventure recreation destination. West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park has a bit of everything… A raging river, overhanging cliffs and winding wooded trails combine to provide the perfect east coast playground.
Guide to New River Gorge
New River Gorge National Park
West Virginia is known as the Mountain State. Deep within those mountains, in the state’s southern region, lies a deep, 53 mile-long gash that has been patiently carved by one of the oldest rivers on the planet. Locals affectionately refer to this ancient river as “the New”, and the gash as the New River Gorge. The world now refers to it as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
The New is home to an unlimited number of exciting activities. The prehistoric river at the heart of the park offers some of the most exciting whitewater rafting in the entire country. The famous New River Bridge, which towers 873 feet above the rushing water below, beckons adrenaline junkies from the world over to leap from its safety into the abyss below during the annual Bridge Day festivities.
While the 7,000 acres of the national park offer scenic attractions for which the area is famous, the adjoining national preserve presents some 65,000 acres of land that are open to hunting and fishing. This is a popular destination for generations of woodsmen who bank on putting a couple of whitetail deer in the freezer for the long winter that is sure to come.
New River Gorge National Park provides not only an area replete with natural wonder, but also a lens through which visitors can peer back in time. The park is home to a rich history of industrial undertakings with endless stories of booms and busts. Abandoned mining towns, railway depots and industrial logging operations dot the park’s hills. History buffs will find a treasure of information and ruins that will transport them into the bygone days of centuries past.
Where is New River Gorge?
New River Gorge National Park is located in the mountains of south central West Virginia, about 70 miles southeast of Charleston, the state capitol. The park is easily accessed by Interstate 64, which crosses the southern section of the park near the Sandstone Visitor Center, just east of the town of Beckley. West Virginia Highway 19 runs northward from Beckley to the small gateway town of Fayetteville, which offers an array of services and is a good home base for a visit to the park.
The park is long and thin, its boundaries generally following the narrow northward coarse of the mighty New River. The southern boundary lies just a few miles south of the Sandstone Visitor Center, and the park’s northern terminus is found just to the north of the New River Gorge Bridge. Some 53 miles of rugged mountain wilderness separate these two points.
What is a National Preserve?
The park is somewhat complex, as it is comprised of both National Park lands, as well as those designated as a National Preserve. While these terms may confuse would-be park visitors, the protections afforded both categories of land are largely similar, and they are both administered by the National Park Service.
The National Preserve designation simply indicates that a larger latitude of activities are permitted on such lands, such as the harvesting of wild game and fish and the extraction of certain minerals or resources.
In the case of New River Gorge, hunters retain the ability to hunt on nearly 65,000 acres of land within the boundaries of the National Preserve, while some 7,000 acres are designated as National Park, where hunting is not allowed.
Exploring New River Gorge
Most of the popular sights in New River Gorge are easy to find and access is usually pretty straightforward. The New River Bridge is the park’s most popular attraction and lends the gorge a sense of scale, but a trek on any of the park’s trails, or a journey on the river will provide an introduction to little known areas that effortlessly defend the area’s recent National Park designation.
Taking in the park’s sights will likely require the services of the old metal coffin. As with most parks, the terrain here complicates travel and roads don’t always lead straight to a traveler’s next destination. So be prepared to spend a little time in the car to access the more remote regions of New River Gorge.
A few lightly-traveled backroads provide access to out-of-the-way destinations, trails and camping areas that lie far away from any of the crowds that may be found at the more popular scenic overlooks.
New River Gorge Bridge
Located on West Virginia Highway 19, less than a mile to the northeast of the gateway town of Fayetteville, the New River Gorge Bridge is hard to miss. It spans the entire New River Gorge and is the longest steel span bridge in the western hemisphere.
The bridge provides a great service to the local community, reducing cross gorge travel from what was previously a 40 minute drive through the gorge, to less than a minute. When seen from below its massive structure takes command of the scenery.
Construction of the bridge began in 1974 and was completed a mere three years later, in 1977. At the time of its completion, the New River Gorge Bridge was the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, and held that title for 26 years. Today, it is the worlds fourth longest such bridge and at 876 feet hight, it is the third highest vehicular bridge in the United States. The bridge provides passage for more than 16,000 motor vehicles per day.
The New River Bridge is one of the most photographed places in West Virginia, and its image graces the state’s commemorative quarter, which is produced by the U.S. Mint. The bridge is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bridge Day
The New River Gorge Bridge is such an icon here that it is given its own holiday. Each year on the third Saturday of October, the community of Fayetteville hosts “Bridge Day”, which is West Virginia’s largest annual one-day festival, and is the largest extreme sports event in the world.
This one-of-a-kind event features live music, crafts and vendors, as well as an influx of crazy people from all over the world, who come to abandon common sense and leap from the bridge toward the waters far below.
These BASE jumpers number in the hundreds, and visitors can watch hundreds of these adrenaline junkies hurl themselves over the side of the bridge one after another. Jumpers plunge toward the earth at 9.8 meters per second per second, before pulling the cord for that oh-so-beloved parachute which (hopefully) snaps the jumper to a quick stop before they splash safely into the shallow waters of the New River, some 900 feet below the bridge.
Fayette Station Road
Before the construction of the New River Gorge Bridge, folks who wanted to cross the New River would need to take the old Fayette Station Road. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the views are splendid and the wooded drive into the gorge is lovely. However, it is a timely endeavor which requires nearly an hour, plus a bit more if one stops to enjoy the view at any number of points.
Drivers should note that some sections of the road are one-way routes. Fayette Station is best traveled from east to west, or from the Canyon Rim Visitor Center to Fayetteville.
This scenic route transports travelers to the floor of the gorge, and over the Fayette Station Bridge, the wooden planks of which have provided crossing of the New River for more than a century. This small, yet stately bridge stands in strange juxtaposition to the massive bridge that towers far above.
Numerous hairpin turns usher drivers through steep, heavily forested slopes and deep into the gorge, which long ago teemed with mining and transport activity. In days-gone-by, the New River Gorge was home to a number of massive mining and timber extraction efforts. In 1873, the C&O Railroad began to haul railroad cars full of coal from these hills toward the industrial world far beyond. Numerous mining communities sprang up deep within the gorge. Most of these towns are gone and largely forgotten, but a few remain in the depths of the New River Gorge.
Two such towns are found on opposing ends of the Fayette Station Bridge. The towns of Fayette and South Fayette were developed in the 1870s and were home to employees of the Fayette Coal and Coke Company, as well as operators for the C&O Railroad. A few stone and steel structures from these towns can be observed within a short walk of the Fayette Station Bridge.
Thurmond
One of the most well-preserved and visually interesting ghost towns you’ll find in any of the national parks would be the small railway town of Thurmond, West Virginia. This town still has five residents (according to the 2010 census) who live on the hill above the still-active railway station below, but upon arrival, you’ll immediately understand why it can be referred to as a ghost town.
During the early days of the 20th century, Thurmond was the richest town along the entire C&O Railway line, a line which linked Cincinatti, Ohio with Richmond, Virginia. Thumond’s raw freight tonnage during these years was more than both of these larger cities combined! The massive amount of coal and timber being harvested in the local vicinity created a number of wealthy barons whose swelling bank accounts made the small town’s banks the richest in West Virginia.
At its peak, fifteen passenger trails stopped at the town’s depot, and carried nearly 100,000 passengers a year. The town’s saloons and restaurants were packed with thirsty patrons, as were the hotels with a constant flow of wealthy businessmen, each of whom had intention of cashing in on the rich bounty of seemingly endless natural resources that were being extracted from the surrounding area at a rapid pace.
If one is put stock in local lore, this town is home to the longest running poker game in history. Many locals, as well as both the Guinness Book & Ripley’s Believe It or Not, contend that one of the town’s prevalent hotels, the Dun Glen, was home to a 14-year-long poker game during the early years of the 20th century. While there exists little tangible evidence of this game today, nearly any visitor blessed with an active imagination can certainly envision adequate images to support this claim during a visit to Thurmond.
With the advance of the automobile and the exhaustion of local resources, the small town of Thurmond began to drift into West Virginia’s history books. Two large fires and the beginning of the Great Depression dealt the death blow to the town’s heyday.
Today, the town retains a few steadfast residents, but the once booming downtown business district is desolate and deteriorating. The NPS is working to preserve the century-old buildings, and the railway still provides passage to an Amtrak passenger train that makes a daily stop at the still operating depot, which operates a small, occasionally staffed NPS visitor center.
There are a number of fantastic hiking trails that lead into the hills of Thurmond, and the small town holds an amazing historic ambience that may make your visit one of the highlights of your visit to New River Gorge.
Grandview
Many visitors consider the Grandview area to be one of the park’s highlights and a short journey to this point provides a view into the deepest section of New River Gorge. Guests would be well-advised to not miss the Turkey Spur Overlook while visiting Grandview.
More than seven miles of the New River form a horseshoe-shaped bend which is visible from here. The railway town of Quinnimont can be observed from here as well. This old town sits on the eastern bank of the river and was a center of mining activity in the 1870s. Eventually home to more than 500 residents, this small town lies largely desolate today, and the post office closed in 1997.
A few nice woodland hiking trails can be accessed from Grandview Point, such as the Grandview Rim Trail, which connects the Main Overlook with Turkey Spur, and the short and sweet, but steep, Castle Rock Trail.
Many visitors make their way to Grandview simply to check out the stunning rows of Catawba rhododendrons that bloom here every spring. The picnic area provides an array of purple and white blooms, the timing of which varies with the climatic conditions of each year, so check with the rangers at the Grandview visitor center to inquire as to these blooms.
Sandstone Falls
Near the southern end of the park, the New River begins a transition from a wide river valley that winds slowly across a variety of farmlands to that of a narrow gorge flanked by steep forested slopes. Sandstone Falls marks the transition from peaceful flowing farmland to the rugged, dramatic scenery of the New River Gorge.
Sandstone Falls is the largest waterfall on the New River, and is one of the many scenic wonders that decorate the river’s path through the park. The falls stand on a wide, shallow section of the river, neatly divided by a series of horizontal rock islands that span the width of the river. The falls drop about 25 feet at this point, and send water cascading northward toward an eventual confluence with the Gauley River, another of West Virginia’s National Scenic Rivers.
Following Route 20 from the Sandstone Visitor Center, motorists enjoy the only scenic riverside drive of any significant distance in the park en route to the falls. A couple of pullouts provide views of the surrounding area and a bird’s eye view of the falls.
For those blessed with the luxury of a couple of spare hours, a few more areas of interest lie just upriver, to the south of Sandstone Falls.
Richmond-Hamilton & Trump-Lilly Farms
The Richmond Hamilton Farm and the Trump-Lilly Farm are located a few miles south of Sandstone Falls. These old farms offer an opportunity to explore a couple of subsistence farms that date to the days just after the American Revolutions.
The Richmond-Hamilton farmstead was granted to William Richmond in 1796, as part of the veteran land grant which rewarded soldiers of the Revolutionary War with tracts of land is exchange for their service during the nation’s war for independence.
Numerous buildings remain that tell the tale of early residents. Barns constructed of American Chestnut stand proudly after more than a century of use. The wood with which these structures were built no longer grows in this country, as the once-great chestnut tree succumbed to a mysterious blight in the 1930s. Although efforts to restore these trees continue today, the only real connection to their past prolific stature now exists in quiet structures, such as these barns.
The Trump-Lilly Farm originally was likewise a Revolutionary War land grant. It was given to Samuel Hopkins and Alexander Stuart. These men eventually sold the farm and it changed hands a few times before William Richmond purchased the land in 1850.
Richmond and his extended family established a post office and a general store in the area and worked the land with some success. Eventually, the farm was signed over to Mary E. (Richmond) Trump, a daughter of William Richmond. The farm passed through a number of hands over the course of the next few decades, before Aden J. Lilly in the early 1900s.
To visit these old-school farms, check with the rangers at the Sandstone Visitor Center for exact directions and road conditions.
The McKendree Road
No roads offer a suitable north south route through the park, although a rugged 4×4 route may provide excellent material for a classic West Virginia white-knuckled-drive.
The McKendree Road, an old unmaintained county road winds along the river and up into the hills, provides the only route of any significant distance in the park that parallels the river. This route once connected the mining and logging town of Thurmond with the supply-line town of Prince, some 7 or 8 miles to the south as the crow flies.
This route is remote and completely unmaintained. Four wheel drive, and offroad driving skill is required. Travel at your own risk, and be prepared to hike a long way out if you get stuck. No one is coming to help you.
Playtime in the New
Visitors to New River Gorge National Park will suffer no shortage of thrilling activities to keep them occupied during a visit of any length. There is simply no end to the adventurous undertakings available in this park.
New River Gorge National Park is home to an excellent selection of hiking trails that provide access to an endless number of isolated viewpoints that tower above the gorge and the surrounding hills. Equestrian activities are permitted on a number of the park’s trails and many lead to hidden cliffs that are home to challenging rock climbing routes.
Hunters are free to take game from the National Preserve and those with a current West Virginia fishing license cast for bass, walleye, crappie and massive channel cats on the waters of the New River.
Also found on the park’s water are those adrenaline junkies who raft and kayak through the New River’s raging rapids, careening wildly among the massive boulders that dot this ancient waterway.
For more info on the activities available in New River Gorge, cruise on over to the activities page and make a plan for your visit.
Park Junkie Verdict
New River Gorge National Park offers access to a uniquely Appalachian landscape. Its complex terrain, combined with the park’s historic structures nicely compliment the national park idea.
A leisurely stroll on a short loop trail through a densely covered forest or a guided trip through the Class V rapids in the Lower Gorge will suit just about any level of fitness. There is something here for everyone, and it’s hard to imagine even a hesitant visitor not finding something that he or she finds memorable… possibly even enjoyable.
My last visit was far too short and left me wanting more. Not only did the terrain excite my hiking desires, but the historic nature of many of the abandoned towns in the gorge stirred a desire to know more about what took place here in decades long past.
A return visit is certainly on the Park Junkie agenda…
See ya there…
Guide to New River Gorge
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