New River Gorge America’s newest National Park is home to the State’s iconic New River Gorge Bridge, and the namesake River one of the oldest in the world and a rich coal and Mining History. Before you visit the park you must find out the 12 Best Things To Do In New River Gorge National Park and preserve.
New River Gorge was originally a National River and preserve which earned its National Park designation in December 2020, making it the youngest National Park in the country. The park covers 70,000 Acres, it spans through north Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, and is part of the Ohio River.
The river running through the canyons has carved out a gorge that is 1600 feet deep.
In 1978, 53 miles of the New River were designated as a national scenic river, that title protected the river the gorge, and the many acres of wilderness that surrounded it,
in December 2020 New River Gorge in Fayetteville West Virginia became the 63rd
National Park in the United States.
New River Gorge National Park is a place that will take your breath away and fill your lungs with life-giving air, it’s a place steeped in history and full of stunning beauty.
Three Parts of the Park
There are three main parts of this park each with a visitor center.
- The northern end: has a canyon rim area with the iconic bridge for this park
- The middle: part has a grand view area with the historical town of Thurman
- The southern end has the sandstone falls
New River is one of the oldest rivers in North America, it is one of the very few that flows From south to North, it carved a gorge in West Virginia with beautiful scenery and great white water rafting.
1. Canyon Rim area and the New River Gorge bridge
At the northern end of the park near the quaint town of Fayetteville is a canyon rim area, if you only have a few hours to go visit this park this is the place to go, it’s a must-view site, this is the bridge that’s most associated with the new river gorge, it spans the gorge high above the water, the bridge was built in 1977, it spans 1700 feet and rises 876 feet above the new river.
When it was built it was the longest single-span bridge in the world for 26 years, the bridge reduced the travel time across the new river from 45 minutes to under a minute.
2. Tunnel Trail
Tunnel Trail is a nice hike very close to the visitor center, it’s well worth the time, the tunnel trail starts at the Grandview Visitor Center parking lot goes up some steps, and then loops around to a ball field where they had coal miners having baseball games to keep themselves occupied, and then you loop around and you see this fantastic site, it’s a short trail one mile round trip, it looks fabulous, you gotta walk under these rocks.
3. Long Point Trail
Long Point Trail is a relatively flat 3.2-mile trail that’s out and back it takes you through some forest and out to a rock cropping and gives you the best view of the bridge anywhere in the park.
4. Endless Wall Trail
How about a walk along the cliff of the gorge with the river 1000 feet below you?
The endless wall trail zigzags along the cliff and rises high above the new river with a fantastic view of the gorge and the river, instead of going around the loop and ending up with the last bit of the trail along a busy highway, you can turn around at diamond point you won’t miss much.
5. Kaymoor Mine
The Kaymoor mine is a place that you can go visit to view the historical site, even though it’s one mile each way, it is very strenuous with 821 steps along the way down and up.
6. Nuttallburg Mine
You might enjoy a stop at Nuttelburg, one of the gorgeous old coal mining towns, The Nuttallburg Mine area is where the traditional coal mining depot is, and the main road that leads to it is down to the town where they have example structures of the leftover town.
you can also visit Thurman and explore an old historic railroad town, the little town of Prince still has an operating railroad depot, you can also see a former lumber mill and the remains of a logging town at the piers of Glade Creek Bridge.
7. Whitewater rafting
white water rafting is well known at New River Gorge and there are plenty of guide companies that can take you on the river if you want a bit of challenge, rapids the canyon rim area is the place to be but if you prefer calmer waters, you can go further south or further upstream.
8. Grandview Rim Trail and Turkey Spur
The Grand View Rim Trail is one of the top trails in New River Gorge National Park, starting from a very nice Grand View visitor center and parking lot you can have many choices, you can come out on the Grandview Rim Trail to Turkey Spur which gives you this fantastic view on both sides, it’s like three different viewing platforms that you can go to, that gives you fantastic views of the whole place, or if you want an easier hike if you walk out to turkey spur it’s 3.2 miles round trip.
And if you want an easier hike you can just go down from the Grandview parking lot about six-tenths of a mile and there are several overlooks along the way that is quite nice and that part of the trail is quite easy nice and flat, the rest of the trail out the turkey spur is a little narrow and hilly, especially towards the end, but for 3.2 miles the view is fantastic and well worth a hike.
If you want the view at Turkey Spur but don’t feel like hiking there, I have a tip for you, you can drive there, you can drive up to the bottom of the stairs, and all you have to do is go up the steps it gives you a fantastic view.
9. Rend Trail
Rend Trail follows an old railroad spur, the rain trail near Thurman, from the parking lot next to the creek. The Rend trail is pretty easy to walk, even though it goes uphill a little bit it’s steady and wide it’s about the width of a single lane and it’s pretty flat and well maintained, it’s also bike accessible.
10. Sandstone Falls
The sandstone falls area is on the southern part of the park, with a beautiful viewing platform, it’s not a big fall but it does stretch all the way across, its breathtaking terrain is a bit noisy, but that’s what happens when you
have the falls, there is an island loop trail which is about a mile and a nice walk in the woods, there’s also a broad walk, you can go right up where you can look at the falls, this is worth the drive up here to visit a dramatic view of sandstone falls.
11. Brooks Falls
This little cascade is called Brooks Falls, a little stop right on the side of the road, it looks beautiful.
12. Island Loop Trail
Island Loop Trail a short hike on the island loop trail which combines with the sandstone falls road walk, it’s a short little one-mile trail that goes through the woods and then back to the waterfall, the island loop trail loops around to the other side where you will be next to the new river.
This is a short flat walk through the woods, it is quite rocky, so the walk will not be very stable, you have to walk through which makes it a little bit difficult.
Final Thoughts
New river national park is a fantastic addition to the national parks, it has so many things to do it’s got beautiful scenery, you can go hiking, white water rafting, and even visit some historical sites, if the national park is not enough there are plenty of other attractions very close, to the south of new river gorge is the blue stone national scenic river where you can go hiking and boating and wildlife viewing.