New River Gorge National Park centers on a deep river valley in southern West Virginia, with breathtaking views, including views from the Park's famous bridge towering more than 850 feet above the river below. (That bridge carries US Route 19!)  The 63rd national park out of all 63, New River Gorge was identified as a national park in December, 2020. It's purely coincidence that the word "New" appears in the park's name while it holds the status of America's newest national park; in fact, the river valley partly comprises the old Teays River Valley, known to geologists as one of the oldest rivers in the world.  New River Gorge National Park has long been part of the National Park Service as a "National Scenic River"; for that reason, the area is no stranger to hosting hikers, tourists, and naturalists with various interests. There is a variety of different areas within the park to experience, and we picked out just a few.

Part 1: Sandstone Falls

The New River flows from south to north, and we started our visit to the area at the upstream extent of the river.  Sandstone Falls is a waterfall along the New River, in a southeastern arm of the national park.  It's nice to hear the sounds of the falling water and to hike alongside the western bank of the New River.  We decided to walk the Island Loop trail, which only took about 15 to 20 minutes.

Locals like to get their feet wet and wade along the rocks at the waterfall.  We saw some fishermen along the banks downstream of the falls, too.

This is what the road looks like leading up to the site of Sandstone Falls (this photo actually looks away toward the south).  The road is incorrectly marked as State Route 26, when it is actually County Route 26.  Access to the Sandstone Falls area is from Hinton, a town to the south.

Part 2: Grandview Area

​After looking around at Sandstone Falls, we drove the twisting mountain roads over to the Grandview area.  Grandview has its own little visitor center; it's one of the smallest visitor centers I have seen at a national park.  The name "Grandview" comes from the grand views that are possible when you're at the highest point in the immediate vicinity...and Grandview is situated where overlooks are easily accessible.  The "main overlook" is a two-minute walk from the main parking lot, but if you're interested in a bit more hiking, you can do the Castle Rock and Grandview Rim Trails, like we did.  If you're interested in a lot more hiking, you can walk north all the way to Turkey Spur. Here are some views we saw of the New River Gorge from various overlooks along the Grandview Rim Trail:

Note the train tracks that follow alongside the river. We did watch a freight train make its way from south to north as we peacefully admired the landscape.

We hiked northward, away from the car, down the Grandview Rim Trail, boasting the views you just saw.  On the way back to the car, we navigated the more treacherous Castle Rock Trail, on the underside of some of the cliff. We got to see interesting rock formations such as these:

These karst formations had undersides to them, almost reminiscent of the ancient pueblo villages situated under the ledges in Mesa Verde National Park. It was really neat to have views like this for 15-30 minutes straight.  Titillating rock formations sat on one side, and amazing views of the gorge lay on the other side.

Part 3: The Endless Wall Trail

The Endless Wall Trail is one of many in the northern end of New River Gorge National Park, near the famous bridge. The trail is circuitous, if you count the walk along the county road used to reach the trailheads in the first place. I was hoping for views of the bridge on this trail, but didn't get much of a clean look at the entire bridge from here.  The best hike for viewing the bridge from one side of it is the Long Point Trail, also in this area.

The Diamond Point Overlook is accessed via this trail, and a couple other overlooks also provide opportunities to dangle your feet off the cliffside:

This trail, like others in the area, allow good looks at the rapids below, hailed by avid rafters as one of the most sought-after whitewater rafting experiences in the United States.

The titular "Endless Wall" is this line of vertical rock faces along the cliff.

Part 4: The Bridge

One of the most memorable parts of our trip in June, 2024, was the "Bridge Walk", a guided tour down the catwalk immediately under the bridge deck of the New River Gorge Bridge.  If you've ever seen the West Virginia state quarter coin, you've seen an image of this bridge. The catwalk is 851 feet above the river water below. A harness links you to a pair of cables strung across the top of the catwalk, securing you from falling off.  A tour guide ensures your safe crossing and shares a variety of facts about the bridge and its construction along the way.

The last thing we did on our visit was drive under the bridge, on the winding road that once served as the only vehicle crossing of the New River in this vicinity. The opportunity to drive the narrow, twisting, indirect road gives you an appreciation for the new highway bridge above you.  Driving into the valley on the old road and back up to Fayetteville took about 10 minutes.  Driving between both ends of the new bridge now takes one or two minutes.  The old road has to be driven from east to west, as it's not a reasonable width for accommodating side-by-side traffic.  At the bottom of the valley, you can find the original bridge crossing.

As we began to ascend back up out of the valley, we zigzagged under the new bridge a few times, giving us the chance to marvel at its monumental size.

Bonus:  On the way out of the area, we stopped at Cathedral Falls, just northwest of the park.  This beautiful waterfall is nearly visible from US Route 60; only a few steps away from the car are required.

Count: New River Gorge is the 23rd national park we've visited.
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