This post is day two, part one of a travel series of our road trip in the midwest where we traveled to four states: Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana to visit one state park, two national park, and a historic farm.. To start at the beginning, go HERE. The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE, HERE, and HERE!
Endless Wall Trail
Last year we were driving home from Shenandoah National Park and I saw road signs for "New River Gorge National Park". "What is that?" I wondered. "I never heard of it". So I made plans that if we were ever in the area again, we'd check it out. We were in the area again the following year, but only for one day. Our one day in New River Gorge was not enough, and it left me aching to come back again and explore more!
New River Gorge National Park is America's newest National Park. It became a park in 2020. Before that just the river was labeled a "National River" in 1978. The "New River" that the park is named after, isn't "new" at all but is actually one of the oldest rivers in the world, older than the Appalachian Mountains.
The national park is located in West Virginia and has 70,000 acres. Because of the gorge, it can be a very difficult park to navigate, especially in a single day. It's not the type of park that has one entrance and then one main road leads to all the highlights. Rather, there are multiple entrances, sections, and visitor centers and you have to leave the park and drive on state highways (often an hour or more) to get to another area. The reason for this, is the park is designed around the gorge with the New River running through it.
If you look at the map below, you can see the green in the center with the New River running through it. Wherever the green is, is where the highlights of the park are. But to get to those highlights, you have to take the roads (the black color way outside the green area) to get to them. The photos on both sides of the map show the highlights of the park. We didn't even get to see half of them. 😢
We started our day at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center, probably the most popular stop in the park for that is where one gets the iconic view and photo of the famous New River Gorge Bridge and access to the most popular trails.
After stopping and talking to the park rangers at the Visitor Center, they recommended taking the "Endless Wall Trail" and the "Fayette Station Auto Tour" (I'll cover that next week) while we were in that section of the park. I was so glad we listed to their advice, for it was definitely worth it, especially the Auto Tour. My husband wasn't interested in an auto tour at all, but we ended up loving it!
The Endless Wall Trail is a 4 mile loop that has great views of the gorge, but most people just take the two mile out-and-back hike to Diamond Point Overlook to see the amazing view. That is what we did since we were limited on time.
It is a very flat trail, with only a 220 foot elevation station, that's why it's considered "easy to moderate". However, it was very muddy in spots due to it being spring and getting a lot of rain, so I was grateful to have my sticks with me to help me navigate all the slippery mud.
Ya'll know if we see a cute bridge we have to stop and take a picture!
One of the joys of hiking in spring is seeing all the spring flowers! The Azaleas, Mountain Laurel, and Rhododendrons were all starting to open up and looking gorgeous. What a treat to hike a trail and be surrounded by such beautiful blooms.
And here it is! The famous view from Diamond Point. Boy, would I love to see this view in fall!
And pictured below is the Endless Wall. If you follow the rock formations they go all the way as far as the eye can see to the upper right side of the photo. This area is very popular to rock climbers. To me, that would be terrifying as the cliffs are 1000 feet above the river!
It was hard to leave this spot as the views were so incredible! But eventually we tore ourselves away and headed back, only to be surprised by more flowers. I don't know why, because we were taking the same trail back, but we noticed the flowers more. My husband thinks it's because they were facing the sun, and we now had our backs to the sun, so we were facing their blooms.
I was so astounded by the flowers on this trail, but little did I know then that I had seen nothing yet because the next section of the park we would go to had millions more!
We did find a other little spots along the trail to stop and enjoy the view.
Canyon Rim Visitor Center
The Canyon Rim Visitor Center is gorgeous! The first thing you notice when you just walk in is the amazing view at the end of the building. You can even walk outside on the balcony and just soak it in!
The Visitor Center had all the usual stuff you expect from a visitor center like maps, guidance, and a gift shop, but they also had incredible displays of the area, the gorge, and the it's history. White Water rafting is a huge activity of this park. We got some great photos of some kayakers while on the audio tour. I'll show those next week.
New River Gorge Bridge
You can not go to New River Gorge National Park without seeing the New River Gorge Bridge. It is located right behind the Canyon Rim Visitor Center.
It's a short walk down a board walk till you get to some steps where you can get a view of the bridge.
Here's some information on the bridge. It was completed in 1977 and reduced a 45 minute drive down a narrow mountain road and across the New River to a less than a minute drive! The bridge is 3,030 feet long, the arch is 1,700 feet long, and the roadway is 876 feet above the New River.
We arrived so early in the morning, that there was still a dense fog. At first we were a little worried we wouldn't be able to see much, but we just hung out for a little bit till the fog lifted. It was actually kind of cool seeing the bridge and gorge in the fog.
At first, the fog was so thick, we couldn't even see the river, but then it began to lift, exposing the famous river.
There are two different overlooks of the bridge. The first overlook offers a panoramic view from the top. The second overlook involves more steps down but it is at arch level sight. And if you prefer not to walk any steps at all, just take the Fayette Station Auto Tour and you will get lots of great views of the bridge from your car.
Next week I will be back with the Fayette Station Auto Tour, a must-do if visiting this park!
Have A Great Day! Amy
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