New River Gorge National Park: Grandview & the Fayette Station Road Driving Tour

This post is part of a travel series of our road trip in the midwest where we traveled to four states:  Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana.  We visited one state park, two national parks, and a historic farm..  To start at the beginning, go HERE.  The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE,  HERE,  HERE, and HERE!

Grandview

This post is part two of how we spent one day in New River Gorge National Park.  If you missed part one, go here.  After spending the morning hiking the Endless Wall Trail and getting iconic photos of the New River Gorge Bridge we then took the Fayette Station Road Driving Tour and then later drove one hour to the Grandview section of the park to get this view:

When I was researching New River Gorge National Park, I saw a photo of the view above, and I said "I have got to see that in person!".  

There is no long hike to see this incredible view.  Just park your car and walk a short path and you are to the main overlook.  The photo below tells you everything you can see from the main overlook.

As amazing as these photographs are, you can't even imagine what it is like to see this in person.  Incredible.  

They say if you could only choose one area of the park to hike and see views, Grandview would be your destination.  It was about an hour drive from the Canyon Rim Visitor Center where we were in the morning.

The Main Overlook is 1400 feet above the water.   Can you believe how lush and green it is?  I would love to see this view in the fall.

There is a Grandview Rim Trail but there is only one more overlook, which is pictured below, and the rest of the time you're just walking through the woods until you reach the final overlook at Turkey Spur (which you can also drive too).   So we just hiked the trail a short distance to the overlook pictured below then we headed back.

We did drive to the Turkey Spur overlook but unfortunately it started to pour rain and fog over when we got there giving us zero visibility, so we never even got out of car.  That was a bummer.  Can you believe it was so sunny one moment and then storming the next?  That's mountain weather for you.

If you are in New River Gorge National Park in the spring, another treat to visiting Grandview is all their beautiful rhododendrons in bloom.  Wow.   I have never seen such huge rhododendron shrubs in my life.  We can not grow them this big in Wisconsin.

We also saw a couple of deer right off the parking lot.

Fayette Station Road Driving Tour

The park ranger at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center recommended that we take the Fayette Station Road Driving Tour.  It was a lot of fun.  You basically just drive the road on the map above and there are lots of fun stops on the way that you  can get out of your car and enjoy.  You learn all about the history of the area if you download their free auto tour.

The best part of the auto tour is that you can get under the New River Gorge bridge and get some great shots and a different perspective than seeing the bridge from above.  You also can get close to the river, right into it if you want to!

Fayette Station Road was the main travel route for vehicles in this area for early 100 years and wound from the top of the gorge to the river and back.  Two towns flanked the New River here:  Fayette and South Fayette.  A vehicle bridge connected these two communities in 1889.  This bridge was closed and condemned after the completion of the New River Gorge Bridge in 1977.  A replica of the original bridge opened in 1998 (pictured below) and is now part of the scenic drive along this historic route.

You can park your car and walk to the center of the bridge in the pedestrian walk way and get great shots of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Opposite view from center of historic bridge:

Our next stop on the tour was right to the river's edge.  Here you can stop your car and get out and wade in the water or watch the white water rafters go by.

Here's a little video showing the white water in action.

Looking back from this spot, you get a sweet shot of the historic old bridge you just drove across.

And if you look straight above your head, right above the water, you see the underside of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Our final stop on the auto tour was the sweetest of all:  Wolf Creek Falls.  It is a short 0.1 mile hike across a bridge and up a trail to see this unique waterfall.

This waterfall is so pretty!  It is right along the path so you can reach out and touch it!

It flows down the most incredible display of moss covered rocks.

I was so stunned by this waterfall.  It's rare to be able to get so close to fall, and to have the trail cut right through the middle of the falls.

Here is a short video showing this waterfall in action:

And that is how we spent one day in New River Gorge National Park.  We saw amazing views in two different sections of the park, we partially hiked the Endless Wall Trail and the Grandview Rim Trail.  We also took the Fayette Station Road Driving Tour and got iconic shots of the New River Gorge Bridge.  I wish we had planned more than one day at this amazing park;  there was so much more I wanted to see.  If you ever go to this park, I would recommend at least two days, maybe three.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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