New River Gorge: Bridge Views and Canyon Trails
We visited New River Gorge National Park during our stay in West Virginia. The main visitors center at Canyon Rim offers sweeping views of the gorge and river below. It’s located just southeast of the famous New River Gorge Bridge, so the overlooks here give you a sense of scale when comparing the bridge and the gorge.
The bridge is the longest steel single-span arch bridge in the western hemisphere and the 3rd highest bridge in the US. It was completed in 1977, bringing a much needed connection between the eastern and western sides of the New River. Every year during October, more than 80,000 people gather to commemorate the opening of the bridge on Bridge Day. During this celebration, you can watch hundreds of base jumpers dive off the bridge, one of the few exceptions to the ban on base jumping in National Parks. I bet that is a sight to see!
A private local tour company has daily tours (for a fee) of the service catwalk under the bridge, but there are many other activities to do at or near the national park that don’t involve being more than 850 feet above solid ground! We opted to learn about the bridge and forest at the visitors center and walk the observation trails, including ~250 steps down (and back up!) to an iconic side view of the bridge.
