New River Gorge National Park is located in West Virginia. It became a national park in 2020, making it one of the newer US national parks. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from this newer park, but it didn’t disappoint! In fact, we wish we had more time to spend there. We planned more organized activities at New River Gorge than we usually do on our national park visits. We booked a Bridge Walk tour on the famous New River Gorge bridge and a guided white-water rafting daytrip along the New River. Both were fantastic experiences!
Bridge Walk
The bridge walk was such a unique experience! It is a guided walking tour on a catwalk 25 ft under the bridge. The bridge itself is over 3,000 ft in length and 876 ft above the river. Walking across the bridge on the catwalk was so cool! You are able to see amazing views that you can’t find anywhere else.
The catwalk is 24 inches wide and has high railings on either side. In addition, you are strapped onto a security cable. Our guide shared interesting information and history about the bridge as we walked across. Once you reach the other side of the bridge, the shuttle picks you up and drives you back to their building near the visitor center.
We were initially on the fence about whether or not to do this tour, but I’m so glad we did! It was such a unique experience – one we will never forget! If you’d like to read more about the Bridge Walk tour, here is a link to their website: Bridge Walk | New River Gorge National Park Bridge Walk – West Virginia.
White-Water Rafting
Our second guided adventure while at New River Gorge National Park was white-water rafting. We’ve done white-water rafting a couple times before, but this time we signed up for bigger rapids and a longer trip. This was another very cool experience!
We spent a full day out on the water (with a break for lunch). We also hit several Class V rapids, making it the most intense white-water rafting trip we’ve ever done. The group you have in your raft can make or break your white-water rafting experience, and we had a great group for this trip as well as a great guide!
Our trip was through New and Gauley River Adventures. If we go back, we’d definitely be interested in doing this again with the same company. We might check out the Gauley River next time just to try something new. I’m really happy that we paddled the New River on this trip because we actually got to paddle under the bridge that we toured the previous day. If you’re interested in checking them out, here is a link to their site: White Water Rafting Trips | New & Gauley River Adventures.
Hiking
With all the exciting guided activities we had planned at New River Gorge National Park, we ran short on time to get out and hike. I was really hoping to hike the Long Point Trail for some magnificent views of the bridge, but we just ran out of time. I had a list of 5-6 trails that were all roughly 3 miles (or less) roundtrip. We did, however, take a short walk out from the visitor center to some viewpoints of the bridge.
Scenic Drives
There is a scenic drive that begins near the visitor center. It takes you down into the gorge and across the river on the old bridge. This is a narrow, winding road. Fortunately, it is one-way for most of the trip, so you don’t have to worry about oncoming traffic. There are several areas to pull off for photos. Below are some photos from the scenic drive.
Camping/Lodging
At the time I was planning our trip (late 2022/early 2023), it appeared that you could not reserve a campsite within the park itself. The sites were first-come first-served. We wanted to have a solid plan for where we would be camping, so I started looking at nearby campgrounds. Babcock State Park jumped out at me. It was about a 20-minute drive from Babcock to the visitor center, where most of our activities started. To read more about our stay at Babcock State Park, check out the blog post: Babcock State Park Campground – Miles of Yellow Lines.
We didn’t get to spend much time in the park, which was a shame because it looked like a cool area. The park had trails, a lake, and an old grist mill. The campground was in a separate location from the rest of the park. Some sites did have electric hookups, which was nice after dry camping for the previous four days.
Wish List
We definitely could have spent more time in the New River Gorge area. Next time we’re in the area, I’d like to do more hiking. I’ve listed some trails below.
- Long Point Trail
- Endless Wall Trail
- Sandstone Falls
I’d also be interested in doing another white-water rafting trip, possibly on the Gauley River. I would definitely like to spend more time exploring Babcock State Park and Summersville Lake, which is about 20 minutes from the park. We could bring our inflatable paddle boards and do some paddling on the lake.