A Different View of New River Gorge National Park - Fayetteville, West Virginia

A Different View of New River Gorge National Park - Fayetteville, West Virginia

written by Nancy Carter of Making My Own Lane

New River Gorge is the newest US National Park. In 2020 it was redesignated from a national river to National Park status.

This is the 5th National Park I have been to since I started living and traveling in my RV fill-time, with 3 more planned for 2024.

The name “New River” is deceiving, since the New River is actually one of the oldest rivers in the world at over 300 million years old!

New River Gorge National Park

There is something for everyone in this park. Hiking, rock climbing, white-water rafting, kayaking, horseback riding, biking or walking on a catwalk under a bridge 851 off the ground. I chose the last one, and threw in some hiking.

I started the day at the New River Gorge Visitor Center, where you can take a quick walk to see the bridge.

From the Visitor Center, you can also link to a QR code and get a narrated travel tour down to the bottom of the gorge, for some great below the bridge views, and back up again. They recommend that you download the tour, as the cell signal may not be available at the bottom of the gorge. For the most part, it wasn’t.

If you are traveling with an RV, the Visitor Center is very RV friendly. The road to the bottom of the gorge is not. There are lots of very twisty, very steep roads, both going down and coming back up. There are also some very narrow bridges that you cannot bring an RV on.

The guided tour takes 45 minutes to an hour, depending how often you stop along the way. You can also park and hike up to an abandoned coal mine. The stop is noted on the audio tour, if you choose to do it.

The park is also dog-friendly, and pets are allowed on all of the trails!

New River Gorge Bridge

The bridge was built in 1977, and cut travel time from one side of the gorge to the other by the Fayette Station Road and the Tunney Hunsacker Bridge by about 40 minutes.

Before 1977, people had to travel the narrow, steep road, the Fayette Station Road. It was the one that I drove through with the National Park Service free audio tour that I wrote about earlier.

It is the fifth longest, single-span arch bridge in the world, the third highest bridge opened to vehicle traffic in the United States, and the 13th highest bridge in the world.

New River Gorge Bridge Walk

Would you walk 851 above water, on a 24” catwalk, under a bridge, for almost ¾ of a mile?

If you dare, you will get to see New River Gorge National Park from a whole different view, literally.

I just had to do it. I was able to book my tickets in advance online. There are certain things along my journey that I really want to do. It may be that I am only in the area for one or two days, and some of these excursions book up quickly. So, if I have my heart set on doing something, like walking the bridge, I will buy my ticket in advance to make sure it is available when I need it to be available.

My ticket time was for 11 am.

I had to fill out a waiver beforehand to agree that I would not hold them responsible if something happened to me on the bridge walk.

Let me say this, you are attached with a harness. If you have ever rock wall climbed or ziplined, it’s the same type of harness. This one is attached to a guy wire above you.

You cannot bring a backpack or fanny-pack with you, including water, but they do sell phone holders that go around your neck, so you can have your phone with you to take pictures from. It looks kind of sketchy, but it really does work. And trust me, you need to bring your phone to take pictures.

I took sooo many pictures the whole length of the bridge; however, I noticed that many people in my group of nine didn’t take any! The choice is yours. This was definitely an experience I didn’t want to forget.

Your guide will direct you on how to put your harness on, then load you on a bus to the visitor center and the entrance area of the bridge, which is locked up, just in case you thought about doing it on your own.

From there you walk through the gate, down a path, and through another locked gate, on to the bridge, where you hook on to the guy wire and start walking.

Our guide talked a lot in the beginning of the tour, probably to take our minds off the fact that we were walking across a catwalk, under a bridge, 851 above a river.

There were birds flying below us! We stopped and watched the rafters on the river below, learned about the massive beams and bolts, and how the bridge “rises” and “falls” (maybe that’s not the best word), depending on the temperature.

The views are spectacular. From the bridge, our guided pointed out other areas on interest in the park, like the endless wall

About half way across the bridge, the guide stopped and directed us to sit down on the catwalk, if you wanted, and dangle your feet off the bridge. Of course, I did it.

To see a short video of the bridge walk, click here.

Once we completed the walk, the bus was waiting for us, and we were given a cold bottle of water.

We were driving back to our starting point, where we had parked our cars.

Hint - the Bridge Walk is clearly marked. It on the left hand side of the road before you get to the Visitor Center.

How long does the New River Gorge bridge walk take?

Allow about two hours for the walk. Your guide will share with you some of the amazing details about the construction and design of the bridge. Our guide also shared some experiences he and his friends had on the bridge when he was growing up, for a little local flavor.

Bridge Day

Once a year, on the third Saturday in October, they celebrate bridge day. It is the biggest, single-day festival in West Virginia, and one of the top 100 festivals in the US.

The bridge is closed to vehicular traffic and only opened for pedestrians.

On this day, you can BASE jump (Buildings/Antennas/Spans/Earth (cliffs) with a parachute. You need to be certified to do this, and you can’t open your chute until you clear the bottom of the bridge.

Or you can rappel, and ascend the bridge that way.

If you do the bridge walk, you can see the markings on the catwalk for where BASE jumpers and rappellers start.

In order to parachute you must have made at least one parachute jump (skydives and/or BASE jumps) in the two years prior to Bridge Day, and must have made at least 100 parachute jumps (skydives and/or BASE jumps) altogether.

To rappel, you need to be an experienced rappeler, and have successfully completed a 250 foot free rappel.

You will also need to complete an application and you will be entered into a lottery. You can check out the guidelines here.

I did not attend Bridge Day. I’m just passing on information provided by my Bridge Walk guide.

Highline. A 300 foot vertical drop that is 600 to 700 feet long that starts on the catwalk of the bridge. It is open to the general public on Bridge Day, but you must register and pay in advance.

New River Gorge Coal Mining History

There are many abandoned coal mines in New River Gorge Park, including Ames, Kaymoor, and Nuttallburg.

Nuttallburg is an abandoned coal mine and town that is part of the New River Gorge National Park, and is known as one of the most accessible mines, although I have to beg to differ.

You can read more about my Nuttallburg visit and road troubles here.

All of the coal mines and towns were abandoned by the 1960’s, although West Virginia is still the second largest coal producer in the United States.

Hiking and Rock Climbing at New River Gorge

From the bridge cat walk, you can see the Endless Wall trail, where you can hike almost 1,000 feet above the New River on the edge of the sandstone cliffs.

There are between 1,400 and 1,600 climbing routes in the park, and over 40 hiking trails throughout the park, ranging from a quarter of a mile to 7 miles.

Where did I stay at New River Gorge?

I stayed at a campground called Rifrafters, less than 10 minutes away from New River Gorge National Park.

I had electric and water, no sewer, but there was a dump station.

The sites were large and fairly spread out. There was a dog park, down a very steep hill, that we did not use. Mainly, because I did not want to walk back up that hill. I was even able to preorder firewood and have it at my campsite when I got there.

The people there were great at helping me get my tow dolly into my site. They helped with the unhooking and rehooking back up.

This is the biggest difference I have found with mom and pop campgrounds and KOA’s. The people will help you get into your site to make sure you will have the best time possible.

While I love Thousand Trails and state parks, you will pretty much have to figure everything out by yourself in these places.

If you don’t have an RV, Rifrafters has several nice cabins that you could choose to stay in, to get the camping experience without having to get an RV up all those West Virginia Mountains.

Is New River Gorge National Park worth going to?

YES! But beware the road to Nuttallberg.

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions about New River Gorge National Park and the Bridge Walk, or if you would like to know when I publish a new article, you can message me here.

Thanks for joining me as I continue Year 2 of this full-time RV life.

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Hi there! I'm Nancy.

In 2023, I ditched my heels for hiking boots, sold my house, and decided to travel the US full time in my 2005 Lazy Daze Class C RV.

I love to share the places I travel to and what it's like to live in an RV full-time.

If you have ever thought about hitting the road and traveling in an RV, either in your free time or full time, you are in the right place!

Follow along for weekly blog posts about my adventures as I travel the US with my two dogs, Rufus and Willie, and my cat, Katie.