State(s): West Virginia
Link: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm
Days: 3
Month: August
Hotel: Vrbo
Hikes: 10 = 13.5 miles
National Park Visit Order: #16
Ice Cream: The Frozen Barn, The Stache
This was a quick trip with our niece and 2 of our parents. The views were great! The weather was a bit warm but we had a great time. We were planning to go on a rafting trip on the easier upper section, but the water was too low so they weren’t allowing rafting up there. We hope to do that next time!
Day 0
We started our journey after I was done working for the day. On our way to New River Gorge, we stopped at Huey Magoo’s in Marysville, OH. The chicken was very good – probably better than Raising Cane’s. The food and menus were very similar.
Day 1
We woke up a little early to finish our drive to the park.
On the way to Thurmond Depot Visitor Center, we stopped at Dunlop Falls. You know you’re at the right spot if you see the large rock at a pullout on the right about 2 miles before getting to the visitor center. It gave us a chance to get out of the car and walk around a bit. The falls were pretty cool, bigger than we anticipated since it was just an unmarked pullout on the side of the road.
Once we made it to Thurmond Depot Visitor Center, a train came through while we were exploring the exhibits. We walked around 0.5 miles, taking a self walking tour through the historic town.
Next up was lunch, we stopped at Mandabees. The food was good and reasonably priced. It was a great location between the Thurmond area and the next stop, Concho Rim Overlook. We had trouble finding this on GPS so we found the coordinates, 37.9670800, -81.0860400. Concho was a great spot to see beautiful views of the winding river. The area across the river was the area we were previously at (Thurmond).
Then we headed to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. We wanted to check it out while it was open since it wasn’t open first thing in the morning or after a longer day of hiking. We didn’t have much time before our Bridge Walk tour, a 3 hour guided tour where you get to walk on a 24 inch wide catwalk under the New River Gorge Bridge, one of the highest bridges in the US.
We headed over to their business down the road from the visitor center, where you harness up. Then they take you to the visitor center (where we were just at) by bus to walk to the bridge. The bridge was a little shaky as cars drive over it, and at some points it gets a bit loud. Our guide was great though and warned everyone about it before hand. The bridge is 3,030 feet long and 876 feet above the water (at the center) and we were able to walk it! Around the half way point we were able to sit and let our feet hang off the edge. It was a very cool experience! There were numbers throughout the bridge, used during Bridge Day, where people can base jump off the bridge. We learned a lot about the bridge from our guide and he made sure everyone was having a good time. Toward the end, pigeons were marking their territory so make sure you’re careful.
After the tour, we headed to the Bridge Overlook & Canyon Rim Boardwalk Trail. In the same area, outside of the visitor center, follow the signs to the overlooks. It’s only about 0.2 miles but there are 178 steps down (and 178 steps back up), well worth it! We were able to get multiple perspectives of the bridge and river all within half a day.
At this point we checked-in to our Vrbo rental and settled in.
Once we each claimed our rooms, we were ready for dinner — Tequila Taco Bar. After a hot day outside, most of us were ready for a frozen drink. I had a frozen peach margarita (probably the best margarita I’ve had), while the girls had non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris. The quesabirria tacos were amazing too!
After refueling, we decided we weren’t done for the day and wanted to tackle the Burnwood Trail, an easy 1.2 mile lollypop trail (there’s an out and back section followed by a loop). At the T junction go left, this part was unmarked. It started getting a bit dark since we started at 7:45 pm (sunset at 8:15 pm). At one point we could see the pole where a sign used to be but it toppled over when the tree by it fell over. The sign was then mounded to the underside of the tree. We did need flashlights to get back. Once we were out of the trail and heading back to our car, we saw deer in the grass.
Our final stop was at The Frozen Barn for ice cream, yum!
Day 2
We headed to Grandview Visitor Center to hike some trails. When we first arrived, we saw deer in the grass by the parking lot. Our first stop was to the Main Overlook but it was too foggy to see anything.
Then we started the Castle Rock Trail + Grandview Rim Trail, a 1.2 mile moderate/difficult loop. The first part of this loop was the most challenging part since we started with the 0.6 mile Castle Rock Trail. There was a lot of rock scrambling and uneven ground. The rock formations were really cool. Once we made it to the end, we continued on the Grandview Rim Trail to the left, back 0.6 miles toward the Main Overlook. We stopped at the North Overlook on the way. There were beautiful views.
We had a quick snack, then circled back to the Main Overlook now that the fog cleared up. Beautiful view!
Next, we hiked the Tunnel Trail, a 1 mile moderate loop trail. There were a couple fenced off cave areas and a baseball field along the way. We took the wooden stairs down toward the back of the trail. There were several places to rock scramble and explore. Overall, this was a a fun hike.
We then drove to the Turkey Spur Overlook. There were somewhere around 150 stairs to climb. It was pretty peaceful with nice views. At one point we saw a bunch of vultures flying around. Once we were done, we took advantage of the shade and ate our lunch.
Next up was Big Buck Trail, an easy 0.9 mile loop. This was a quick hike through the woods but there were a ton of bugs. We did see some feathers along this trail for a Northern Flicker and a Blue Jay. It was a nice quick hike.
Now that it was after noon, we stopped at Grandview Visitor Center for a stamp.
Then we headed to the Sandstone Visitor Center area, Sandstone Falls Overlook was first. The view is very obstructed. If in a pinch for time, I’d recommend skipping this 0.1 mile out and back from the lot.
Sandstone Falls Boardwalk was next on our agenda, an easy 0.4 miles out and back. This was on the other side of the river from the previous overlook. There were really cool views of the waterfalls. It was a nice little walk. At the end of this boardwalk, there’s an optional side trail that takes you to an unobstructed view of some falls. There were way less people over here. Next, we continued on to the Island Loop Trail on the way back from the boardwalk, a 0.5 mile easy loop. It was a nice short hike with access to check out the water along the way. There were also some fall colored leaves already.
We headed back to town and stopped at Pies and Pints for dinner. It was good.
No day is complete without checking out the local ice cream joints, so we went to The Stache.
Day 3
We started our day with the Endless Wall Trail, a moderate 4.8 mile out and back. Most of our group opted to do the full 4.8 mile hike, but we did leave one person at the end of the first 2.4 miles (at Nuttall Parking Lot) and drove back to get them once the rest of us completed the full hike. There were several overlooks along the way. Some people shorten this by turning around after an overlook or two but I recommend doing the full hike. We saw a deer at one point. We definitely recommend stopping at Diamond Point Overlook, it has great views. For a lot of the time, we saw fog coming off the trees, which was pretty cool. Most of the trail is easy with spots that are moderate. Most of this hike was shaded, however, on the way back the overlooks were very sunny so we were glad we did them on the first pass.
We ended up heading to Canyon Rim Visitor Center to get the stamp for Gauley River NRA (this is where they have the stamp for it). We cheated a little bit by getting it before we actually went to Gauley but we weren’t sure if we were going to be back in time to get it. Check out our side trip to Gauley River NRA here.
Next, we headed back to Canyon Rim Visitor Center to start the Fayette Station Road Audio Tour. Leaving the parking lot, the road will become a one-way road that you follow. We stopped at a couple pullouts to see the New River Gorge Bridge. At one point we drove over a bridge but there wasn’t parking right by it so we drove a bit more, parked, and walked back. It was a great spot for a family photo with the New River Gorge Bridge behind us. On the way back to the car, we stopped by the river and saw a train through the trees.
While still on the loop, we stopped at the parking lot for Wolf Creek Trailhead. You can take the trail 0.1 miles to Wolf Creek Falls. First, you’ll see a couple small falls on both sides of the foot bridge. Take that bridge across to the other side and walk to the bigger falls. The falls are much bigger than I anticipated. It almost felt like air conditioning by the rushing wind the falls creates, plus you can get a little wet from them; it was a great place to cool off and enjoy the scenery.
After heading back to the house and relaxing for a few, we headed to Cafe One Ten for dinner. Although I’m not a huge fan of hot dogs, someone previously told us we needed to try a “West Virginia Style” hot dog so that’s what I did. They are served on a bun, topped with a thin layer of chili sauce, chopped onions, yellow mustard, and a layer of coleslaw; a combination I wouldn’t think to put together. They turned out to be possibly the best dogs I’ve ever had, up there with Chicago Style. The other food people had was good too.
After dinner we headed to the Long Point Trail, a 3.2 mile out and back trail, for sunset. Sunset was at 8:13pm so we made sure we were done with the hike out there by around 7:15pm. The beginning of the trail is very easy gravel and slowly turns rocky and branchy. The last 1/5 of the trail gets the most challenging with a lot of rocks. At the end of the trail you have a perfect view of the bridge. The sun sets to the side but casts light behind the bridge and creates a cool effect. As the sun goes down, you’ll be rewarded with awesome views. Bring a flashlight for the walk back – it gets dark as most of the trail is covered with trees.
