West Virginia’s newest national park has 1,000-foot cliffs and a small town on the edge

Fayetteville’s got the gorge at its feet

Fayetteville, West Virginia sits on a broad tableland at the edge of one of the most dramatic river gorges in the eastern United States.

About 2,873 people call this place home, and right below them, the New River cuts through cliffs that drop nearly 1,000 feet.

The town is the main gateway to New River Gorge National Park, America’s 63rd national park. You’re here for the outdoors, but stick around long enough and the history will pull you in too.

From Vandalia to a Civil War battlefield

A Revolutionary War veteran named Abraham Vandal founded this town in 1837 and called it Vandalia.

It got renamed Fayetteville to honor Marquis de Lafayette, the French nobleman who crossed the Atlantic to fight for American independence.

The town got incorporated on Nov. 21, 1872, but it had already been through a war by then. Confederate and Union forces fought over it in 1862, and part of the town was destroyed.

Coal and the railroad rebuilt it, and when the coal industry faded in the 20th century, the gorge brought it back.

An 88-million-pound bridge made of self-healing steel

The New River Gorge Bridge runs 3,030 feet across the gorge and stands 876 feet above the river, making it one of the highest bridges in the country.

Before it opened on Oct. 22, 1977, crossing the gorge took about 45 minutes. Now it takes less than a minute.

The bridge is built from Cor-Ten steel, which forms a protective rust layer as it ages and turns a dark reddish-brown over time.

It weighs about 88 million pounds and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013.

Walk into a national park and pay nothing

New River Gorge became a national park on Dec. 27, 2020, the country’s 63rd.

It covers more than 70,000 acres of river, forest, and cliff, stretching 53 miles from near Hinton to Hawks Nest State Park.

There are no entrance fees and no parking fees.

The New River itself is considered one of the oldest rivers in the world, and the gorge it carved ranks as the longest and deepest river gorge in the Appalachian Mountains.

You get all of that for free.

Start at the overlook above the bridge

The Canyon Rim Visitor Center sits at the north end of the bridge, run by the National Park Service and free to enter year-round.

Inside, you’ll find exhibits on the bridge’s construction, the region’s coal mining past, and local history. Step outside onto the boardwalk and the full scale of the gorge opens up in front of you.

Observation decks frame the bridge from above, and a staircase leads partway down into the gorge if you want to get closer.

It’s a solid first stop before you pick a trail.

Cliff-edge views on the Endless Wall Trail

The Endless Wall Trail hugs the rim of the gorge for 2.4 miles, threading through hardwood forest and crossing Fern Creek before reaching Diamond Point.

That’s where the cliffs break open and the gorge drops nearly 1,000 feet to the river below.

The trail passes along sandstone cliff faces the whole way and runs through some of the best fall foliage in the park, which makes October one of the most popular times to hike it.

USA Today readers named it one of the best hikes in any national park.

The trail that ends with the best bridge photo

Long Point Trail starts near downtown Fayetteville off Gatewood Road and runs about 3.2 miles out and back through hardwood forest.

The elevation stays gentle for most of it, which makes the ending a surprise.

You come out onto a rocky outcrop with a straight-on view of the bridge spanning the full width of the gorge.

It’s one of the cleanest angles you’ll find anywhere in the park. Watch your footing at the point, especially if you’ve got kids along.

Eight hundred steps down to an abandoned mine

The Kaymoor Miners Trail leads into the gorge and down 821 wooden steps to the ruins of a coal operation that ran from 1899 until 1963.

At the bottom, you’ll find old mine portals, the remains of the processing plant, and a row of coke ovens that once turned coal into fuel.

The site is now part of the national park and considered one of the most complete surviving examples of an integrated coal mine and company town in West Virginia.

The climb back up earns the view from the rim.

A courthouse bell that still rings for court

Fayetteville’s historic district got its designation in 1990 and covers 75 buildings, homes, and sites across the downtown.

The Fayette County Courthouse, built between 1894 and 1895 in Romanesque Revival style, still rings its bell tower on days when court is in session.

The Altamont Hotel opened in 1898 and wraps its front facade in the largest Victorian veranda in the county.

A block away, the Fayette Theater, built in 1937, is part of West Virginia’s Historic Theatre Trail and still stands along the main street.

Walk beneath the bridge on a 25-foot catwalk

The Bridge Walk puts you on a 24-inch-wide steel catwalk that runs the full 3,030-foot length of the bridge, about 25 feet below the road deck and roughly 851 feet above the river.

You’re clipped into a safety cable the entire time. It’s not a hike. It’s a slow walk in open air with nothing but the arch above you and the river far below.

Tours run at a leisurely pace and take two to three hours. Guides cover the bridge’s construction history and point out landmarks in the gorge along the way.

Whitewater that goes from calm to Class V in 53 miles

The New River runs Class I through Class IV whitewater, with calmer stretches on the Upper New and bigger water on the Lower.

The first commercial rafting trip on the river launched in 1968, and outfitters have been running trips ever since.

A few miles north, the Gauley River adds another gear.

The Upper Gauley has Class V rapids and a 14-foot waterfall, and its season runs about six weeks starting after Labor Day, when water releases from Summersville Dam turn the river on.

The Gauley’s season is short. People plan around it.

The one day a year you can jump off the bridge

Bridge Day falls on the third Saturday of October every year and has run since 1980. Route 19 closes to traffic, and the full 3,030-foot span opens to foot traffic.

BASE jumpers leap from the railing, rappellers descend on ropes beside them, and tens of thousands of people pack a town of under 3,000 to watch.

It’s the only day each year when BASE jumping from the bridge is legal. Fayetteville is a small mountain town every other week of the year.

On Bridge Day, the gorge takes over.

Visit Fayetteville, West Virginia

To start planning your trip to the New River Gorge, stop by the Historic Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau at 162 S. Court St. in downtown Fayetteville.

The office is open Monday and Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The staff can point you toward trails, rafting outfitters, Bridge Walk bookings, and everything happening around the gorge.

Entry to the national park itself is free, with no parking fees.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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• America’s 63rd national park is in West Virginia and you’ve probably never heard of it
• Inside the least populated town in West Virginia — and the railroad that started it all
• West Virginia has a cliff 750 feet above one of the oldest rivers in North America