West Virginia OutsideOutdoor recreation guide
Plan a trip

Home/Places/New River Gorge Bridge
Overlook · New River Gorge

New River Gorge Bridge

A 3,030-foot steel arch carrying US 19 some 876 feet above the New River — for decades the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, and still the image most people carry of West Virginia. The bridge cut a 40-minute drive down the gorge switchbacks to under a minute. On the third Saturday of October it closes to traffic for Bridge Day, when BASE jumpers legally launch off the catwalk in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

876 ft · Above the river3,030 ft · Arch span3rd Sat Oct · Bridge Day

Know before you go

  • Canyon Rim Visitor Center has the classic viewing platform and a staircase to a lower deck
  • Fayette Station Road drops to the old bridge for the under-the-bridge view
  • Bridge Walk guided catwalk tours run year-round, harnessed to a cable

What you can do here

Outdoor Photography

Year-round

Hiking

Year-round
AdvertiseThis space is available

Guides, gear and lodging near New River Gorge Bridge

Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.

List your business here

Who looks after it

Friends of New River Gorge National Park & Preserve Nonprofit Supports the New River Gorge, Gauley River and Bluestone National Scenic River through conservation, recreation and National Park Service partnerships. Visit Meadow River Valley Association Nonprofit Particularly important around the Meadow River Valley and climbing and recreation access. Visit Active Southern West Virginia Nonprofit Free outdoor fitness, hiking, running, paddling and community recreation programming throughout southern West Virginia. Visit New River Gorge National Park & Preserve Federal America's newest national park — 53 miles of protected river, 1,600+ climbing routes, hiking, rafting and mountain biking. Visit Bluestone National Scenic River Federal Ten miles of quiet, wooded, under-visited river gorge below Pipestem. Visit Visit Southern West Virginia Government Regional tourism covering the New River Gorge, Beckley and the southern coalfields. Visit New River Gorge CVB Government Destination marketing for the national park region — outfitters, lodging and events. Visit Visit Mercer County Government Bluefield, Princeton and southern gateway access to the Bluestone and New rivers. Visit

Nearby in the New River Gorge

Trail · New River Gorge

Endless Wall Trail

A 2.4-mile point-to-point trail along the gorge rim through hemlock and rhododendron, crossing Fern Creek on a footbridge and reaching Diamond Point, an exposed rock outcrop with a view up the gorge to the bridge.

2.4 mi point to pointDiamond Point the overlook
Trail · New River Gorge

Long Point Trail

About 3.2 miles round trip on mostly level old roadbed to a rock promontory below the rim, which provides the most-photographed view of the New River Gorge Bridge.

3.2 mi round tripFlat most of the way
Overlook · New River Gorge

Grandview

1,400 feet above a horseshoe bend in the New, with a seven-mile view up the gorge — the widest perspective anywhere in the park.

1,400 ft above the riverLate May rhododendron peak
River · New River Gorge

Sandstone Falls

The largest waterfall on the New River — not tall, but 1,500 feet wide, spilling across the full breadth of the river between islands at the point where the gorge begins to open.

1,500 ft falls width10–25 ft drop
Trail · New River Gorge

Kaymoor Miners Trail

A steep descent from the gorge rim to the ruins of the Kaymoor One coal mine and processing plant, including 821 wooden steps down the former haulage incline.

821 steps2 mi round trip
Overlook · New River Gorge

Nuttallburg

An abandoned coal town at the bottom of the gorge with the most complete surviving coal conveyor and tipple complex in the country — a 1,385-foot inclined conveyor running straight up the hillside, once operated by Henry Ford.

1,385 ft conveyor1870s founded

Almost Heaven Swings