New River Gorge

2.4 mi point to pointDiamond Point the overlook

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.

3.2 mi round tripFlat most of the way

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.

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

1,500 ft falls width10–25 ft drop

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.

Overlook · 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

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

Class V upper gauley100+ rapids

Gauley River

The most celebrated whitewater in the eastern United States.

Class III–IV summerBig volume character

Lower New River

The commercial rafting heart of West Virginia: Class III–IV big-volume water through the deepest part of the gorge, with named rapids including Surprise, Upper and Lower Railroad, Double Z, Greyhound and Fayette Station under the bridge.

Lake · New River Gorge

Summersville Lake

West Virginia's largest lake and by a wide margin its clearest — 2,700 acres of blue-green water in a sandstone basin, popular for scuba diving, paddleboarding and boating.

2,700 ac surface327 ft max depth

Climbing Area · New River Gorge

Beauty Mountain

A long band of high-quality Nuttall sandstone on the gorge rim above Fayetteville, with a concentration of classic moderate trad and sport routes and one of the best views from any belay in the East.

Nuttall sandstoneTrad + sport mixed

Class IV–V whitewaterHundreds new routes

Meadow River

Two things at once: an exceptional and demanding whitewater run, and one of the most significant new climbing developments in the eastern United States over the past decade, with hundreds of routes established on clean sandstone in a deep, quiet gorge.

12+ mi singletrackFlow style

Arrowhead Trails

Purpose-built flow and cross-country mountain bike singletrack inside the national park near Fayetteville, built by the Boy Scouts and open to the public — a deliberate contrast to West Virginia's traditionally rugged riding, with bermed corners, rollers and progressive difficulty..

4,127 ac park1976 mill rebuilt

Babcock State Park

Home of the Glade Creek Grist Mill, the most photographed building in West Virginia — a working reconstruction assembled from parts of three historic mills, sitting on a boulder-strewn creek.

4,050 ac park1,100 ft tram descent

Pipestem Resort State Park

A full resort park perched above the Bluestone Canyon, with an aerial tram descending 1,100 feet to a lodge on the river — the only state park tram in West Virginia.

276 ac parkTram to the river

Hawks Nest State Park

A rim-top lodge above the Mill Creek arm of the New River Gorge with an aerial tram to a marina on the water.

National Park · New River Gorge

Bluestone National Scenic River

Ten miles of protected river in a deep, wooded gorge between Bluestone Lake and Pipestem — the least-visited National Park Service unit in West Virginia and the quietest.

10 mi protected riverLow visitation

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park

A Civil War battlefield on a bluff above the Gauley River with overlooks into the canyon and trails dropping toward the water.

156 ac park1861 battle

2,155 ac park2,040 ac bluestone lake

Bluestone State Park

On the shore of Bluestone Lake, the second-largest body of water in West Virginia, at the point where the Bluestone River meets the New.

550 ac park5,300 ac forest

Camp Creek State Park & Forest

An unusual pairing of a small developed park inside a much larger state forest in Mercer County, with two waterfalls on Camp Creek, mountain bike and equestrian trails, and camping.

400 ac park3,100 ft rock elevation

Pinnacle Rock State Park

A small day-use park in Mercer County built around a jagged sandstone fin standing above the highway, with a stairway to the top and a view over the southern coalfields.