Strapped into a sturdy cable and with plenty of handrail, we walk among the clouds and dangle our feet over the river 851 feet below.
May 11, 2024
Due to some events in the area, I have the opportunity to drive down to New River Gorge for just a single day with family. In order to make the most of the day, we wake up at 3am to arrive in time for sunrise at Diamond Point Overlook along the Endless Wall Trail. This trail is mostly flat and takes us about 20 minutes to hike to the overlook. At first, the morning clouds sock us in along the rim, but as the sun rises the moisture burns off revealing a heavenly view of green slopes shrouded in dissipating mist.
From here, we spend the morning exploring the rest of the trail and swinging by the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. From the visitor center, we take a short boardwalk stroll to Canyon Rim Lower Bridge Overlook for a glimpse of the immense New River Gorge Bridge, the largest single arch steel bridge in the hemisphere.
After a scenic lunch at The Overlook Restaurant, we drive down Fayette Station Road to the gorge floor and cross along the historic Tunney Hunsaker Bridge. This is the original route across the gorge before the New River Gorge Bridge spanned the river in 1977, saving 45 minutes of travel time. Pullouts and parking lots along this route offer up-close and personal views of the New River Gorge Bridge as you wind your way down the gorge.
But this view is not intimate enough for us. We want closer. So we return to the visitor center in time for our Bridge Walk, a 2 hour tour underneath the New River Gorge Bridge. This tour offers unique views above the canyon floor along a one-way, 3,000-foot long catwalk. Strapped into a sturdy cable and with plenty of handrail, we walk among the clouds and dangle our feet over the river 851 feet below. The sun breaks out just in time to evaporate the afternoon thunderstorm into mist all around us.
To wrap up the day, we journey a short way to Concho Rim Overlook for sunset. With clouds scattering for the night, the sky lights up with shades of purple, orange and pink as the shadows grow longer. With night descending, new pockets of cloud form in the gorge below us rippling along the path of the river as a train winds its way below. We gaze over everything in what feels like a picture-perfect diorama. All in all, a great end to an unexpected glorious day at America’s newest national park.
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