Head south for the day and you'll find the gorge's quieter, wider end: Hinton, a brick railroad town where Amtrak still stops, and Sandstone Falls, where the New River pours across 1,500 feet of ledges and islands. It's about 69 minutes from Fayetteville to Hinton, then nine miles up River Road to the falls, with Brooks Falls and Big Branch Falls along the way. Plan a full day, and this fall allow a few extra minutes for a closed ramp at I-64 Exit 139.
The stops below follow the natural route: Sandstone Visitor Center, the overlook on WV 20, Hinton, then north along River Road to Brooks Falls and Sandstone Falls. One heads-up: the visitor center and the falls share a name but sit 22.5 road miles apart.
The Exit 139 detour, through late October 2026
From Fayetteville you'll usually be eastbound, so expect the loop. It overlaps with Hinton Railroad Days (October 9 to 11) and peak color, so leave a little early on those weekends.
The day, stop by stop
Sandstone Visitor Center (I-64 Exit 139)
Start at the Sandstone Visitor Center, just north of the I-64 and WV 20 interchange, for maps, a restroom and a 12-minute film about the New River, plus a bookstore and a native plant garden. It's open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day (the lot closes at 5), and the phone is 304-466-0417. For GPS, use 330 Meadow Creek Rd., Meadow Bridge, WV 25976. Remember, the falls aren't here.
Sandstone Falls Overlook (WV 20)
Three miles south of Exit 139 on WV 20, or 8.5 miles north of Hinton, the Sandstone Falls Overlook shows you the whole thing from 600 feet above the river. It's a tenth of a mile along a gravel walkway rated moderate, and it's the only spot where you can take in the full width of the falls at once. Get the big picture here, then go meet the falls up close.
Hinton
Hinton, the Summers County seat (2,266 people in 2020), sits along the New River just north of where the Greenbrier flows in. It grew up as a major terminal for the C&O, much of its brick downtown went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and trains still pull into the Amtrak station on Second Avenue.
Time it right and you'll catch Hinton Railroad Days, October 9 to 11, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Temple Street, with "over 80 vendors, two stages of live music, a car show, kid zone, food court," per Visit Southern West Virginia. For details, call the organizers at 1-800-847-4898.
Hungry? The Market on Courthouse Square, 200 Ballengee Street, (304) 466-6626, opens Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 8, but also says it closes Wednesdays, so call first. For coffee and smoothies, Otter Cafe, 302 2nd Avenue, 304-466-4870, is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. More places line the Hinton Bypass.
Brooks Falls and Big Branch Falls (River Road)
Cross the WV 20 bridge in Hinton and pick up River Road (WV 26), which hugs the river heading north and narrows to a single lane in places, so take it slow (Hinton's one-way streets can be confusing on the way in, too). At 3.9 miles you'll reach Brooks Falls Roadside Park. The "smaller sister to Sandstone Falls" is a 4-foot drop across the river's full 1,000-foot width and runs as a Class III rapid. There's an accessible viewing deck, restrooms, picnic spots and river access, but only limited parallel parking.
Across the road, the Big Branch Trail climbs 0.7 mile to Big Branch Falls, which "plunges nearly 30 feet down tiered sandstone"; the full loop is about two miles and strenuous. Nearby, Brooks Island Overlook looks out over an island where three pairs of bald eagles have nested since 2010, so keep the binoculars handy.
Please be careful at Brooks Falls. A swimmer went under near the falls on July 6, 2026, and divers recovered the body the next morning, Lootpress reported. The park's posted advice is to "Always wear a life jacket when wading or swimming in the shallow river access eddies," and there are no designated swim areas anywhere in the park. More river safety is in wildlife and safety.
Sandstone Falls and the boardwalk
Nine miles from the west end of the WV 20 bridge you reach the main event. Sandstone Falls is the largest waterfall on the New River, 1,500 feet across and dropping 10 to 25 feet around wooded islands. About a quarter mile of boardwalk crosses two bridges onto the islands and out to viewing decks right beside the falls, and it works with some mobility aids, per the park's accessibility page. The half-mile Island Loop Trail starts and ends on the boardwalk. There are vault toilets, and the unpaved lot closes a half hour after sunset.
The Park Service doesn't mince words here: "The waters around Sandstone Falls are very swift and dangerous." Stay on the boardwalk and trails, and anyone near the water should wear a life jacket. Fires and hunting are banned in the Sandstone Falls area. See how it compares with the park's other falls in the waterfalls guide.
Can you take the train to Hinton?
You can, three days a week, so a car-free visit is possible with a little planning. Amtrak's Cardinal stops at Hinton (100 Second Avenue, a station with a waiting room), with Thurmond as a flag stop inside the gorge. Times below are from Amtrak's Cardinal timetable as of September 2026.
| Train | Charleston | Thurmond | Prince | Hinton |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50, eastbound (toward New York) | 8:31 a.m. | 9:56 a.m. | 10:18 a.m. | 10:50 a.m. |
| 51, westbound (toward Chicago) | 9:09 p.m. | 7:39 p.m. | 7:23 p.m. | 6:46 p.m. |
Arrive eastbound at 10:50 a.m., leave westbound at 6:46 p.m., and you get about eight hours in Hinton. The timetable's day codes are easy to misread, though, so check in Amtrak's booking system that both trains run on your date before you commit. There's no rental car office near the stations, so Sandstone Falls is out of reach without a ride. More on the train is in getting here. Thurmond has its own guide.
Worth adding: Grandview, Bluestone and Pipestem
Grandview makes a great first stop on the way south: off I-64 at Exit 129, then six miles north on Route 9 to a Main Overlook 1,400 feet above the river. The visitor center's fall hours vary, so call 304-763-3715 if you need it; the overlooks stay open regardless.
South of Hinton, Bluestone Dam holds back Bluestone Lake, a concrete wall 165 feet high and 2,048 feet long, completed in 1952. The Corps is partway through a safety project worth about $960 million, due in 2030; as of March 2026 fishing below the dam was limited to the wade areas on the right side. Bluestone State Park's campgrounds are open spring through fall.
Pipestem Resort State Park opened a new aerial tram on September 4, 2025, six passengers to a car, MetroNews reported. Spring 2026 tickets were $12.99 for adults and $9.99 for children and seniors; call 304-466-1800 for fall hours.
When to go
October is hard to beat. River-level spots like Sandstone Falls often hold their color after the rim overlooks fade, as the fall foliage guide explains, so this is a smart trip for the second half of the month. Weekends from mid-October bring more people and, this year, the ramp detour. Whenever you go, the falls lot closes a half hour after sunset, and River Road is no place to rush in the dark. Rather wake up near the falls? The map shows places to stay around Hinton.
