New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

Stand on the rim at Canyon Rim and the ground just drops away: forested walls plunge to a river that has been carving this gorge for millions of years, a steel arch leaps 876 feet above the water, and somewhere below, rafters are whooping their way through Class IV rapids. New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, the country's 63rd national park, protects 53 miles of that river and more than 70,000 acres of southern West Virginia, from below Bluestone Dam near Hinton to just north of the bridge at Fayetteville. And it's free: no gate, no entrance fee, open 24 hours a day all year (the Park Service doesn't even sell passes here). Start at Canyon Rim Visitor Center, just across the bridge from Fayetteville, open daily 9 AM to 5 PM.

Give it more time than you think. This isn't a park with one loop road; it's a long, wild corridor along the river, and the Park Service's driving circuit around its core runs about 83 miles and three hours before you stop for anything. Plenty of visitors try to cram both ends into one day, WV Explorer has reported, and wish they hadn't. Base yourself in one town for two days or more and you'll have time to hike, paddle and linger at the overlooks.

National park or national preserve? What's the difference

It's one park with two kinds of land. About 7,021 acres are national park, where hunting is off-limits; about 65,165 acres are national preserve, where hunting continues under federal and state law. For you, it mostly matters in fall. The no-hunting park zones are Grandview, Camp Brookside, Sandstone Falls and the Lower Gorge, plus 500 feet around visitor centers, campgrounds and day-use areas, per the park's hunting page (its map shows the zones in red and green). Everywhere else, deer archery season runs September 26 to December 31 and buck firearms season November 23 to December 6, 2026, under the state's 2026-27 regulations, so wear some blaze orange if you hike the preserve in late fall.

The title is new, the protection isn't. Congress created New River Gorge National River in 1978, and the upgrade to national park and preserve rode along in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, signed December 27, 2020. The story of how the national river became a national park has the whole tale.

Visitor centers and 2026 hours

Four visitor centers cover the park, two open all year and two seasonal. Rangers, maps, exhibits and restrooms are all here, and the park's hours page has the general pattern.

Skip park headquarters at 104 Main Street in Glen Jean; it's offices only (weekdays 8 AM to 4:30 PM, "no amenities available at this location"). And a big tip for your phone: the Park Service warns that Apple Maps and Google Maps "may direct you to areas of the park that are rough in terrain and inaccessible and NOT a visitor center," so type in the street address, not the park name.

Explore the park area by area, north to south

Think of the park as four neighborhoods strung along the river. Staying in Fayetteville, you'll spend most of your time in the first one, with the others as day trips.

Canyon Rim, the bridge and the Lower Gorge

This is the showstopper end. Canyon Rim Visitor Center has exhibits on the gorge's coal towns and railroads, an 11-minute film and a back deck with a two-mile view south; a boardwalk drops to two observation decks, the upper one ramp-accessible and the lower one 178 steps down with the bridge filling the frame. That's the New River Gorge Bridge, carrying U.S. 19 876 feet above the river. Fayette Station Road, an eight-mile, mostly one-way loop that switchbacks down to the river and back, starts here, and so do the Endless Wall and Long Point trails and the Kaymoor mine ruins.

Thurmond and the middle gorge

Seven miles down a narrow road from Glen Jean, Thurmond feels like a movie set that forgot to leave. This tiny railroad town once produced "the largest revenue on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway," with 15 passenger trains a day, and it's still an incorporated town beside a busy CSX line, reached over a one-lane bridge that RVs can't use. The restored depot is the visitor center. River access and primitive campgrounds at Stone Cliff and Thayer are nearby; the Rend Trail, the old rail line from Thurmond to Minden, is closed for rebuilding.

Grandview

For the biggest view in the park, head to Grandview: from Beckley, go five miles east on I-64 to Exit 129B, then six miles north on Route 9. The Main Overlook stands about 1,400 feet above the river, and on a clear day you can trace seven miles of the New as it bends around the horseshoe, with the railroad and the old coal town of Quinnimont far below. The overlooks and five trails stay open year-round even when the visitor center closes, and in mid-May the purple Catawba rhododendrons put on a show. Climbing and rappelling aren't allowed here.

Sandstone, Sandstone Falls and Hinton

At the quiet south end, Sandstone Visitor Center sits by I-64 Exit 139, but the falls are a drive away: about ten miles to Hinton, across the river and eight miles down River Road, roughly 22.5 road miles in all. It's worth it. Sandstone Falls is the largest waterfall on the New, a wide, roaring ledge you reach by a quarter-mile boardwalk the Park Service calls accessible "to all ages and abilities," plus a half-mile Island Loop Trail. River Road is too tight for most medium or large RVs. The Sandstone Falls guide has the details.

The same park staff also look after two neighbors: the Gauley River National Recreation Area below Summersville Dam, famous for its fall whitewater releases, and the Bluestone National Scenic River above Hinton.

Top things to do in New River Gorge National Park

With "nearly 100 miles of trails," more than 1,400 established climbing routes and some of the best whitewater in the East, the hard part is choosing. Here's where to start:

• See the bridge from the Canyon Rim upper deck, then from below on Fayette Station Road (check its flood status below).
• Hike the Endless Wall Trail to Diamond Point for a cliff-edge view down the gorge, or the Long Point Trail for the postcard bridge shot. Both lots fill on summer and fall weekends and neither takes RVs, so go early. The trails guide has the full list.
• Raft the Lower New, or the Gauley on release days from September 11 to October 18, 2026. Rafting the New River explains the sections, and the live river gauge shows today's flow.
• Walk the catwalk under the bridge deck with Bridge Walk, a private operator, or come for Bridge Day on Saturday, October 17, 2026, the one day you can stroll the deck and watch BASE jumpers leap off it.
• Drive to Grandview for the Main Overlook and down to Sandstone Falls, ideally on a different day from the bridge area. The attractions guide lists every stop with current hours.
• Step into the coal and railroad era on Thurmond's Commercial Row and among the Kaymoor ruins; check the weekday closure on the upper Kaymoor Miners Trail first.
• Climb the gorge's famous sandstone, with a guide if you're new to it. The best seasons run late April to mid-June and mid-September to late October.

Traveling in summer? From Memorial Day to Labor Day the park runs daily ranger programs, including a 10 AM patio talk at Canyon Rim and an 11 AM walk at Thurmond. After Labor Day, check the programs page before you plan around one.

What's closed in the park right now?

Most of the park is open and ready for you, but flash floods on August 15 and 16, 2026 knocked out several river-level roads. Fayette County got 3 to 6 inches of rain in 48 hours, a county official told West Virginia Watch, with even heavier totals mapped along a line from Oak Hill to Cunard, and a driver died when her vehicle was swept away near Pax. Some roads have reopened; others have no date yet. Here's what affects a fall trip, as of September 22.

• Canyon Rim Visitor Center's entrance from U.S. 19 may close at times while the state repaves outside it (from September 15). The detour is Lansing-Edmond Road, the next road north, then right at the next intersection.
• Keeneys Creek Road to Nuttallburg and Brooklyn Campground reopened by September 3; Cunard Road is open on one lane through a short section. Cunard Road also closes below the Brooklyn Mine Trail lot every November through March for a project running through 2027.
• Glade Creek Road past Grandview Sandbar, with Glade Creek Campground, has been closed since August mudslides, with no timeline for reopening. Grandview Sandbar is open.
• The Rend Trail is closed from both Thurmond and Minden for an $11.8 million rebuild of the trail and its five trestles, which began August 3, 2026, with reopening expected in fall or winter 2027.
• The upper Kaymoor Miners Trail is closed Monday to Thursday until mid-November 2026 (November 19 per the latest alert) and open Friday to Sunday.
• The Burnwood group campground and the Burnwood Trailhead restrooms close from October 5 to mid-November for water-line work.
• The Keeney's Creek Rail Trail above the Conveyor junction and part of the Kates Plateau Trail are listed as closed.

Things change fast after a flood, so the site's what's new page tracks each reopening as it happens.

Park rules worth knowing before you go

The river deserves real respect: its currents are stronger than they look, so keep that life jacket on. Violations can bring fines of up to $5,000 for an individual. The rules, safety and services page covers cell coverage, water, medical care and the rest.

When is the best time to visit New River Gorge?

Every season has its moment. July is the busiest month, park officials told MetroNews, with June and October tied for second and August and September a little calmer. October is the grand finale, stacking fall color (mid-October to early November in the gorge; see the fall foliage guide), the last Gauley release weekend on October 17 and 18, and Bridge Day on October 17. Spring brings the Grandview rhododendrons and prime climbing weather. Winter is the peaceful season, with monthly visits below 100,000 even in big years per West Virginia Public Broadcasting; Grandview and Thurmond visitor centers close, Cunard Road shuts below Brooklyn and some town businesses cut hours, but you'll have the overlooks nearly to yourself. The month-by-month planner goes deeper.

Word is out. Visits have set a new record three years running: about 1.8 million in 2024 and a record again in 2025, close to 2 million. (Recreation visits count entries, so one person visiting three days counts three times.)

Where to stay near New River Gorge National Park

There's no lodge inside the park, and the Park Service points visitors to three gateway towns: Hinton, Fayetteville and Beckley. Fayetteville is the easy pick for the bridge, Canyon Rim, the rafting outfitters and most of the trails, with breweries and cafes downtown, and since August 28, 2026 it has a downtown hotel again, the 40-room Hill Hall in the former school on High Street. Beckley has the widest spread of chain hotels and sits closer to Grandview; Hinton suits the Sandstone end. The where-to-stay guide compares the towns, and the hotels page lists them.

Want to sleep under the stars? Camping in the park is free. All the NPS campgrounds are primitive and first-come, first-served, with no drinking water, hookups or electricity; the only fee is $75 for the Burnwood group site near Canyon Rim, closed October 5 to mid-November. The camping guide covers each campground plus private ones with hot showers. For cabins, hotels and rentals, the map on this page compares live prices around Fayetteville, and on Bridge Day and Gauley weekends, book early.