[New River Gorge National Park, Apr 13, 2025]
Today was the start of a warming trend that would continue into the next few days. It was too bad it was my last full day here! Nevertheless, I donned all the clothes I had plus a scarf I had picked up at Hawk’s Nest State Park the day before. It was going to be cold start (upper 30s/low 40s) for my New River Gorge Bridge Walk at 9 am. It goes the length of the bridge on the catwalk underneath.
We met at the adventure outfitter’s headquarters, just across the street from the Canyon Rim visitor center. We donned the harnesses and got on the shuttle to drive over to the bridge. Our bridge walk would be one way. The shuttle would pick us up on the other end and drive us back over the bridge to the headquarters.
The Bridge Walk pre-dates the New River Gorge becoming a national park by 4 years. I don’t think the walk would have been done if the site had already been a national park. The founders of Bridge Walk were climbers and they wanted a way for everyday people to enjoy the bridge. The safety cables you see in the photos were specifically added for the tours.
It took about an hour to walk the catwalk. We stopped along the way to learn more about the bridge, the river and the general area. Some stuff I already knew, but some I didn’t. I did get a little nervous in the middle of the catwalk, where the dropoff is the highest and the temperature seemed to drop. Walking underneath the bridge was a one-of-a-kind experience and I am so glad I did it!
The temperature had definitely climbed into the 50s by the time I was done. I shed most of the layers I had on and headed for one of the most popular trails in the park – Endless Wall. I did it as a loop from the Nutall parking lot and it was right around 3 miles. The view from Diamond Point was great but overall, I had higher expectations than what I got.
I was high time to eat some food. Headed to the small town of Fayetteville on the other side of the gorge. Cathedral Cafe is one of the most popular spots in town, but this late in the day (almost 1 pm), it was not that busy. The building was an Irish church from the time it was built in 1905 till about 1985. Then it became a storage facility for about a decade before becoming a café in 1997. The current owners have been operating it since 2000. I loved the stained glass windows, best captured from the second-floor gift shop. I sat at the bar and got to chatting with some locals – I was glad to see this was not strictly a tourist haunt.
The second hike on my list was on this side of the gorge and the trailhead was not too far. I passed some houses and such – I keep forgetting that national parks on this side of the country are not nearly as remote compared to the ones in the West.
Long Point Trail was nice and easy – 3 miles roundtrip with a very gentle downslope towards Long Point, which had amazing views of the gorge and the bridge. Our guide on the bridge walk had pointed out the rock outcropping at the end of the trail. It was cool to stand here now and look at the length of the bridge I had just walked under a few hours before.
This was a great way to end my visit to New River Gorge National Park. The next day, I drove back to Charlotte and flew home. It’s been an awesome 2.5 weeks!