New River Gorge National Park is America’s newest national park, established in 2021. However, the river is not new at all. In fact, it’s one of the oldest rivers on the planet. We spent three days exploring the area and learning about this beautiful area of West Virginia. 

We based ourselves right outside the park boundaries at The Outpost, a cool RV, music, adventure hub. In a short hike we were able to reach the famed New River Gorge bridge. 

The park’s visitor center offers great views of the bridge and a fun hike down to see the bridge up close. 

Waterfalls are a major draw to New River Gorge area. Throughout our time here we couldn’t avoid the beautiful cascades. They even have an official waterfall trail. 

While the area abounds with natural beauty, it wasn’t always this way. For over 80 years, railroads carried coal out of the area to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Over 50 coal communities were linked by rail in the New River Gorge. Today, the town of Thurmond is one of the few towns that still exists and is preserved by the National Park Service.

We explored the town’s structures including the old coal tower that fed the rail cars that carried the coal out of the gorge. 

The Endless Wall Trail is one of the park’s most popular. After about a mile we reached the Diamond Point Overlook where we watched whitewater kayakers and rafters way below. And what views!! 

New River Gorge National Park is worth it for the winding country roads and sweeping views. With this we crossed one more national park off our map and it was a good one!