Leslie and David's Wanderings: 20-23 May 2022 New River Gorge

We had been trying to figure out a way to visit our nations newest National Park, New River George NP (our 52nd NP and 35th State), this summer. There were no RV parks in the area of New River Gorge NP that could handle our big trailer. So we figured we would visit as a short trip from either Canton or Shenandoah NP. After six weeks of sorting stuff at Veronica’s house, we decided we needed a “vacation”. So we drove down to Beckley West Virginia which is just outside the national park. New River received its name from surveyors back in the early 1800s when they were mapping the area. They noted on their maps that this was a new river that had not been previously surveyed. The name stuck. Turns out the New River is one of the oldest rivers in North America. It cuts through ancient rock (330 million years old) and cut the gorge as the Appalachian Mountains rose. The river exposed deep coal veins from ancient flood plains. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, dozens of coal mines were in the gorge and railroad tracks were laid in 1873 to carry the coal out of the gorge. In addition, logging was a major industry as old growth Chestnut, Walnut and Oak trees were logged and shipped east. The forests in the national park are all second growth. The New River was designated a National River in 1978 to preserve the white water recreation and then to a National Park in 2020. Known mostly for its white water rafting, rock climbing and the bridge built over the gorge in 1977, the third highest bridge in North America. Friday night we checked out a local brewery. On Saturday we went to the visitor center near Fayetteville and took care of business (Got our passport stamp, bought a hat and post cards, and watched the park movie) before hiking the 178 steps down (and back up) to the New River Gorge bridge overlook. We had planned to do a hike today, but the ranger advised us there was a rescue ongoing on the trail we wanted to hike, so we decided to drive down to Fayetteville Station where the original bridge over the river was located. The road down was very narrow and windy. There are several small town along the railroad tracks down in the bottom of the gorge. Fayetteville Station was one of those towns which has since disappeared. From there we drove up the southside of the gorge and headed for Babcock State Park. There we visited the Glade Creek Grist Mill which has been painted and photographed extensively. The original grist mill burned down in 1918 where the current state park store is located. The current grist mill is a reproduction of the old one and built in a new location in 1920. It’s a very scenic site and we enjoyed our time exploring there. We then headed for the historic railroad town of Thurmond in the eastern end of the park. The roads were narrow and windy and very beautiful. Thurmond was a major stop over point for the railroad in the early 1900s for coal and water but was abandoned in 1949 when the last of the steam engines was retired. Many of the buildings are still standing and have displays in the window to explain the history of the town. Leslie’s good friend from her time in Washington DC is from the area and her family had a vineyard nearby. So we decided we had to taste West Virginia wine. We made reservations at the Daniels Vineyard for a food and wine pairing. We enjoyed the vineyard but the wines were not our favorite. The vineyard is at a higher altitude than most the vineyards in France and Germany, so they had to experiment to identify which grape vines could survive the cold weather. They have identified 15 varieties of grapes that can survive the local weather. On Sunday we drove down the windy backroads to the Sandstone Falls area of the park and walked the short hike to the point on the island where we could view the falls. Following the falls, we decided to try to get in the hike we could not do yesterday, before the weather came in. As we headed for the Fayetteville end of the park, we ran into heavy rain and strong winds, but as we pressed through, the rain broke up and by the time we arrived at the trail head for the Endless Wall trail, the sun was out and the temperatures were much cooler. We hiked the Endless Wall Trail (2.2 miles, 256 feet of elevation gain, 1,092 calories burned) to the Diamond Point Overlook. The views of the gorge from Diamond Point Overlook were fantastic. It felt great to get out and stretch our legs a bit. The trail reminded us of hiking in Hawaii with the temperatures and humidity but aso like hiking in Pictured Rocks NP because of all the trees and tree roots. We then headed to downtown Fayetteville to see this quaint little town before heading back to the hotel to get Etta walked.