New River Gorge National Park

New River Gorge National Park is located in West Virginia and is our nations newest National Park. The park was established as a National Park in December of 2020. Even though it is considered the youngest park in the nation. It does have one of the oldest rivers running right through the heart of the park, the New River. This river is paradise if you’re a thrill seeker looking for class III thru class V rapids. While that does sound amazing! It is not something we are going to cover since we have little ones with us and would like to keep them with us.

Instead we chose to spend more time enjoying the hikes and the beauty that the park has to offer. When you do any research on the park you will see hundreds or pictures of the iconic bridge. While this bridge is a really cool hike and views. There is so much more nature to enjoy in this area! We are going to cover a lot of easier hikes that will give you all the breathtaking views you are seeking.

If you are on the fence about visiting this park. Please make sure you take the time to get out and enjoy it. New River Gorge National Park is responsible for me falling in love with West Virginia. West Virginia is absolutely a beautiful state. Even though we visit the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee regularly. West Virginia may have the best of the Appalachian Mountains. If you are a lover of the “Smoky Mountains” you need to head out here and check them out!

If you are interested in RV camping close to New River Gorge National Park click here!

Family Friendly Hikes New River Gorge National Park

Obviously when you are visiting New River Gorge National Park everybody wants to see the iconic New River Gorge Bridge. Understandingly so, it is a beautiful view seeing this 3,030 ft long bridge spanning over 2 peaks of the Appalachian Mountains. There is more than one way to see this view. One of them is easy. The other is more challenging but offers a much better scenic view of the entire park. We will cover both hikes as I believe they both are absolutely achievable for your family to get the most out of the park.

Not only did we hike to see the bridge. We managed to find some waterfalls and even a long-forgotten mining community that was once owned by Henry Ford. There is a little bit of everything out here in the hills of West Virginia for the entire family. Make sure you explore slowly and take it all in. The mountains found in West Virginia are some of the most beautiful parts of the Appalachian Mountains I have seen to date. Take it all in and enjoy it while it is still there to enjoy.

The Lower Overlook

Located right at the New River Gorge visitor center you can take this short easy walk to view the New River Bridge. This is a boardwalk that does have some parts that may be challenging. You can take the easy walk most of the way down. In order to get the best views you will need to go down 178 steps to the lower overlook deck. Keep in mind that going down 178 steps is easy, coming back up is a whole different story.

The kids lost a lot of steam coming up and we took serval breaks in order to catch our breath. The steps are well maintained but very steep as you are basically walking up the side of the mountain. The reward of the view is worth it. I do encourage you to know your limits! Only take on the challenge if you know you are up to it!

Long Point Trail

If you are feeling a little frisky and want a better look at the bridge. I recommend heading to the Long Point Trail. The trail is an unpaved trail totaling 3.2 miles out and back and will give you the best view, in my opinion, of the New River Bridge and the river itself. You will be set back, much farther away from the bridge than the Lower Overlook trail. What that does is gives you the most beautiful panoramic views of the entire area.

Long Point Trail is not the easiest trail out there but it is most certainly not a hard trail. Jameson was only 4 and he was able to walk the entire trail without complaining until the last half a mile or so. I judge that as a good trail. To be honest, most of the trail is going to be very boring. Just walking a dirt path through the woods, but once you get to the end of the trail you will have a hard push up the mountain. Your efforts are rewarded with the best views in the park. Spend some time at the top sitting along the rocky surface. Have a picnic and enjoy the cool breeze. Its all downhill after that!

One word of caution! Please watch out for your kids’ safety. These amazing views come with a price of very steep cliffs. One wrong step off the trail and it is an immediate fall! Once you are atop around the point it opens up nicely. Even with the extra few feet we still were not comfortable with the boys getting more than a few feet away from us.

Nattallburg

Nattallburg is an old abandoned coal mine community tucked away on the mountainside of New River gorge. This coal mine was established in 1873 and was a bustling mining town that processed smokeless coal. The mine remained in operation until 1958. At one point in its history it was even owned by Henry Ford to provide coal to his operations. After the mine was closed it laid abandoned and nature took back over the area. In 1998 it was transferred to the National Park Service. Finally in 2011 the NPS cleared the invasive vegetation and opened it up for the public to enjoy!

There are many hikes that you can take while enjoying the Nattallburg community. One of them reaching all the way up the side of the bluff to the mine opening. We did not make that walk as our legs was already sore from earlier hikes. So, we stayed below enjoying the river view and the ruins of the old furnaces.

Driving to Nattalburg was actually more fun than the hike. To get to the small hillside community you will have to drive on a gravel road that is not very well maintained. This road will narrow down to a single car lane forcing you to have to pull over to let other cars past you. We did have to back up a few times in order to let other drivers pass by us.

The drive is capable to be made in a car. With that being said having a 4wd vehicle with some extra ground clearance is not a bad thing. There was plenty of washouts that made me happy to be in a jeep. The view on the other hand is shaded and provides nice scenery from the river below.

Cathedral Falls

So technically this is not a hike. You can drive right to this waterfall and see it from the parking space. I felt the need to include Cathedral Falls on my list because we had such a great time playing on the rocks and enjoying the beauty of one of the highest waterfalls in West Virginia. This waterfall is perfect if you have young children, cannot or just don’t want to walk far and want to enjoy a peaceful evening after a longer hike.

Our boys loved being able to walk all over the large rocks located at the bottom of the waterfall. We spent a good amount of time just letting them burn off some energy. Listening to their laughter and the rushing water falling down 60 ft of sandstone was very relaxing for my soul. It is a perfect place to go and let yourself relax.

We actually found this by complete accident. Our GPS took us into our campsite the complete opposite way it should have. That brought us along Highway 60 where we passed right next to Cathedral Falls as well as Kanawha Falls. At the time I was annoyed by this inconvenience. Looking back on it now, I am happy that it did that. We never would have known to come and check out these beautiful waterfalls if it was not for the unexpected. Something I need to remind myself of more often, God has a plan and sometimes the journey is the experience. Not the destination. Patience, a good attitude, and the ability to roll with whatever is thrown at you will bring you to some amazing places in life. If you let it!

Kanawha Falls

As I stated above we found this and Cathedral Falls by complete accident while driving down Highway 60. Kanawha Falls is just up the road from Cathedral Falls. If you have the time to kill I would recommend stopping and checking it out. I would not go out of my way to experience this waterfall though. It is a nice place to stop and have a picnic or enjoy the public fishing area but it is nothing spectacular. I enjoyed our time but we only were there for less than 20 minutes. It is a small 15 ft drop waterfall that spans the entire length of the Kanawha River. There is a neat Hydroelectric facility located at the falls. Unfortunately with the crowd of fisherman and busy highway running along the river. It kind of takes away the beauty that could be Kanawha Falls.

Hawks Nest Overlook

Just like the Kanawha Falls I believe Hawks Nest Overlook is not something you should go out of your way to enjoy. If you are passing by it and are looking for a nice pull off to stretch your legs with a very short walk to view the New River Gorge then make the stop. If you are on a short trip and looking to make the most out of it enjoying the breathtaking hikes and views. Then I would drive right on by this overlook and focus on the longer hikes.

With that being said we had the time and was already passing right by the overlook so we pulled in to check it out. It is a nice view and did provide a good break from the drive to let the kids get some energy out. We enjoyed it but only spent 5 minutes or so here.

Sandstone Falls

Sandstone falls was one of my favorite stops on our visit to New River Gorge National Park. Sandstone falls is the largest fall on New River. The falls span over a width of 1500 ft and the falls are anywhere from 10 ft to 25 ft. The walk to the falls is a well-maintained boardwalk. It is very easy to maneuver and all ages of hikers will be able to enjoy. Once you get to the falls you can enjoy listening to the rushing water falling over the rocks. Or you can jump on into the river and enjoy a cool swim. I did not realize swimming was allowed when we visited but I wish I would have known. It is a beautiful spot with a slight current that the kids would have loved to be able to jump in and enjoy.

My favorite part of this hike actually was not the hike at all. The drive to the falls was beautiful. It is a bit of a drive to get to the falls. I suggest taking supplies for a picnic and wearing your bathing suit. There are plenty of places to stop along the way to have a nice swim in New River. Along the drive you will pass through a small town called Hinton. This small railroad community is nestled right along the New River. It has a small-town charm that you just don’t feel in most states anymore. I suggest stopping and checking out the railroad museum or grabbing a bite to eat while passing through.

Sandstone General Store and Eatery

Obviously, we have not reviewed a lot of places to eat on this post. That is because we visited on the summer of 2022 and diesel fuel was through the roof! This made us choose to not eat out on our vacation, but to eat at the camper as much as possible. When we decided to go out to Sandstone Falls I did not realize how long of a drive we were going to be on. This caused us to run low on fuel in the jeep and to run low on fuel in our bellies.

That is where Sandstone General Store and Eatery comes in to play. It was basically the only fuel station on our path so I was forced to stop. Man, am I happy I did. Immediately you are taken back in time to a classic General Store. This reminded me of something you would have seen in the 70’s. It is small and comforting. They even still have pay phones located out front. After fueling the Jeep, I went inside to pay and was hit with a wall of the amazing smell of the classic home cooked food! We quickly ordered some food and waited patiently for everything to be made to order right in front of you. While waiting make sure to grab some drinks. Enjoy the hospitality of the amazing staff that honestly makes you feel like family.