The New River Gorge, West Virginia
Leg 9 – New River Gorge WV
10/23/2022 – 10/30/2022
Moving on to West Virginia, a new state for us, we drove I-77 to Parkersburg WV where we missed our exit to take US50 east. Oops. Oh well, we continued on down I-77 and picked up I-79 E. We exited to US19 and headed south to Summerville, which will be home base for the week. Doesn’t Summersville sound like a nice place to stay? Summersville Lake Retreat on Mt. Nebo was our home.
The campground was lovely, with a little view of the lake and lots of trees that sadly had already shed most of their leaves. Yes, you heard that right, we were about 1 week late for peak foliage. I can only imagine how gorgeous this area would be with the hills on fire with yellow, orange and red leaves.
New River Gorge National Park
The New River Gorge National Park is the NPS newest addition to the park system and is only a 15-minute drive from camp. The New River is actually a very old river. It is actually one of the oldest rivers on the continent. The New River and nearby Gauley River are also noted as having some of the best white water in the world. We are not here to white water though.
The park contains several scenic drives and we did them all; Fayette Station Road Tour, Nuttalburg, Thurmond Historic District, Grandview and Sandstone Falls. During the week we did several of the drives that were nearby in the afternoons once. Bill finished his workday and we saved the longer excursion for the weekend.
We always begin our visit to a national park with a stop at the visitor’s center. We pick up maps, grab the brochure and sometimes talk to the rangers to find out what drive we should do, or what hike we should take based on what we enjoy seeing. And sometimes those rangers give you info that is not in the brochure or map, like the best place to see a sunset 😉
After getting the literature and learning about an audio tour Fayette Station Road, we take a short walk out to an overlook with a superb view of the bridge. Let’s talk about the bridge for a minute.
New River Gorge Bridge
The New River Gorge Bridge opened in 1977 and shortened what was once an 8-mile, 45-minute drive thru the gorge to a ¾ mile, less than one minute drive across the gorge. That made the trip to town much shorter.
The bridge is 876 feet above the river. It was once the world’s highest vehicular bridge but lost that title in 2001 when the Liuguanghe Bridge opened in China. A 24-year run isn’t that bad. Bridge Days is celebrated each year on the 3rd Saturday of October. During this celebration spectators can walk across the bridge and base jumpers are free to soar 876 to the bottom of the gorge.
Fayette Station Road
A Brief History of How The Gorge was Formed
Let’s get going on that auto tour. The road leaves the visitors center and immediately begins its decent into the gorge. Fayette Station Road carried travelers through this area for almost 100 years and over 100 coal and railroad towns once occupied this area. According to the tour, decomposing trees, ferns, fungi, mosses and swampy stagnant water created the coal in these mountains over 300 million years ago. That’s a picture, huh? Anyway, the coal in the gorge was deep underground and was not accessible until the ancient Teays River began to flow north 100 million years ago.
Over time, several ice ages and thaws, the Teays flowed through the area and began carving down and exposing sandstone shale and coal. The New River today follows the same course as the ancient Teays all those years ago. Is it crazy to think it took 100 million years for this gorge to form?
The Bridge From a Different Perspective
We are now under the bridge and are treated to a very different perspective as we look up at this monolith. As we are gawking upward, I can see people getting ready to make a walk across the underside of the bridge, known as the “catwalk”. What?? They are fastened to the bridge with cable and have protective gear on but that would be a HARD NO for me. Good luck, folks, we are going to continue in the comfort of our jeep.
A few more turns and we are crossing the river on a replica of the old bridge. In 1977 the original bridge was removed and then this replica was opened in 1988. We park the jeep in the small lot and walk back over the bridge. From there we had excellent views up and down the river and of the new bridge. The views would only be amplified if we had arrived a week ago. That’s okay, though, it’s still very pretty and we experienced peak foliage last week in Ohio.
The Fayette Station Road tour continues and winds through the forest and back up to US19. I highly recommend the drive and audio tour. The narration paints a very vivid picture of life during the coal boom from the 1870’s to the 1950’s.
Nuttallburg
Scenic drive #2 is the drive out to Nuttallburg, about 40 minutes from the visitor’s center. Once we left the residential areas, the paved road turned to a one-lane gravel road and followed Keeney Creek out to, what was once, the coal town of Nuttallburg. The filtered sun through the sparse leaves on the trees and the leaf covered creek bed with small cascades set the stage for our arrival into Nuttallburg.
Nuttallburg was once a thriving mining town. It was founded by John Nuttall in 1873 and became the second mining town in the New River Gorge to ship coal. First to do this was Joseph Buery from the New River Coal Mine in Quinnimont.
A Henry Ford Connection
Nuttallburg also boasts a Henry Ford connection. In the 1920s Henry Ford attempted “vertical integration” where an industry controls all aspects of production from raw material to finished goods. His attempt failed because he could not control the railroads that were needed to ship the coal. He sold his interest in 1928. Even though Ford’s attempt failed, his role at Nuttalburg is one of the primary reasons the town is recognized as a National Historic District.
Coke
Not only did Nuttallburg mine produce coal, it also made coke (not the kind you drink haha). Coke is made from coal and is a fuel that burns hotter than coal. It was mainly used in making steel. The coke was made by baking coal in ovens that were heated to 2000°F. The heat burned away most of the impurities leaving behind mostly pure carbon. John Nuttall built 80 coke ovens and many still remain here at Nuttallburg.
The walk around the coal tipple, conveyor belt, coke ovens and the remains of the old town was very fascinating. We were given a glimpse of what life might have been like working in a coal mining town. Today Nuttallburg is considered one of the most complete examples of a coal mining complex.
Three Scenic Drives in One Day
Sandstone Falls
The last three scenic drives were saved for Saturday. And it’s SATURDAY! We began with Sandstone Falls. Getting an early start, we set off to view the largest waterfall on the New River. Sandstone Falls spans the river at 1500’ wide with 10-20’ drops.
WV20 South will take you about 600’ down into the gorge and into the town of Hinton. Make use of the two overlook pull-outs; one provides an ariel view of the falls and the second provides a view of Brooks Falls and an eagle’s nest.
We crossed the river in Hinton, which was also a very active town with a railroad museum, antique shops and what appeared to be a really cool historic district with restaurants and shops and galleries. With a lot of miles to cover and limited time, we will have to explore Hinton another time.
Once across the river, the road leads north right beside the river for 9 miles to the day use area. The strong flow of the New River created Sandstone Falls by eroding the soft rock layer that lies under the hard sandstone. The falls slowly but surely, through erosion, are advancing upstream.
A Walk Out to the Falls
A boardwalk leads to the first island and a close-up view of the lower falls. Since it is fall, the flow of water was on the light side. Gorgeous, nonetheless. We even saw a gentleman enjoying the peacefulness of this place, sitting on a rock by the pool with his fishing pole.
The trail led us across a second bridge and out to the granddaddy of all views, the main falls. We were able to walk out on the sandstone and enjoy a river-level view of Sandstone Falls. I found a nice rock to sit on and took a few moments to take it all in. I just sat and enjoyed the scenery and the sound of the water and thought about how truly lucky I am to be able to see all that I’ve seen so far and what a beautiful world God has made.
Grandview
Next up are the grand views at Grandview Overlook. (not sure how they came up with that name) I wouldn’t say the drive out here was scenic, but the views once you get here are.
A short walk from the parking area leads to the main overlook, a 1400’ view of the gorge and river below. You can even see the small town of Quinnimont, where the first coal was shipped out of the gorge in 1873. With the help of binoculars, we were also able to watch a group of kayakers go through some small rapids. Well from 1400’ they looked small LOL!
There are several hiking trails in this section of the park and if time allowed we probably would have walked out to Turkey Spur Overlook. However, the clock is ticking and we still have a few more stops to make and… I’m hungry.
King Tut Inn
Did I say I was hungry? We made a pit stop in Beckley to refuel. Our bellies, that is. A good local burger joint or drive-in is always high on our list when looking for a quick bite. King Tut Inn checked both boxes. Family owned and operated since 1955 and serving homemade buns and pies? I’m in!
We pulled in and the menu is on a large board in front of you. The waitress comes and takes our order. Bill had the King Cheeseburger and I had a regular cheeseburger. We both had tots, of course! And the cherry on top… literally was a slice of cherry cream pie and chocolate cream pie. Homemade.
DEEEEEElicious! And we must have been starving because I did not even snap one picture! Really?!? I’ll link you to their site on TripAdvisor and you can see other patron’s pictures. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g58856-d1572180-Reviews-King_Tut_Drive_In-Beckley_West_Virginia.html
Thurmond Historic District
Our last scenic drive is out to Thurmond. Thurmond was the heart of the New River Gorge. Between 1900-1920s huge amounts of coal were brought in from area mines and shipped on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Fifteen passenger trains a day…A DAY came through town. The depot served as many as 75,000 passengers a year. If you could see this area now, you would be surprised as well.
During its heyday Thurmond was home to two hotels, two banks, several restaurants and even a movie theater. Then the Great Depression struck and many businesses closed and the town slowly died.
The road out to Thurmond follows Dunloup Creek. As we were driving out to Thurmond, I was once again enjoying the sunshine through the fall leaves and the sound of the water in the creek. Then I noticed the sound of the water getting louder and more thunderous. I turned around and looked back and saw a gorgeous waterfall right on the side of the road. “We are stopping on our way back!”
Finally, 7 miles later we arrived in Thurmond. It looks like a little town that time forgot. We walked around and peeked in some windows, but I was ready to go shortly after we got there. See, there were all these annoying little gnats and they like flying right in your face, up your nose and in your mouth. Not fun. I held my shirt over my mouth and nose so I could breathe and not injest those nasty little boogers. Ick! Where is my covid mask??
Thurmond was cool and believe it or not, Amtrak still makes a stop here at the Thurmond depot. I’d be interested to see how many people get on or off the train here.
Hank Williams
It’s late in the day, we are tired and on our way back to camp, as we are going north on US19, I see an exit for Hank Williams Parkway. (I think it was Parkway, it could Blvd or something else) Anyway, I asked Bill, because he is knower of all thing’s country music, what is significant about Hank Williams and Oak Hill WV? Was he born here? He had no idea. Do you know?
Hello, Google… Hank Williams was found dead in the back of his baby blue Cadillac just before dawn on New Year’s Day in 1953 at a small service station in… Oak Hill WV. He was on his way to Canton, OH for a concert. He was only 29 years old. So sad.
What’s Next?
Tomorrow, we pack up and head to NC for some Butrico Family Time. The New River Gorge is a great place to spend some time. It offers something for everyone; action, adventure, history, tranquility… come check it out for yourself!
