June 2022, West Virginia

Our visit to New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia was another beautiful day. The park encompasses over 70,000 acres of land along the New River, is rich in cultural and natural history, and offers abundant scenic and recreational opportunities. Pete was familiar with the rugged, whitewater river flowing northward through deep canyons… He and a college friend had kayaked here about 50 years prior!! The New River is among the oldest rivers on the continent.

This gorge was a busy industrial center for almost 80 years, ushered in by the 1873 completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad…..over 100 active coal and railroad towns once dotted the landscape. We took a long and winding road to visit the remnants of one of these towns, Thurmond, which was developed to support the railroad and was the hub of gorge activities.

A highlight of this park is the bridge…. the longest steel span in the Western Hemisphere and the third highest in the US. Brochures describe it as a work of structural art, one of the most photographed places in West Virginia. We had great views of it as we drove the Fayetteville Station Road, the leading travel route for nearly 100 years before the bridge was built.

We stayed at the Glen Ferris Inn, which has served guests since 1839. Former guests include 4 American presidents (John Tyler, Andrew Jackson, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley.) Our room and dining had beautiful views of the Kanawha River. Accommodations were simple but adequate!!