New River Gorge National Park and Preserve: History, Highlights, and One- to Three-Day Adventures

New River Gorge spreads its best sights along 53 miles of canyon with no road at the bottom, so a little planning goes a long way. This guide helps you plan one, two, or three days in West Virginia's national park, from the bridge and the cliff walks to Grandview and Sandstone Falls, at the pace that suits you.

What's inside

• Nine ready-made itineraries: one, two, and three days, each at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, from Canyon Rim, Fayette Station Road, Endless Wall, and Long Point to Kaymoor's 821 steps, Thurmond, the Grandview rim, Glade Creek, Sandstone Falls, and a guided whitewater day, each with a weather backup
• The gorge's history, from its first peoples to the railroad, John Henry, the coal towns of Kaymoor and Nuttallburg, Thurmond, the bridge, and the 2020 national park and preserve
• Sightseeing highlights from the New River Gorge Bridge to Nuttallburg, Grandview's horseshoe bend, and River Road
• A wildlife chapter profiling 14 commonly seen animals, from white-tailed deer and wild turkeys to bald eagles, great blue herons, and red efts, each with a photograph and notes on where and when to look
• Trip planning for seasons, visitor centers, free primitive camping, nearby state parks, river and cliff safety, the active railroad, hunting in the preserve, and accessibility
• 37 photographs and 4 orientation maps

What you'll receive

• EPUB ebook (New_River_Gorge_National_Park_and_Preserve_Brian_D_Russ.epub, about 15 MB) for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and most e-reader apps. Kindle readers can send it to their library with Amazon's Send to Kindle.
• PDF (New_River_Gorge_National_Park_and_Preserve_Brian_D_Russ.pdf, 100 pages including the cover, about 32 MB) for any device, and for printing pages. It opens on the illustrated cover.

Your download link arrives by email right after purchase.

Edition

First illustrated edition, October 2026, with research completed October 2026. Closures and seasons change, so check the park's current alerts and closures before you travel.

Bring a good map; the back roads are part of the adventure.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.