New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
West Virginia
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.7 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy–Strenuous
🟢 🟡 🔴
Crowds
moderate
Open today
Open
Entrance
Free entry
Thurmond Bridge/Depot Closure
Monday, June 22 – Wednesday, June 24 from approximately 8am – 5pm the Thurmond bridge will be closed to vehicle traffic for the annual bridge inspection. There will be no vehicle crossings and foot traffic will also be discontinued sporadically throughout the closure. Thurmond depot will remain closed until work is completed and the bridge is reopened. Reopening of the depot is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.
Kaymoor Miners Trail Closure
From June 15 through November 19 the upper part of the Kaymoor Miners Trail (from Kaymoor Top down to the mine site at the junction with the Kaymoor Trail) will be closed Monday through Thursday due to a trail rehab project. The trail is expected to be fully open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
A rugged, whitewater river flowing northward through deep canyons, the New River is among the oldest rivers on the continent. The park encompasses over 70,000 acres of land along the New River, is rich in cultural and natural history, and offers an abundance of scenic and recreational opportunities.
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The park itself is open 24 hour a day, year round. The park's two main visitor centers at Canyon Rim and Sandstone are open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day). There are two seasonal Visitor Centers located in Thurmond and Grandview. They are typically open Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 304-465-0508
✉ neri_interpretation@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: moderate
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 75°F
🌦️ 80°/65°
🌦️ 79°/67°
🌦️ 85°/64°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
14%
Feb
17%
Mar
34%
Apr
38%
May
78%
Jun
87%
Jul
100%
Aug
89%
Sep
68%
Oct
74%
Nov
33%
Dec
20%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
Canyon Rim Webcam ↗inactive
Canyon Rim Webcam ↗active
Things to do
Trail Run Grandview Rim Trail · 3.1 mi · 460 ft gain · This trail could take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the person.
Hunting in the Park
🟡 Trail run at Endless Wall · 3 mi · <p>The trail is 2.4 miles from trailhead to trailhead. It is recommended to use the trail as an out-and-back from whichever parking lot you start, which is approximately 1.0 to 1.2 miles out to Diamond Point Overlook. <br /> <br /> If you choose to run the entire trail as a one-way, there will be an additional 0.5 mile run/walk along Lansing-Edmond Road. Lansing Edmond Road is narrow and there is not much space to travel safely along the edge of the road, so it is with caution that visitors walk along this roadway. </p>
🔴 Trail Run or hike the Little Laurel Trail · 4 mi · 1000 ft gain · <p>Depending on your rate of travel, this trail can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. The trail is 2 miles on a rocky trail, downhill for 2 miles and then the reverse for an uphill trek for 2 miles. </p>
Castle Rock Hike · 6 mi · The Castle Rock Trail is unusual due the geology and some visitors like to really examine the rocks while on this trail. The trail is uneven and hikers should do this at their own pace.
🔴 Bicycling at New River Gorge
🟢 Stroll on the Sandstone Boardwalk · 4 mi
Sandstone Falls Overlook · Most visitors spend between 10 to 15 minutes at this location.
Campgrounds
Army Camp · 11 sites · first-come
Brooklyn Campground · 5 sites · first-come
Burnwood Group Campsite · 1 sites
Glade Creek Campground · 11 sites · first-come
Grandview Sandbar · 16 sites · first-come
Meadow Creek Campground · 17 sites
Stone Cliff · 7 sites · first-come
Thayer Campground · 4 sites · first-come
War Ridge/Backus Mountain Campground · 8 sites · first-come
Visitor centers
Canyon Rim Visitor Center
Grandview Visitor Center
Sandstone Visitor Center
Thurmond Depot Visitor Center
Accessibility
4 accessible campground(s)
20 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on New River Gorge National Park & Preserve — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
Trail profile
Each dot is a trail — distance vs. elevation gain, by difficulty.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to New River Gorge National Park & Preserve — each spans a cross-park journey.
Carter G. Woodson
— Reconstruction, Reconstruction Era, Reconstruction Era National Historic NetworkPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Canyon Rim Visitor Center
🎫 Grandview Visitor Center
🎫 Sandstone Visitor Center
🎫 Thurmond Depot Visitor Center
Places to see
Adena Trail
Arbuckle Connector Trail
Big Branch Falls
audio
Big Branch Trail
Big Buck Trail
Bridge Trail
Bright Hope Lodge
Brooklyn Coke Ovens
Brooklyn Mine Trail
Brooklyn Mining Complex & Community Ruins
Brooks Falls Roadside Park
Brooks Island Overlook
Audio & media
🎧 African American Music in West Virginia (Audio Narration) ↗ · 8 mintranscript
🎧 Life in an African American Community (Audio Narrative) ↗ · 7 mintranscript
🎧 Church and the African American Community (Audio Narrative) ↗ · 6 mintranscript
🎧 Life in a Coal Camp (Audio Narrative) ↗ · 7 mintranscript
🎧 African Americans and the Railroad (Audio Narrative) ↗ · 4 mintranscript
🎧 Fayette Station Road Auto Tour Chapter 3 ↗ · 2 mintranscript
🎬
🖼
Learn more
In 2019, the park experienced near record-setting temperatures, and it was the 2nd warmest year since 1895. In contrast, it was a near-normal year for precipitation.
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had a very warm and very wet 2020. The year ended as the 10th warmest and 4th wettest recorded since 1895.
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had a warm 2021 but total precipitation was near normal. The year ended as the 19th warmest and 57th driest recorded since 1895.
The year 2022 was slightly warmer and much wetter than average at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The year ended as the 44th warmest and 19 wettest on record (since 1895).
The National Park Service congratulates the regional recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Volunteerism Awards. These nominees embody the values of service, engagement, and stewardship fundamental to our national parks.
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had a very warm and slightly dry 2023. The year ended at the 7th warmest and 44th driest on record (since 1895).
The 2025 Veterans Fire Corps crew hosted by the Allegheny Fire Management Zone headquartered at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had the opportunity to help multiple parks within the NPS' Northeast Region with prescribed fire and fuels projects.
Protected areas don’t always achieve their conservation goals. Here’s one case where they do.
How New River Gorge National Park & Preserve connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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Activity
Topic
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Campground
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
Trail
ThingToDo
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