Tom's National Park Adventure

This morning I got up early and headed down the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I drove down into the Shenandoah valley and up and over the Massenutten Mountains.

I kept on heading southwest until I found myself driving in and around, up and down the Allegheny Mountains. Next thing I knew…. I was in West Virginia and stopped in at the Sandstone Visitors center at the southern edges of the New River Gorge National Park.

I went in, got my stamp in my passport and then viewed the exhibits and the short video about the park. As usually is the case, the information ranger on duty was extremely helpful in directing me to the different interesting portions of the park.

The North Fork New River and the South Fork New River combine together in North Carolina to become the New River. The New River flows north through Virginia and into West Virginia, where is has carved the New River Gorge.

The name New River is curious since this river is the third oldest river in the North American Continent. People have been living by, playing in and surviving alongside this river since prehistoric times! As a species we have done many harmful this to this river and it just keeps on flowing!

New River Gorge National Park was designated as a National River in 1978 protecting 53 miles of the river. In 2020 the park was designated as a National Park and Preserve. The Gorge itself averages 1000 feet in depth! Over one million people will visit the park each year. Some of the more popular activities people enjoy are whitewater boating, fishing hiking rock climbing and mountain biking.

Since I have failed to bring along any of the gear required to do most of these activities, I am going to be content to check the park out and get some good hikes in over the next couple of days.

Since I am staying in a campground that is in the southern section of the park, I decided to start my hiking there. I drove down to the Sandstone Falls on the New River.

I stopped by Brooks Falls on my way to Sandstone Falls.

Once I got to Sandstone Falls I went out onto a boardwalk to get some really good pictures of the falls.

I finished with a hike around the area.

This is the edge of the campground. It is right on the New River.

Tomorrow I will be exploring the middle section of the park.