I am certainly a creature of habit. I have a few campgrounds that I love to return to year after year. Planning a camping trip to three new locations was like walking up to the edge of a cliff, thrilling and a little terrifying at the same time.
Following a visit to Mammoth Cave National Park and Carters Cave State Park, our final destination was New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.
Breathtaking bridge
After hanging out underground at depths of almost 300 feet in caves, we were flipping the script while visiting West Virginia. The New River Gorge Bridge is the third tallest bridge in the United States. It is 876 feet above the New River. At the time of completion in 1977, it was the world’s tallest bridge for a regular vehicular roadway.
I had seen the bridge in pictures, but I had underestimated its enormous size and staggering proportions. My daughter and I started down the wooden steps, unable to see the bridge until we reached the first platform. Very few things render me speechless, but the bridge left me with only one word, “Wow!”
That was it. That was all I could say as I looked at the bridge spanning the gorge above the New River.
The height of the bridge is not the only impressive feature, it is also extremely long. The steel arch bridge connects the two sides, across a distance of 3,030 feet long. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, the steel supports stand tall like the surrounding native trees.
We continued down the next few sets of stairs to reach the bottom viewing platform. There, we met up with the rest of our family who were peering down at the river, hoping to see some white water rafts cruising down the river. I took my time, looking up at the bridge and also admiring the rocky landscape in the riverbed area.
Building the bridge improved travel time by over 45 minutes from one side of the gorge to the other. It also improved the local economy and increased tourism to the area.
President Jimmy Carter established the New River Gorge as a National River. In late December 2020, the designation was changed to the New River Gorge National Park and Reserve, making it the nation’s newest national park.
We took our time taking a few pictures of the bridge, but for no reason at all, climbing all the steps back up to the parking lot became some sort of race. I lost the informal event, but I held my own with some loud huffing and puffing.
The first time I drove across the bridge, I held the steering wheel white-knuckled and refused to look around. As a passenger, I was brave enough to look around at the surrounding mountains and admire the dense forests.
Babcock State Park
Instead of camping inside the national park, we chose to camp in a nearby state park: Babcock State Park in Clifftop, West Virginia. There are campsites available in the national park, but they are all primitive sites meaning no water or electricity and limited restroom facilities. They are described as beautifully wooded sites along the river. However, campers have to carry in their water and carry out all waste.
The sites at Babcock State Park had electricity and water. Not only that, the campground was peaceful and quiet, located in a densely forested area. My husband and I watched deer in the woods right from our campsite.
There were many trails in the state park and near the gorge in the national park. At Babcock State Park, we explored the area near the Glade Creek Grist Mill. Bubbling waterfalls tumbled down the rock-strewn stream. A wooden swing with “Almost Heaven” carved into the frame created a picture-perfect spot with the mill in the background.
We hiked one short trail next to the mill called Island in the Sky. The name implies a steady climb in elevation, and we were not disappointed. The trail was only 0.7 miles in length but was straight uphill with some steep parts with cliff edges.
The final ascent also had wooden planks to climb and conquer. The view at the top was worth the effort. Delicate mountain laurel blooms were just starting to bloom. On the way down, we took our time and looked into some small caves and climbed over boulders near the trail.
We learned that hiking areas in the national park are very spread apart in a large area. We had to drive to reach the Grandview Rim Trail. The hiking was fairly easy, but several spots did have a steep drop-off on one side.
The view from the main overlook was beautiful and has earned the nickname “Horseshoe Bend of the East,” a comparison to a portion of the Colorado River in Page, Arizona. We also hiked Castle Rock Trail which had a difficulty rating of strenuous. The sights were awe inspiring but the trail was quite challenging.
We had one final day in the New River Gorge area and chose to spend it on a lake with floating obstacles. It was a comedy show and we were the main event as we slid and fell multiple times.
Somewhere on our trip between scrambling over rocks and climbing mountainsides, we truly began to appreciate the wild wilderness that defines West Virginia.
