Leaving Shenandoah National Park on April 9th, we enjoyed a quiet drive south on a snow-dusted Skyline Drive on the way to our next park, New River Gorge. After exiting Skyline Drive, we traveled further south on I-81 and then west on I-64, and finally north on Route 19 to Fayetteville, West Virginia, the gateway town to New River Gorge National Park.
Established as a National River in 1978, New River Gorge was redesignated as America’s newest National Park in 2020.
Established as a National River in 1978, New River Gorge was redesignated as America’s newest National Park in 2020. With about 1.2 million annual visitors, its primary feature is, of course, the New River and the deep gorge it has formed in the landscape. For many years, coal mining was the primary industry, made possible by the railroads built along the river. In more recent decades, coal mining moved to other regions of the country, and white water rafting started a new industry on the river.
The Park Ranger recommended two hikes trails that were already on our list—Endless Wall to Diamond Point on the north side of the river and Long Point on the south side.
We enjoyed a white water rafting trip years ago, but this time our primary activity was hiking the trails along the ridge of the gorge. At our stop at the visitor center in the late afternoon, the Park Ranger recommended two hikes trails that were already on our list—Endless Wall to Diamond Point on the north side of the river and Long Point on the south side.
During our first evening in Fayetteville, we enjoyed a great pizza dinner at Pies and Pints, one of the recommended restaurants, watching snow fall as we ate.
The highlight of the Endless Wall trail is Diamond Point, which affords the best view of both the wall and the river below.
The Ranger had warned us that the parking lot for the Endless Wall trail tends to fill up by 9:00, so we got going early the next morning in 36-degree weather for a short drive to the parking lot—to discover only one other car there. But our reward for getting going early was a quiet hike through the woods to the ridgeline along the river, and the sun gradually emerged as the morning progressed. The “endless wall” is a long line of exposed rock wall that reaches down from the ridge toward the river. The highlight of this trail is Diamond Point, which affords the best view of both the wall and the river below. While there, we traded photography services with a young couple and their two children who are fellow travelers at our National Parks. We hope to meet them again during our journey!
Rather than complete the circuit by walking along the road to our car, we doubled back along the trail the way we came, logging 5.5 miles toward our hiking goal.
We enjoyed lunch at the Catheral Café in Fayetteville.
We rewarded our morning efforts with a great lunch back in Fayetteville at the Cathedral Café. Nothing like a good BLT sandwich!
The highlight of the Long Point Trail was, as you might expect, Long Point, which affords a panoramic view of the gorge, the river, and the New River Gorge Bridge.
With beautiful sunny weather in the afternoon, we headed to our second hike, Long Point Trail. The highlight here was, as you might expect, Long Point, which affords a panoramic view of the gorge, the river, and the New River Gorge Bridge. At 3,030 feet long, the bridge is the longest steel bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the third highest in the United States. Readers may have heard of this bridge because they close it to vehicle traffic every third Saturday in October so that mentally unstable people can BASE jump 876 feet off the bridge into the gorge below.
Fun facts about the New River: ironically, it is one of the five oldest in the world and the only major river in the United States known to flow north.
Doubling back from Long Point to the trailhead parking lot, we completed our second hike in New River Gorge National Park, logging another 3.3 miles.
Lodging
The Morris Harvey House B&B in Fayetteville is definitely the place to stay for a visit to NRG.
We spent our two nights in New River Gorge at the Morris Harvey House B&B in Fayetteville. This is definitely the place to stay for a visit to NRG. The house has a lot of charm, the hosts are gracious and attentive, and they offer a great breakfast. Our room on the first floor was wonderful—and saved us from having to lug our over-packed suitcases up the stairs!
As an added plus, the owners are trying to get Destination Chargers installed, but are waiting to hear back from Tesla. Come on, Tesla, respond to the request from Morris House B&B—New River Gorge NP needs chargers!
Charging
We used our first Tesla Superchargers on the way to Fayetteville, West Virginia, and New River Gorge National Park.
Traveling down the mountain from Skyline Drive as we left Shenandoah, we gained some range back from regenerative braking—one of the best features of electric vehicles. Regenerative braking uses the electric motor to slow the vehicle, recapturing some of the energy and sending it back to the battery, rather than wasting it as heat as an internal combustion engine vehicle would do. Regenerative braking also minimizes the use of the brakes, extending their life. And the slowing of the vehicle with regenerative braking when you let up on the accelerator also allows the possibility of one pedal driving—one of the great benefits of electric cars.
During our drive to New River Gorge, we learned our first lesson in electric road tripping with a Tesla: listen to the car when it tells you to stop for a charge.
But high speeds of 70-80 mph on the Interstate Highways—our Tesla likes to go fast—eat miles on the battery indicator much faster than the miles on the road. This gave rise to our first lesson in electric road tripping with a Tesla: listen to the car. We thought we had enough range to get all the way to the Mt. Hope Supercharger south of Fayetteville, but the car advised us to stop at the Lexington Supercharger on the way. We ignored that advice and started traveling west on I-64 toward West Virginia. However, it soon became clear that this would be calling it close and that we should have topped off the battery in Lexington. A few miles down the road, we decided that we shouldn’t press our luck—and arrival in Mt Hope would be too late for lunch anyway—so we turned around and returned to Lexington for lunch and a charge. First lesson learned, fortunately without serious consequences.
Knowing that there are no other chargers in the Fayetteville area, we topped off the battery at the Mt Hope Supercharger station 13 miles south of Fayetteville so we’d have plenty of juice for driving around the park and for the return trip to Mt Hope on the way south to Congaree National Park in South Carolina.
Morris Harvey House B&B, our lodging for New River Gorge, has applied to Tesla for a Destination Charger, but has not heard back from Tesla yet. There aren’t any other chargers in the area, so if they are eventually successful with their request, that will make Morris Harvey an even more obvious choice as the place to stay at New River Gorge National Park.
Supercharging at Lexington, Virginia (37 kWh @ $0.33) $12.21
Supercharging at Mt Hope, West Virginia (45kWh @ $0.29) $13.05
Total Supercharging $15.26
Hiking Trails and Other Activities in the Park
Endless Wall Trail 5.5 miles
Long Point Trail 3.3 miles
Total Hiking Miles 12.8 miles
Impressions
Come for the white water rafting—and maybe later in the spring when it’s not snowing. Or come for the foliage in the fall. New River Gorge used to be a National River, and in many ways it is still not a typical National Park. You get to the hiking trails along the gorge by traveling through privately owned land, and the park area is limited to the preserve area along the gorge.
Fayetteville is a nice little town—definitely the place to stay while visiting New River Gorge—and we were very pleased with our choices of lodging at the Morris Harvey House B&B and our meals at Pies and Pints, Cathedral Café, and Wanderlust Creativefoods, where we ate dinner on our second night in Fayetteville.
Visit Duration: Without rafting, a late afternoon and evening after arrival plus one full day was enough for us to experience what New River Gorge has to offer as a National Park.
After a last breakfast at Harvey Morris House, we headed south via I-77 to Columbia, South Carolina, and our third National Park, Congaree.