Looking for the best one day itinerary when visiting New River Gorge National Park?

New River Gorge is America’s newest National Park, located along the 2nd oldest river in the world, right here in West Virginia!

The best way to enjoy this park is through a combination of scenic drives, scenic hiking trails, and if you’re up for it, white water rafting.

You can check out our experience white water rafting with Adventures on the Gorge in this video on our Youtube Channel.

By the way, if you can, visit this park in the Fall when the leaves begin to change!

We’re going to share a few options to make the most of just one day in this park, plus some options if you have a little extra time.

If you’re ever unsure about how to get around, you can always purchase a self-guided audio driving tour that will lead you around to the park’s highlights.

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New River Gorge National Park One Day Itinerary

If you have just one day to explore New River Gorge, you must do the number one activity people come here for and that is white water rafting.

But rafting doesn’t have to take up your full day.

You can also incorporate scenic hikes and scenic drives.

This park is vast, so you’ll want to concentrate your time in one specific area if you’re only here for one day.

There is another area of the park to explore if you find that you have more time or if you’re not able to go white water rafting.

✅ White Water Rafting

White water rafting is a must do activity at New River Gorge National Park.

There are a ton of outfitters that offer a variety of rafting experiences.

I personally recommend using Adventures on the Gorge.

👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your White Water Rafting Experience With Adventures On The Gorge Today!

They have a resort nearby and offer something like 30+ different experiences in the area.

You can go rafting on the New River or the Gauley River.

The Gauley River is one of the top 10 rafting rivers either in the world or in the US, but it’s for more experienced rafters.

For most visitors, I recommend the New River, since that’s the 2nd oldest river in the world and the main attraction of the park.

I also personally recommend just doing a half day rafting trip because you’ll want to see and do other things in the park with just one day.

The difference is that the full day trip includes a picnic lunch and time for swimming, so you still raft the same river length with the half day trip.

Even though I mentioned white water rafting first, I don’t recommend it as your first activity.

They offer morning and afternoon tours, and it’s best to do the afternoon tour when it’s warmest outside.

👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your White Water Rafting Experience With Adventures On The Gorge Today!

✅ Endless Wall Trail

You will start your day at the Endless Wall Trail.

It is a 2.2 mile out and back trail that leads out to overlooks looking down on the New River.

You can take the full loop, but it takes you out of your way when going back to where you parked.

There are a couple different parking lots for this area and they’re small, so you’ll want to arrive before about 9:30 am ish to beat the crowds.

This is a great hike for photo ops at the overlooks and it should only take about an hour, but you can add more time if you want to spend more time enjoying the views.

✅ Canyon Rim Visitor Center

From here you’ll take the short 5-10 minute drive to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center.

They have a short 11 minute video about the history of the park and they have an overlook where you can see the famous bridge that this park is known for.

Additionally, the visitor center has Upper View and Lower View Overlooks extending beyond the visitors center where you can get closer looks at the bridge.

The Lower View Overlook is quite a few steps, but if you’re able to do them, I think it’s worth it for the unique vantage point.

The visitor center is only open from 9 am – 5 pm, so that’s what I recommend going to it after your first hike in case you’re starting your first hike earlier in the day like 8 am.

You really don’t need to spend more than 30-45 minutes here.

They have real restrooms here, so it’s a great spot for a bathroom break if you need one – much better than the vault toilets out on the trails!

We like to always stop at the visitor centers in the national parks because we collect ornaments everywhere we travel.

✅ Lunch at Secret Sandwich Society

By this point it may feel a little early for lunch, but if you’re going white water rafting on the afternoon trip, you’ll need to eat now or else you won’t be eating until dinner time.

Just down the street is the town of Fayetteville.

If you have the time to spare, you can take the Fayette Station Road scenic drive to get here, or save it for later like we did.

I’ll explain more about it when we get to that part in our itinerary.

But for now, let’s talk lunch at the Secret Sandwich Society.

This place was so good and so beyond expectations for what sort of dining you think would be available near national parks.

We shared the Rose Marie sandwich and had their homemade key lime pie for dessert and they both were just amazing.

I can’t say enough how much we enjoyed this place.

I want to try all of their sandwiches.

Sandwiches are also just a great lunch to have before heading out rafting or hiking!

✅ Fayette Station Road Scenic Drive

Okay, so by now you’ve gone white water rafting and you’re picking back up where you left off exploring New River Gorge National Park.

Now it’s time for the Fayette Station Road scenic drive into the town of Fayetteville.

There are several pull out spots along the way with overlooks and short hiking trails that you can enjoy if you have enough daylight hours left.

Most of the drive is a narrow, one way road, so once you get started you have to drive all the way through.

You could spend as little as 15 minutes driving through and just taking photos as you go, but you could also carve out about an hour if you want to stop and do some trails and sightseeing along the way.

✅ Dinner in Fayetteville

If I were to do it all over again, I honestly would go back to Secret Sandwich Society and try another one of their sandwiches.

We wanted to explore all the area had to offer, so we went to a different place but it wasn’t as great.

A lot of places were closed because we were there on a week day as the park was getting into it’s off-season and I don’t think many of the restaurants stay open very late.

We ended up having dinner at Southside Junction Tap House.

Like the name suggests it’s more of a bar than anything else.

We had mac and cheese bites, a burger, and poutine.

It was all okay, but not our favorite.

✅ Escape-A-Torium Escape Room in Fayetteville

We absolutely love escape rooms and love how many locally owned escape rooms there are everywhere.

You might have to do it before dinner since they’re not open super late.

We didn’t have time to do it on our trip, but I really wish we did.

Alternate New River Gorge One Day Itinerary

If you find you have a second day to spend here or maybe you just want to visit a different section of the park, then an alternate itinerary could be spending the day in the southern part of the park, known as the Grandview area.

➡️ Main Overlook

If you’ve ever heard of Horseshoe Bend out near Page, Arizona, this is pretty much the equivalent.

This overlook is a short paved walk down from the parking lot and Grandview visitor center.

What’s great is that the next two trails on the itinerary both start from this point, each leading in opposite directions.

➡️ Castle Rock Trail + Grandview Rim Trail Loop

The Castle Rock Trail and Grandview Rim Trail Loop intersect each other.

I recommend starting with Castle Rock and then when that trail comes to a 3 way intersection, there is trail signage about where you are.

You’ll stay to the left to complete the Grandview Rim Trail Loop.

There are a couple overlooks along the way you can stop at.

➡️ Tunnel Trail

The Grandview Rim Trail Loop will let out just across the paved walkway from the Tunnel Trail.

The Tunnel Trail is also a loop trail.

When you first head down the steps, you’ll reach trail signage, and you’ll want to stay left and follow the loop from there.

What’s neat about this trail is that it lets out at an old baseball diamond.

So if you’re traveling with a group or just want to play catch or practice batting, bring your supplies and leave them in your car until you’re done with the hikes.

Then you can play some baseball if you’d like!

➡️ Turkey Spur Overlook

Next, you’ll drive about 5-10 minutes over to the Turkey Spur Overlook.

There is a hiking trail over here that you could definitely add to your day or just enjoy the overlook and move on.

➡️ Sandstone Falls Overlook

As you start to make your way down to the Hinton Historic District and Sandstone Falls, you’ll come across the Sandstone Falls Overlook.

It’s a short downhill walk to the overlook, but it’s a great view of what’s ahead on your itinerary.

➡️ Brooks Overlook

The Brooks Overlook is about 5-10 minutes farther along the same road just as you approach Hinton.

It’s a nice split river view.

➡️ Hinton Historic District

This is a very well maintained historic downtown area that was mostly built up in the first decade of the 1900s.

All of the old buildings are mostly offices, antique shops, and stuff like that, but it’s cute to drive around and see.

➡️ Lunch at Lucky Rivers Cafe

In Hinton, there is a small cafe just off of the main street that is so good.

There’s only a few restaurants in the area anyway, but if you don’t know which place to choose, I recommend this one.

They have a really good ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette (jambon beurre on the menu) and a ton of homemade treats to choose from.

The pecan pie shortbread bar is really good and so is the carrot cake.

Both are hefty portions, especially for the price.

➡️ Sandstone Falls

The last stop for today is Sandstone Falls.

This area has a short boardwalk trail that leads you as close to the falls as possible.

Plus there’s a half mile side loop trail on a dirt path that is a more like a nature walk.

You can play in the water here if you want and enjoy the late afternoon just hanging out down by the river.

When we did this itinerary, we had an almost 5 hour drive back home, so we really just did a half day as our second day.

If you’re looking for even more ideas for things to do in New River Gorge National Park, we’ve got more ideas below.

More Hiking Trails at New River Gorge

Here are a few more popular hikes in the park to consider if you have extra time or don’t want to do a hike previously recommended.

🥾 Long Point Trail

A lot of visitors will choose between Endless Wall Trail and Long Point Trail.

Long Point Trail is a little shorter, being 1.6 miles long, and it leads you out to a great view of the bridge.

Since there are many other opportunities for scenic views of the bridge, we chose Endless Wall Trail instead.

🥾 Glade Creek Trail

Glade Creek is a much longer trail at 5.6 miles.

It follows along an abandoned railroad route, leading to swimming holes and popular fishing spots.

🥾 Kaymoor Miners Trail

Kaymoor Miners Trail is incredibly short at just 1 mile, but because of the 900 foot change in elevation from the steps, it’s considered strenuous trail.

You’ll see the remains of the old mining site and views of the gorge.

More Overlooks at New River Gorge

There are so many overlooks throughout the park, many of which we included in our itinerary since they were already located where other parts of the itinerary were located.

But here’s one more in case you just love overlooks.

📸 Concho Rim Overlook

The Concho Rim Overlook is overlooking the Thurmond Historic District, which we’ll talk about in the next section.

This area is more so in the middle of the park.

Other Popular Things To Do at New River Gorge

Now let’s talk about a couple more things you can do at New River Gorge National Park – and in one case, nearby at Babcock State Park

✔️ Thurmond Historic District

The Thurmond Historic District is similar to the Hinton Historic District except that this is a more defunct area.

It’s the remnants of a historic mining town, rather than a currently functioning town.

If we had more time with our second day I absolutely would’ve added this to the end of our itinerary.

✔️ Grist Mill at Babcock State Park

While this isn’t really inside New River Gorge, it’s still included in many national park itineraries.

The only reason we didn’t include it in our itinerary is that we didn’t have time to explore anywhere outside of the park.

It looks like a neat place with good trails though.

✔️ Bridge Walk

The Bridge Walk is a very popular tour experience, but not something I have any interest in doing.

Essentially, you get strapped to the catwalk underneath the bridge and go on a guided tour along the catwalk.

✔️ Mountain Biking

Some of the trails around the park allow mountain biking and it’s a popular thing to do here, but just not something we do.

✔️ Rock Climbing

If you walk the Endless Wall Trail, you may notice some rock climbers.

There are a couple signs along the way showing side paths that lead to rock climbing areas.

It’s a great area for it, but it’s just not something we do.

Where To Stay at New River Gorge National Park

If we were to do our itinerary all over again, we would try to camp at Adventures on the Gorge.

It would put you 5 minutes away from the entire one day itinerary and only about 30-45 minutes away from the suggested day two itinerary.

If camping isn’t your thing though, there is an affordable Hampton Inn in the nearby town of Summersville.

It’s about a 30 minute drive to the day one itinerary sites and about an hour and 15 minutes from the day two itinerary sites.

But you’ll enjoy complimentary breakfast, free parking, and the comforts of a hotel room.

You can check out our full room tour in this video on our Youtube Channel!

👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your Hampton Inn Summersville Stay Today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve gotten about visiting New River Gorge National Park.

More One Day National Park Itineraries

Here are all of the other national parks we’ve visited over the years.

We tend to do one day itineraries as part of larger road trips.

Some of these have additional things to do for longer stays too.

✓ Arizona

• Grand Canyon
• Petrified Forest
• Saguaro

✓ California

• Santa Cruz Island (Channel Islands)
• Santa Rosa Island (Channel Islands)
• Death Valley + Unusual Things To Do
• Joshua Tree
• Lassen Volcanic + Is It Worth Visiting?
• Pinnacles
• Redwood
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon
• Yosemite

✓ Florida

• Biscayne National Park
• Everglades

✓ Hawai’i

• Haleakala + On The Road To Hana

✓ Idaho/Montana/Wyoming

• Grand Teton
• Yellowstone

✓ Missouri

• Gateway Arch

✓ Nevada

• Great Basin

✓ New Mexico/Texas

• Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns

✓ South Dakota

• Badlands
• Wind Cave

✓ Utah

• Arches and Canyonlands
• Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef
• Zion National Park hiking the Narrows + Winter Itinerary + Summer Itinerary