Where's Kohdie ?: New River Gorge National Park

Hello Everyone,

On Friday, April 23rd we left Virginia and drove 200+ miles to West Virginia to explore the newest national park in our country. Dad says that we have traveled over 1,245 miles and visited five states, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia so far.

The first thing we learned at the Visitor's Center was that New River is "Not New" at all. In fact, it is one of the oldest rivers on our planet. It is older than the Appalachian Mountains which surround it. Some of the rocks that the river has exposed over the centuries are as old as 330 million years old.

We were also treated to something unusual when a car with "Diplomatic " plates parked in front of us. A nice young Japanese family was there to do some sightseeing in America before they have to return to their native country in a few weeks.

One of the highlights of the park that we saw on Saturday, April, 24th, is an engineering feat called the New River Gorge Bridge spanning the gorge near Fayetteville. Completed in 1977, the arch is 875 feet high, the third-highest bridge in the US. It is so tall, the Washington monument and two of the Statue of Liberty, standing on top of each other would fit beneath it and still have twenty feet to spare. Very impressive!

We walked down a newly completed stairway to view the bridge halfway down the gorge (174 steps).

Next, we took a hike on the Endless Wall Trail which gave us spectacular views of the Eastern side of the gorge.

We were treated to the spectacle of a long coal train passing through the gorge far below us.

Dad was able to get a rare photo of me and Mom on the ledge above the gorge.

Later we drove to the Sandstone Falls area down a narrow, windy mountain road that made me, and Dad, and Mom very uncomfortable. The drive was worth it though, and a beautiful boardwalk gave us a nice hike out to an island in the river to view the falls up close.

On the way back to the car we took a nice hike around the island, where we found many blooming flowers.

On Sunday, April 25th, we drove back to the Grandview area of the park to view the gorge from the Western and higher side. Grandview is the highest place in the park, over 1,400 feet above the river.

This area is known for its world-class white water rafting and kayaking in the river's rapids. Much of it is class four and some of the rapids are class five or more.