New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve Rich in cultural heritage, natural resources, stunning scenery, and recreational opportunities, this The park is open year-round.
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New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is located in southern West Virginia. A rugged, white water river, flowing northward through deep canyons, the New River is among the oldest rivers on the continent. The park encompasses over 70,000 acres of land along the New River, is rich in cultural and natural history, and offers an abundance of scenic and recreational opportunities. Canyon Rim Visit

or Centers is open daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's) from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Sandstone Visitor Center operates seasonally- usually 9:00 AM
to 5:00 PM June through November. Thurmond Depot and Grandview operate seasonally June through August. Thurmond Depot's seasonal hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Grandview is open seasonally from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM.

“Excuse me but could you tell me how to get to Endless Wall?”It’s almost Memorial Day weekend! That means the park will ...
05/21/2026

“Excuse me but could you tell me how to get to Endless Wall?”

It’s almost Memorial Day weekend! That means the park will be very busy with visitors, large and small. Some advice will help you make the best of it.

· Memorial Day weekend is traditionally one of our busiest weekends here at many parks, including ours. Be prepared for crowds.

· Endless Wall and Long Point are the most popular trails in the park. Avoid peak crowds by going in the morning or afternoon.

· Parking at trailheads often fill up! If a parking lot is full, don’t park on residential roads. This is not only disrespectful to our local residents but, in some places, will likely lead to a tow truck taking your car away. Save yourself the trouble by being flexible and returning to the trail when crowds have diminished.

· Have a plan for where to stay. While there are campgrounds in the park, they are all first come first served. We expect that they will all be full. Park visitor centers do NOT allow overnight camping.

· Backcountry camping is allowed inside the park, but it must be more than 100 feet away from developed trails, historic ruins, park structures or water sources. If you are ever uncertain, err on the side of caution and check in with a park ranger at the visitor center.

· If hiking out with pets, make sure they are on a leash. That protects both your pets' safety and our wildlife as well.

· Leave no trace when out in the park. Take your trash with you when you leave. Leaving everything behind that you found in the park.

By keeping these points in mind, we can all have a more enjoyable, safer holiday weekend!

It’s that time of year where wildlife and visitors both get more active in the park! That increases the chances that the...
05/15/2026

It’s that time of year where wildlife and visitors both get more active in the park! That increases the chances that the two will meet. While glimpsing some of our wildlife can be an awesome part of our national park experience, here are some tips to help make sure those encounters stay memorable for the right reasons.

· Stay on the trail. This is the most important tool we have to keep ourselves safe. Whether it’s ticks, snakes or bears, staying on trail minimizes our chances of having negative encounters with our native wildlife.

· Our most common negative wildlife encounters in the park this time of year are with ticks. Please make sure to check yourself after you spend time outdoors.

· Give nature space. Whether it’s a squirrel, a snake or a black bear, never approach wildlife. Always, give the creature more space than you think it needs.

· Black bear encounters in our park are quite uncommon. Good habits can keep bears from seeing visitors as a source of food. When camping, keep food and trash in bear approved containers or in your vehicle. If you use one of the park’s picnic shelters, please always take trash and food scraps with you at the end of your visit.

By keeping these ideas in mind, we can all help make sure to keep our time out in our park safe, both for ourselves and the nature around us.

Image Description: A closeup of a black bear looking towards the camera with leaves in front of them.
Image Credit: NPS Image/Neal Lewis

Interested in a seasonal entry level position working for the National Park Service? New River Gorge National Park and P...
05/10/2026

Interested in a seasonal entry level position working for the National Park Service? New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is currently accepting applications for a Visitor Services Assistant (VSA) at the GS-4 level. VSAs serve as representatives to answer questions and offer guidance to park visitors, monitor sites and maintain relations with park partners, and assist rangers with a variety of duties.

Open to the first 50 applicants or until 05/17/2026 whichever comes first.

Note in the vacancy announcement that this position is being filled using the Local Hiring Authority, so applicants must live within a 50-mile commuting distance from the duty station at 83 Burnwood Campground Rd, Lansing, WV, to be considered. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration. Go to: USAJOBS - Job Announcement for more

Image Description: Close-up shot of NPS Ranger standing in front of historic structure

Roadwork has begun within Bluestone State Park near the Old Mill Campground. The road will remain closed until repairs a...
04/28/2026

Roadwork has begun within Bluestone State Park near the Old Mill Campground.

The road will remain closed until repairs are completed. This will, for a time, block access to the northernmost trailhead for the Bluestone Turnpike Trail, which runs through Bluestone National Scenic River. We do not have a timeframe for completion at this time. The Bluestone Turnpike remains accessible from both the NPS Lilly parking area and via the chairlift at Pipestem Resort State Park. We will provide further updates as we receive them, but we appreciate your patience while this work is completed.

Image Description: A shallow river runs over rocks as it winds between green trees.

It’s Earth Day. What better day to highlight conservation work happening here in our park?Earlier this month, thanks to ...
04/22/2026

It’s Earth Day. What better day to highlight conservation work happening here in our park?

Earlier this month, thanks to our partners at Green Forests Work through the American Chestnut Foundation, we received 250 seedlings of American Chestnuts. Employees and volunteers planted them in the War Ridge area of the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve as part of surface mine restoration. American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata) were once a foundational species in forests across the Eastern United States. Their lumber was used in many different ways, while their fruits were important to many people’s diets. In the late 1800s, a fungus commonly known as chestnut blight led to the near extinction of the American Chestnut across its range. Through the work of foundations such as The American Chestnut Foundation and partnerships with the National Park Service, the work of restoring the American Chestnuts continues on!

Image Description: A group of National Park Service Employees stand with equipment with trees in the background. Image 2: an employee crouches with a sapling in its protective stand.

Are you going to the Sandstone Visitor Center or Sandstone Falls in the next few months?The Eastbound I-64 exit ramp at ...
04/07/2026

Are you going to the Sandstone Visitor Center or Sandstone Falls in the next few months?

The Eastbound I-64 exit ramp at Exit 139 is closed from now through late October 2026 to complete the final phase of a bridge rehabilitation project. During this closure, eastbound motorists should continue on I64 for approximately 4 four miles to Exit 143 at Green Sulphur Springs, then reenter I64 westbound back to Exit 139. The estimated travel time for the detour is 10-15 minutes. While the bridge undergoes repairs, the Sandstone Visitor Center will be open 9:30 a.m - 5:00 p.m. daily.

Image Description: The Sandstone Visitor Center is glimpsed through the garden with an interpretive sign in the foreground.

Prescribed Burn to be Conducted in Grandview Areaof New River Gorge NP&PNew River Gorge National Park and Preserve Fire ...
03/24/2026

Prescribed Burn to be Conducted in Grandview Area
of New River Gorge NP&P

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve Fire Managers plan to burn approximately 37 acres on Wednesday, March 25 in the Grandview area of the park near the Grandview Visitor Center. Fire managers will use wind speed and direction, humidity and other factors to determine the exact date of the burn. The prescribed burn area is located east of I-64, approximately five miles off exit 129. The burn will be expected to take several hours to complete.

The purpose of this prescribed burn is to prevent the transition of the field into a closed canopy forest, a process that would displace declining grassland bird species. The park uses prescribed fire to maintain the field while promoting the establishment of tall grass species favored by grassland nesting birds.

A prescribed burn is a planned fire. This planned fire has a set of parameters that define the desired weather and fuel conditions necessary for a prescribed burn to take place. Before implementing this burn, the fire manager will evaluate current conditions. The fire manager will only begin ignition if the prescribed conditions are safe for human beings, property and wildlife.

Park officials do not expect the burn to interfere with traffic flow on Raleigh County Road 9 North (the road to Grandview). For more information, please contact New River Gorge National Park and Preserve Fire Management staff at (304) 465-6529.

Image Descriptions: 1. 2 NPS firefighters monitor a prescribed burn of grass in 2024 2. NPS firefighter stands with a drip torch

Road ReopeningCunard Road will reopen on Monday, April 6 after the completion of this winter’s work. The road will once ...
03/24/2026

Road Reopening

Cunard Road will reopen on Monday, April 6 after the completion of this winter’s work. The road will once again accommodate two lane traffic down to the Cunard river access and the Brooklyn campground. We appreciate everyone’s patience while this phase of much needed road work was completed.

Image Description: A group of rafters lower their raft down a metal ramp with stairs on either side towards the river.

Join us during Women's History Month and America's 250th for “Amazing Aprons: Women of the New River Gorge,” a program c...
03/20/2026

Join us during Women's History Month and America's 250th for “Amazing Aprons: Women of the New River Gorge,” a program celebrating the women who have called the New River Gorge home. This one-hour program will cover how nurses, homemakers, farmers, and other women have influenced life in this region. The second and final run of this program will be hosted at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center Auditorium tomorrow Saturday March 21 at 1 p.m.

Image Description: 1 A woman stands on the wooden porch of her home with dogs. 2 Three women in nurses uniforms stand in front of a brick building. 3 Two women sit on their porch preparing vegetables.

“I am glad that I will have the pleasure of casting my vote for the suffrage amendment and also to praise the fourteen f...
03/16/2026

“I am glad that I will have the pleasure of casting my vote for the suffrage amendment and also to praise the fourteen fellow members of the senate who have stood together solidly to hold the special session together until my arrival.” – WV Senator Jesse Bloch March 10, 1920

West Virginia’s ratification of the 19th Amendment was perhaps the amendment’s most dramatic step on its way to become part of our constitution.

When West Virginia’s legislature was called to special session to vote on the 19th Amendment a stalemate quickly developed with the Senate splitting 14-14. State Senator Jesse Bloch, a pro-suffrage Senator, was the tiebreaking vote on West Virginia's ratification of the 19th Amendment.

He was on vacation in California when the Governor, John Cornwall, called the Legislature into special session to take up the amendment. When pro-suffrage groups were made aware of his status, they donated funds to help him travel by train from California to West Virginia. His overland journey by train took him 5 days and newspapers around the nation tracked his progress. In the early morning hours of March 10, he arrived in Charleston and helped West Virginia become the 34th state to ratify the Amendment.

This cartoon titled "He's on his way", from the Wheeling Intelligencer on March 8, 1920 depicts Bloch’s long journey home.

Image Description: A black and white cartoon titled "He's On His Way" shows a man running back to save the suffrage amendment from a man with horns

Address

PO Box 246, 104 Main Street
Glen Jean, WV
25846

Telephone

+13044650508

Website

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