New River Gorge (Lansing, West Virginia)

The New River Gorge area is absolutely worth the stop, and our favorite part to visit is the bridge, so we stop at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. We've been to the area twice now, and it is a nice respite from our usual drive through West Virginia. 

Things to Do

If you don't have a lot of time, I highly recommend walking the short boardwalk trail to the two observation decks to view the vast expanse of the gorge itself, but also of the steel bridge. There are a lot of stairs, but many places to stop and rest along the way. The way down is easy, it's going up that's the challenge! Our two-year-old made it just fine.

It is around 170 stairs to the lookout, and it's all shaded under a canopy of trees. I found a lovely Yellow Swallowtail butterfly enjoying this native milkweed for an afternoon snack. It's not just for monarchs!

The ranger at the visitor center told us that there's a 30-minute drive on a one-way road that takes us underneath the bridge and across the river. We were making really good time, so we went ahead and did it. The views of the New River Gorge from above are spectacular, but the views of the bridge from below are just as amazing. The pictures truly do not do the bridge itself any justice. This was no doubt a extraordinary undertaking of master engineering.

When we finally reached the bottom of the gorge, we came across an old wooden bridge to take us over the river. It also gave us another great view of the much larger bridge in the distance. 

It was a lovely drive and I'm so glad we were able to do it. Perhaps one day we'll be able to explore more of the New River Gorge itself.

 Activities for Kids

The park has a Junior Ranger program for all ages. We had printed booklets for the older kids to be working on in the van, as we knew we'd be short on time, but the park ranger saw we had a younger little one with us and provided her with a Junior Junior Ranger booklet that she was very happy to fill out. At the After getting their badges, we walked to the bridge overlook. We've made this trek once before, but it was fun to have our 2-year-old along with us this time. She was also so proud to have her first badge.

Happy travels!