In late summer and fall, a thick morning fog hangs over West Virginia’s New River Gorge. The weather pattern comes from an inversion that traps cool night air in the canyon while warm, damp air rises from the river below. Cars pass over the New River Gorge Bridge in a gray mist as the morning’s earliest rock climbers and hikers look down into a vapor-filled gorge where the river is heard but seldom seen. By 11 AM, the fog lifts to reveal the green tops of oak, hickory, maple, and hemlock.
For years, I’ve wanted to explore the mountains and rivers of West Virginia for the grand adventure and seductive views of Appalachia’s iconic rolling hills. I also hoped that traveling here could shed light on the potential for outdoor recreation and conservation to shape the next chapter of the state’s economy.
I found both, but what stayed with me most were the people in Fayetteville and the small coal encampments surrounding the bridge. At once open and friendly, as well as staunchly proud and of their state and quick to dispel negative connotations or stereotypes. No state is more associated with the decline in coal power than West Virginia. I resonated on many levels, as I’ve watched my home state of Colorado experience drastic shifts in its economy, employment, and politics over the past few decades. Coming here I knew the rafting and trails would be epic, but I didn’t expect to be so deeply moved by the culture.
How New River Gorge National Park and Preserve honors the area’s history
The New River Gorge Bridge defines the viewlines near Fayetteville, a historic engineering triumph that reduced travel time over the New River from 45 minutes to about 90 seconds. Photo: Tim Wenger
“When I was growing up, Fayetteville was just a quaint little town,” my hiking guide, Rodney, told me as we made our way down the popular Endless Wall Trail. This trail runs four miles atop a gray slab of Nuttall sandstone popular with climbers. Rodney is a guide with Adventures on the Gorge, a lodging and camping resort I stayed at that also offers guided hiking, rafting, and sightseeing outings in the national park. It’s his retirement gig, following a lifetime in the area that left him with more stories about the gorge than I could glean over our few hours together.
At its peak in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the New River Gorge was one of the most productive coalfields in the United States. More than 50 coal mining towns were established along the river and its tributaries. Coal mining in the gorge declined after World War II, as railroads converted to diesel and demand shifted. Most mines within what is now the park had shut down by the 1970s. When the New River Gorge was designated a National River in 1978, coal mining had essentially ended in the protected area.
More than 130,000 people worked the coal mines in West Virginia at the occupation’s peak in 1940. The jobs offered a middle class life without an expensive education, and the impact of their work was felt around the world as West Virginia coal powered the railroads and provided the energy that helped build the nation. Still, the industry accounts for $14 billion in annual economic output, totaling 6 percent of the state’s GDP. Here, the “keep it in the ground” rally cries are a direct attack on working families.
“Rafting has done well, the national park has done well,” Rodney said. “But some people, they don’t like change. And the jobs aren’t the same.”
He’s referring to the transition away from coal mining in what is now the park. In my short time in the area, it was abundantly clear that conservation is critical, but the park’s greatest accomplishment lies in what it didn’t change. The workers’ settlements are protected, and their legacy is honored.
Old buildings are preserved in Thurmond, a former hub encampment located within New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Only a handful of residents remain, but visitors can stroll the gravel street adjacent to the still-functioning railroad tracks that put the town on the map. Photo: Tim Wenger
“It is hard to believe the gorge was once clear cut and full of coal camps/towns,” Fayetteville Mayor Sharon Cruikshank told me when I asked about what most surprises visitors. Photos of the gorge today look quite different, but she adds, “Our people are friendly and always willing to help acclimate visitors to find their way in and out of the gorge.”
I asked everyone I met how they felt about the park, the surge of visitors, and the changing jobs. There were few straight answers. The most common refrain: “People around here don’t like to be told what to do.”
Nor should they. West Virginia has river sports and trails on par with anywhere in the western United States, yet, beyond the Appalachian Trail’s jaunt through the state, these don’t receive nearly the press or lore of the Rockies or Idaho’s Salmon River. It’s no surprise there’s little trust in government-led changes pushed from outside the state. The park, however, seems to have proved itself an exception. National park protection means federal funding and staffing to safeguard natural and cultural places from neglect or development. It also protects the views that draw people here. But that’s not to say everything went smoothly when New River Gorge National Park and Preserve was designated in 2020.
Thurmond is the smallest town in America with a functioning Amtrak station. Amtrak’s Cardinal line runs three times per week in each direction between Chicago and New York City. Photo: Tim Wenger
“The local residents feel there needed to be more federal support to make the communities ready for the influx of visitors once we were declared a national park,” Cruikshank said. Parking and public restrooms have also been an issue. “We are working on more housing and lodging properties and trying to spread people out more.”
Initial fears about federal overreach surrounding land use were satisfied in final legislation that emphasized private property rights outside park boundaries would be respected. By keeping the preserve large and the park core relatively small, the designation avoided displacing local hunting clubs, ATV riders, and residents who rely on access.
“It’s one of the only national parks you can still hunt in,” Rodney told me, noting that local politicians fought for the recreational preferences of their constituents to not be overlooked in the park’s charter. The “National Park and Preserve” model – where a larger space of preserved land contains a designated “park” within it – gives the region the prestige and economic potential of a national park while ensuring locals can keep hunting, fishing, and connecting to the land within the preserve. Here, a 7,000-acre National Park (where no hunting is prohibited) is surrounded by a 65,000-acre National Preserve (where hunting remains legal). “They didn’t want to take that away from the people.”
The results of these efforts are plain as day when conversing with guides, restaurant staff, and others whose livelihood depends on the growing outdoor rec economy. Here, conversations about conservation avoid the blame, lack of empathy, and polarization that often define the broader climate movement.
How to best experience New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
Adventures on the Gorge runs full- and half-day rafting trips on the New River that culminate in a dramatic view of the bridge, before passing underneath it. Photo courtesy Tim Wenger
To do New River Gorge National Park and Preserve right takes two approaches. The first is to get out on the river, the trails, and (if you’re a climber) the walls. The second is to go deep into the history of the area.
Fayetteville is the beating heart of adventure in a state that’s chock-full of it. Ninety-three percent of West Virginia is covered in forest – second only to Maine at 97 percent – and the entire state is within the Appalachian Mountain range. Hence its nickname: The Mountain State.
Adventures on the Gorge, just outside Ames Heights near the New River Gorge National Park visitor center, is the place to stay. Rustic cabins, hotel-style cabins, RV sites, and tent camping are available, starting at $7 per night for a tent site and $69 per night for an RV site. I rented a one-bedroom, hotel-style cabin near the resort’s Mill Creek Village, running about $171 per night, where I sipped coffee on the deck in the mornings and gazed out at the hemlock forest beyond. Cabins are named after local mine encampments (mine was called Kaymoor), and the resort displays historic photos of the miners, their work, and their legacy.
The resort offers onsite dining at its smokehouse (aptly named Smokey’s) and the next-door bar and grill, Chet’s. There’s also a coffeeshop cafe, an ice cream parlor, and a pool-side snack bar on site.
I embarked on a full-day rafting excursion in the gorge organized through the hotel. The water was fast but not overbearing, with Class II and III rapids at frequent intervals. The guide offered context on the Hemlock Preserve (part of the “Preserve” in the park’s name) where there are 50 acres of the woodland? under care. I got my first view of the New River Gorge Bridge on the water as we rounded a bend to see it towering above us.
Travelers can peek into the historic buildings in Thurmond. The easiest way to reach them is by taking a historical tour with Adventures on the Gorge. Photo: Tim Wenger
In addition to rafting, I did the guided hike in the park and meandered along the resort’s hiking trails and frisbee golf course just above the gorge. For kids, activities include laser tag, ziplines, and the Timber Trek Adventure Park. Off-site, the “Bridge Walk” gave me the chance to harness up and walk the service platform beneath the New River Gorge Bridge, the river 876 feet below me and cars rumbling overhead.
Adventures on the Gorge can also help with the second aspect of understanding and appreciating New River Gorge with its history tours. The tour I took began by heading deep into the park on the old Fayette Station Road — the only way across the New River before the bridge opened in 1977.
The former coal settlement of Thurmond is the highlight of the tour. It was once a rail and mining hub, and is still home to an operating Amtrak station (the smallest town in the country to have one). Never have I felt more embedded in a time I hadn’t lived than walking the tracks in Thurmond and visiting the gift shop inside the Amtrak station. As we were about to depart, a train sputtered through the station.
Another notable stop is Dun Glen. This small coal-mining settlement about 700 feet above the New River was once home to the grand Dun Glen Hotel (built in 1901) and was famous for gambling, drinking, dancing, and a legendary 14-year poker game. The hotel burned in 1930, likely due to arson, and the town soon faded. It’s possible to drive through and stop in Thurmond to walk the street adjacent to the tracks and peer into the old buildings.
In coal mining’s heyday, workers often were paid partially in private company currency called “scrip,” which could be redeemed at a company store. The Whipple Company store, pictured here in Scarbro, stands as a testament to what encampment life was like. It shuttered in 1957 with the closure of the New River Company mine. Photo: Tim Wenger
On the tour we passed through other coal towns outside the park boundary that show visible hardship. Unemployment is rampant, and the harsh truth about the shift from mining to outdoor recreation is that raft guides don’t make what a coal miner does. Still, some towns are experiencing a rebirth following the arrival of the National Park Service. One is Glen Jean, once a bustling coal and railroad town that’s now the headquarters for New River Gorge National Park and Preserve as well as the Bluestone and Gauley River areas. The historic Glen Jean Bank Building, built in 1909, still stands as a reminder of its industrial past. The NPS runs its local operations from the village. As we toured the towns and settlements, TK offered context on where the coal industry stands now.
In 2023, West Virginia produced about 84.6 million tons of coal — second only to Wyoming in total production. Metallurgical coal, the high-BTU coal used in steelmaking, is a growing share of output as steam coal demand continues to wane. The industry doesn’t employ nearly as many people as it did in the past due to improved machinery and automation. But coal trains still rumble over rafters on the New River, and shuttered mines like Kaymoor serve as end points for adventurous hikers.
Legacy, and a look to the future
The Bank of Glen Jean was the financial engine of local mining companies in the early 1900s. The building was purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 1986 and donated to the National Park Service, which runs the building and its park headquarters located across the street. Photo: Tim Wenger
My visit to New River Gorge both confirmed what I believed about the draw of outdoor experiences for travelers and revealed even more than I imagined. West Virginia is a place any outdoor-obsessed traveler should visit. It’s also somewhere a conservationist or finger-pointing environmentalist should seek to understand. Here, decades of missteps in climate messaging are laid hollow. The New River Gorge is perhaps the best place to see the power outdoor recreation and conservation have to take the reins from an economy built by extraction.
No one should be faulted for an honest life’s labor. The men and women who worked, and still work, the coal mines here deserve a hero’s legacy. Few mountain towns in this country would exist without a foundation rooted in mining or the railroads those mines fueled. You and I can access our favorite trailheads thanks to miners’ dangerous, bone-rattling expeditions inside these hills. Though the future here, as everywhere, will be a new story, it’s important to protect the mountains,rivers, and wildlife habitats they support, and celebrate rather than condemn the hardened tales belted from wooden barstools after the day’s final lift up from the coal-black depths below.
