Scott W.
Yelp
How's that for some truth in advertising.
I was driving all around the New River Gorge one weekend, and I came here about 90 minutes before sunset. I had intended to hike, but I couldn't determine if I could make it in daylight so I decided to focus on the viewpoints mainly. Good thing I did, because when you're playing the mental highlights reel those will be the ones lodged in your brain.
I started off with the Main Overlook, and talk about an opening act. What a beautiful scene! You've got a horseshoe of the New River in front of you, going around a forested mountain. There are lovely sites all around the New River Gorge, but let me say that this may be the single most lovely of them all.
I then walked the Castle Trail, though to be quite fair I didn't quite get much out of it. You do get to see some of those "walls" that you see along the NRG, which have their appeal, but after you've seen one of the Grand Views of your life it's a little unfair to compare anything else.
I then drove out to Turkey Spur Overlook (which feels a lot longer than 1.6 miles away, but I trust the NPS) and after missing a turn when the road forked I made it there. I was the only one out, and a brief rain had come and gone while I was on the Castle Trail, so by the time I ascended the stairs and took on the overlook I had this otherworldly scene. The sun, which had been hidden the entire day, finally blasted out in its dying minutes of the day, so you had this mixture of mist and intense light from the setting west behind me. It was as euphoric as the first view, when the awesomeness of nature makes itself manifest before your eyes and your eyes only.
I was staying in Fayetteville near the bridge, and it is a bit of a drive to make it out this way. And there's certainly no shortage of fun things to do over there. But you owe it to yourself to come out here regardless - it's not a complete trip otherwise.