[GaliWalker]

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (West Virginia, Oct/31/2021) One of the oldest rivers on the continent, the New River was designated a National River in 1978. Then, in December 2020, a region of the New River Gorge became America's newest National Park. When I heard the news, I made a mental note to make a return trip in there, preferably in fall. It had been seven years since my last visit, and there's lots to see there, so it was time anyway. I began the day with the 3.5hr drive to Babcock State Park. Sitting in the New River Gorge National Area, but not part of the National Park, it's a spot that I'd never visited before. Pick up any tourism book on West Virginia and you will see a photo of the iconic Glade Creek Grist Mill. I was the first car in the parking lot. It was still dark and raining steadily. I unfurled my umbrella and walked over to a spot downstream, and then waited for the light to improve.

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After my early morning photography session at the Glade Creek Grist Mill, I drove over to Sandstone Falls, which is one of the premier spots in New River Gorge National Park, and one of my favorite waterfalls. It's actually a complex of 10-25ft tall waterfalls, spanning the 1,500ft width of the New River. You can spend hours there. Unfortunately, it was still raining steadily and spray from the waterfall was also flying sideways, so photography was quite difficult. Plus, I had more destinations to visit, and each one was 45min to an hour's drive off. So, I worked my way over into the middle of the river, to my favorite location, and called it good.

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My next location was Dunloup Creek Falls. This is an extremely photogenic cascading waterfall. As a bonus, I found a smaller new-to-me drop just upstream of the main falls.

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6- Dunloup Falls

Along with Sandstone Falls, the other most well-known attraction in the National Park is the New River Gorge Bridge. When built the bridge was the longest single-span arch bridge in the World (it is the fifth longest now). Soaring 876ft above the New River, it's a pretty impressive structure. You can either hike down into the gorge (and then back up) or drive down on an extremely steep road. I planned to do neither: My goal was to explore the waterfalls on Fern Creek. In the process I would drop down all the way into the gorge, with the final 700ft of elevation being lost in 0.4mi.

7- New River Gorge Bridge

After driving over the New River Gorge Bridge I made my way over to the trailhead for the Endless Wall. I took the Endless Wall Trail for 0.7mi, crossing Fern Creek on a footbridge, and then turned right onto the Climbers Access Trail. Almost immediately I was at the rim of the gorge, with a great view of the Endless Wall. A short bit to the right of this viewpoint, was the start of the route down into the gorge. This was a long ladder with a tricky access point, which disappeared into a tunnel formed by huge boulders. Right after the tunnel, a second, slightly longer ladder, led me down to a third and final ladder, and then I was down at the base of the cliff.

8- Endless Wall

9- First ladder

10- Base of first ladder

11- Second ladder

12- Second and third ladders

The main Climbers Access Trail headed left, through a narrow crack, but my directions said I was supposed to head right on another "trail". Well, there was no trail to be seen, just fallen leaves coating a jumble of boulders, which ranged in size from small to enormous house-sized blocks. I worked my way along the base of the cliff, through the rugged terrain, being careful not to slip and twist an ankle. It was pretty slippery, since everything was wet from the rain that was still sporadically coming down. Eventually, I reached Fern Creek. At this point it was separated into two branches, with about 50-100ft between them, in very similar settings: Each of the two streams appeared out of a crack in the boulders, and if you peered into the cracks, you could see waterfalls. The first one was called Matteus Falls, while the second was Upper Fern Creek Falls. Evidently, the latter falls over the boulders, and not just through a crack, when flowing really well. Both waterfalls were extremely difficult to photograph, so I decided to leave that for a return trip.

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At this point I'd begun to realize that I was not going to be able to make it all the way down to Lower Fern Creek Falls, since the worst was yet to come. I still had a long way to go, and I did not want to tackle the difficult terrain this late in the day. I would return. So, I headed back up to the Endless Wall Trail and then took a right to the lovely vista at Diamond Point, just 0.3mi further.

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At the conclusion of this trip, I've come to the realization that while New River Gorge National Park is only a 3.5hr drive away for me, in order to see it 'properly' I can't make a day trip of it. There's just too much to see and most attractions are at least a 45min drive away. The only alternative would be to see it in sections.

[zephyr]

Your photos are beautiful. The colors look rich and complex. Such a great trip in spite of the rain. I realize it must take a lot of thoughtfulness not to slip and fall. Wet leaves, slick rock, etc. So you have to be on top of things the whole time unless you're maybe just sitting still. haha ~z

[GaliWalker]