New River Gorge & Hawks Nest

The New River Gorge from the top, in a loop from Fayetteville: the route crosses the gorge on the US-19 bridge, passes the Canyon Rim Visitor Center, turns west on US-60 at Hico and follows the Midland Trail through Ansted and Hawks Nest State Park to Gauley Bridge, and returns south on WV-16. It's 37 miles. It doesn't use Fayette Station Road: its one-way stretch was closed from January 12 to March 31, 2026 for work on the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge, and we couldn't confirm the reopening.

From Fayetteville the route takes US-19 north across the New River Gorge Bridge, 3,030 feet long and 876 feet above the river, opened on October 22, 1977. Just north of the bridge, the Canyon Rim Visitor Center of the national park has overlooks of the arch. On Bridge Day, the third Saturday in October, the bridge is the one day a year open to people on foot. The route skips Fayette Station Road, the old road down to the river: its one-way stretch was closed from January 12 to March 31, 2026 for the second half of the deck work on the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge, and we found no confirmation that it reopened.

At Hico the route turns west on US-60, the Midland Trail, through Ansted to Hawks Nest State Park, where the overlook stands on a cliff 585 feet above the New River. Past Hawks Nest the road drops toward Gauley Bridge; about a mile before town, Cathedral Falls pours down beside the road at a small roadside park. From Gauley Bridge the route takes WV-16 south through Cotton Hill and climbs back to Fayetteville. It's a 37-mile loop; expect rafting traffic in summer.