A Weekend in the New River Gorge National River - Day Two

We awoke on day 2 to rain.  Bummer.  It wasn't supposed to rain at all.  But there it was, raining pretty hard.  We had made the plan for today last night.  Since we had hiked some of the gorge along the rim, and seen the gorge from several scenic overlooks, we decided to find a trail along the river, down in the Gorge.  Kerry also wanted to see Sandstone Falls after seeing a picture of them on a website.  Since they are located near the south end of the gorge, we decided to find a trail closer to the south end too.   Interestingly enough, the New River flows North, so the south end of the gorge is actually the start of the gorge.

We made our way to Thurmond, WV which is a ghost mining town that the New River Gorge National River staff maintain for the public to explore.  We headed south, to a small campground in the park, which also serves as the trail head for the Stone Cliff Trail.  It's a 3 mile long out and back trail (yep that is 6 miles total) and a pretty easy walk through a nice mature forest.  The trail follows the base of a steep ridge on one side and the river on the other.  Maples and hickories dominate along with the biggest tulip poplars I have ever seen.  The trail occasionally is rocky so you need to be careful not roll an ankle.

We were hoping for a little more exciting trail than what we got.  I mean, the other trails had spectacular views.  Not there is anything wrong with this trail, and it is pretty in its own right.  There are several places you can get to the river from the trail, but no water falls and few views of rapids.  I would imagine this trail would be spectacular in the spring during wildflower blooms.  Didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but we did glimpse a flock of turkeys fly from the other side of the creek then turn down the trail running off from us looking like a flock of velociraptors from Jurassic Park.

The maps and info I seen on the Stone Cliff Trail says that it is 2.7 miles long ending at a large rapids and rock bar.  We found the trail actually ends at 3 miles.  At about 2.7 the trail begins to climb again and moves away from the river.  It is at this point if you walk the 40 plus yards to the river, you would probably find the rock bar and rapids.

             

We opted for lunch at the end of the hike instead of the half way point.  Once we got to the car, we walked down to the campsites along the river for a shore lunch of peanut butter and jelly.  Peanut butter and jelly, food and drink in general,  never tastes better than after a nice long hike.  Sitting on a rock, with the best of company, watch the river flow.


After lunch we headed off to Sandstone Falls, which was about a 45 minute drive, and an adventure in itself.  The first part of that adventure was along the road back out of the gorge.  We had passed a small waterfall on the way in and there was a pull off.  It was one of my more favorable photogrpahic moments of the trip.  Thankfully Kerry has patience, it helps that she is a photographer too, even if she is not in the mood to shoot, she has patience to put up with me.  We spent about a half hour at the falls, Dunloup Creek falls.  Such beauty on the side of the road.  I could have stayed hours exploring that little creek.

       

We were on the road again.  Even the drives in this area are beautiful and fun.  The last 13 miles of the drive you, cross the river at Hinton, then back downriver, along a narrow road through the most interesting "neighborhoods".  You turn into a small parking lot, never guessing what lays a short distance ahead.  The falls themselves stretch the entire width of the river, about a quarter mile at this point.  they only drop 10 to 25 feet, but the sheer width of them is impressive.  There is an island in the river from which to view the falls, and a bridge to give you access.  The island itself is a rare ecosystem and has a small trail for you to explore.  Going off trail upstream and the far side of the island gives the best view of the falls.  Seeing them from the observation deck at the end of the trail is impressive, getting a closer look is awe inspiring. Well worth the drive.  Day two was in the books.