A Week in West Virginia: New River Gorge National Park and Canaan Valley

View of New River Gorge from Grandview Trail

Note: Some links throughout our site are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

This is the first post in a series for this trip. You can view links to the other posts at the bottom of this one.

Planning our Week in West Virginia: New River Gorge National Park and Canaan Valley Trip

how we determined our destination: new river gorge national park and canaan valley

I feel like we’re not alone when we say sometimes it is easier to plan a trip halfway around the world than to take the time to visit somewhere within driving distance of home. For years, we have talked about visiting the New River Gorge area as well as other spots in the Canaan Valley vicinity: Seneca Rocks and Dolly Sods. At half a day’s drive, this shouldn’t have taken about a decade in the making, but it did. In fact, it took us so long that by the time we visited, New River Gorge had joined the national park system, the 63rd park designated as such in 2020.

In our effort to restart travel but limit our exposure to germs, we have been spurred to check out a lot of spots, and that’s what led us to finally plan this trip. A few other trips we have taken in the past year have been similarly inspired. They include our time at Breaks Interstate Park on the border of Virginia and Kentucky (read more here), as well as West Virginia’s Pocahontas County with a stay in Watoga State Park (read more here).

While there were a number of spots we wished to visit in/near New River Gorge and Canaan Valley, we decided to pick a couple of home base spots to avoid too much packing and unpacking. We decided to spend three nights in each area.

where we stayed: rental homes in new river gorge national park and canaan valley

Since we were traveling with a few family members and needed the space, we decided to rent a home in each area. Below is an overview of each accommodation

New River Gorge Area Accommodation: Glen Jean Rental

The town of Glen Jean is centrally located and served as a nice access point to all the area activities. The house we stayed in (view the listing on VRBO here) is from the 1920s and is situated on a nice, large lot that has the house set back from the road across a long, green lawn. The home has 5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, a patio, a firepit, and a ping pong table in a former sunroom. It has the type of eccentricities that old houses have, but the owners have done a really nice job, and it’s a great option for people wishing to have a larger accommodation and privacy while visiting the area.

Canaan Valley Area Accommodation: Davis Rental - Voyager Rest

We found the Davis area, right in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, to be a great option for our travel in the area. The chalet-style house we stayed in (view the listing on VRBO here) is actually in the wildlife refuge in a private community and is nestled on 7-acres with sweeping views off the back porch. The owner has traveled the world for work and filled the home with eclectic mementos that make it truly unique and fascinating. This is not a home we’d recommend people of the minimalist persuasion stay in. The home has 3 bedrooms (2 in the basement, 1 in an upstairs loft with none on the main level) and 2.5 baths. The bathrooms boast grotto-esque stone showers that were really fun. The back porch is a great place to start and end the day, and there is also a fire pit and hot tub out back.

what were the highlights of our trip to new river gorge national park and canaan valley

This was mostly a hiking trip for us, and both of these areas are rife with outdoor activities.

The highlights of our trip were:

Grandview Rim Trail in New River Gorge - this trek provides multiple views of the horseshoe-shaped gorge
Sandstone Falls in New River Gorge - these waterfalls span 1500 feet in width and are more beautiful for their width than height, which is not much compared to more traditional waterfalls. A hike allows visitors to walk out to an island on the river and see the falls from multiple vantage points. The entire area and scenic drive on the way there are worth the visit itself.
Wandering around the ghost town of Thurmond - this former stop on the railroad was a town that boomed and then gradually fell into disrepair. A few houses are in the process of being restored but generally it is a town being subsumed by nature and is good for some (rural) urban exploring.
Endless Wall Trail is one of the more popular trails in the area for a reason. In addition to providing views of the picturesque New River Gorge Bridge itself, there are endless look-out points above the river far below.
Long Point Trail, across the river from Endless Wall Trail, provides additional views of the river and gorge and - as its name suggests - it comes to a point that juts out from the cliffs nearby.
Babcock State Park Grist Mill - While there is ample hiking at this state park, it is particularly noteworthy for the very picturesque grist mill. The mill is located right off the main road and easy to view.
Hike to the top of Seneca Rocks - With a quick uphill hike and 900 feet elevation gain, Seneca Rocks offers sweeping views but the rocks themselves, when viewed from below, are the main attraction.
Dolly Sods Wilderness Area - Filled with numerous day and multi-day hikes, Dolly Sods is known for being one of the east coasts’ few wilderness areas. If you want to get away from humanity, you can’t go wrong here!
Blackwater Falls State Park - There are a number of scenic and wooded hikes, and the park is best known for Blackwater Falls, the highest waterfall in the state of West Virginia at a height of 60 feet.
Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge - Wildlife refuges are one of our favorite types of places to visit to get the feel for an area’s natural feel and - if you time it right - birds. This system has a number of trails to check out.

Would we return to New River Gorge National Park and Canaan Valley?

A resounding yes! We barely scratched the surface in these two areas. Of the two, I’d probably prioritize a to return to Canaan Valley to explore Dolly Sods more in depth.

Trip Do-Over: What would we do differently?

This trip went off without a hitch. In fact, I’d very much recommend this itinerary to others as a way to explore what these regions of West Virginia have to offer. Even the drive from New River Gorge to Canaan Valley was gorgeous. We went in late May, which was really a perfect time. Our visit was before the peak tourism season, the weather was conducive to being outdoors, and the rhododendrons were in bloom.

Our Driving Route

We made this trip from our home in the Roanoke area, which made for a nice loop. The two destinations are labelled on the map as Glen Jean and Davis with a 3-hour drive from one to the other.

Click the image below to save this post to Pinterest!