We spent our day at New River Gorge hiking near the Grandview Visitor Center. We arrived at the Grand View to see early morning fog blanketing the valley. Since our hikes would return us here later, we decided to see the Grandview again in the afternoon.
Our first hike took us on the Tunnel Trail. The Tunnel Trail takes you around a very large pile of boulders. The “Tunnel” is actually a passage between the boulders. Because it gets so tight in the middle, the passage has been blocked. There are some places where you can explore spaces between the boulders.
Our next hike was a loop hike that combined a few trails together. We started on Castle Rock Trail. It is a sometimes narrow, sometimes steep, sometimes rock scramble trail. It is rated as “Strenuous.” It was the hardest part of the hike, but it was only difficult in a couple of places. Mostly you had to be comfortable hiking on a narrow trail that dropped off to the side at times. It was definitely a worthwhile hike because the views and the castle wall were unique.
The Castle Rock Trail merged into the Grand View Rim Trail. The steep hills next to the trail and the cliffs were gone, but the trail itself was quite steep in some places. It was a nice hike in the woods that included a view of some deer.
The Grand View Rim Trail leads to a hike up to the top of Turkey Spur. What was previously a rock climb is now a long set of stairs leading to the top of Turkey Spur.
Here are two of the many views from Turkey Spur.
Our return from Turkey Spur to Grand View overlapped some parts of the hike up to Turkey Spur. We walked along the road for part of the distance to see some new areas. Once we were past the connection to the Castle Rock Trail, we hiked back via the Grand View Rim Trail. We came to many long distance views of the New River as it passes through the gorge.
Here is a 360 degree view at one of the overlooks.
In the afternoon, the fog was gone from the Grand View.
And one last selfie before we headed for home.
Our return trip home was uneventful. It was a fun four days at New River Gorge. It is special and different to have a single trip that focuses on one national park.