Sight · New River Gorge National Park
A creekside hike leads to tiered falls across a sandstone ledge.
Overview
Glade Creek Falls is a creek-wide cascade in New River Gorge, where water breaks over tiered sandstone steps. It is stop six on the park’s waterfall tour and a good choice if you want a short creekside walk rather than a roadside pullout. From the recommended lower campground trailhead, the falls are about a mile away; the trail gains little overall but has brief steeper stretches and spots that may be muddy. This is a hike, not a wheelchair-accessible viewpoint.
Parkwolf’s verdictA waterfall worth the mileMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
New River Gorge Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for New River Gorge National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the New River Gorge audio tourRecorded for this place
Glade Creek's Waterfall Walk“You're nearing the lower Glade Creek trailhead by the campground, the starting point I'd choose for a short waterfall hike.”
Plays as you drive up to Glade Creek Falls in the Parkwolf New River Gorge Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
The park recommends starting at Glade Creek Campground. The alternate upper trailhead road is steep, narrow, winding and unpaved; the park says it is unsuitable for most vehicles except high-clearance 4WD. From that upper trailhead, the walk is 9.4 miles round trip, so the lower campground approach is the practical choice for most visitors.
Glade Creek Trail follows an abandoned narrow-gauge railroad corridor once used to haul coal from mines in the gorge. The falls are about a mile from the campground end, so you only need a short section of the trail; smaller cascades and pools make the creekside approach part of the outing.
A wide view from the creekside route shows how the falls split into separate drops across the sandstone. Getting closer to the water can mean a steep, hard-to-find descent, so treat the view from the path as the plan and skip the scramble if the footing or route is unclear.
There is no food service or potable water at the primitive campground by the lower trailhead. Its toilets are year-round composting toilets, but those facilities are at the campground, not beside the falls. Bring food and drinking water before walking in.
Wildlife
18 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
126 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
25 sightingsPileated WoodpeckerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
15 sightingsBarred OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
14 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
58 sightingsCopperheadMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across New River Gorge. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateGlade Creek Trail5.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.8 mi awayA gentle rail grade keeps you beside cascades most of the way.
ModeratePolls Plateau Trail3.7 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayCreek crossings and an old farmstead on a quiet forest loop.
ChallengingKates Plateau Trail8.9 mi · 5.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayOld logging roads, fields and a steep creek crossing.
ChallengingKates Falls Trail0.4 mi · 30 min · 3 mi awayA short, steep climb ends at a sandstone waterfall.
ModerateTunnel Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 3.1 mi awayA short, shady walk beneath Grandview’s broad sandstone overhang.
ChallengingCastle Rock Trail0.6 mi · 45 min · 3.1 mi awayWalk beneath layered walls and exposed coal along a strenuous gorge path.
ModerateGrandview Rim Trail3.2 mi · 2 hr · 3.1 mi awayA wooded 1.6-mile route between two overlooks, with hills near Turkey Spur.
EasyWoodland Loop Trail0.6 mi · 18 min · 3.6 mi awayAn easy forest loop from Grandview Shelter #2.
Campground · 1 mi awayGlade Creek CampgroundA wooded camp at the end of an old creekside rail trail.
Campground · 2.4 mi awayWar Ridge CampgroundEight drive-in sites at the park’s only off-river campground.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayKates FallsA stepped sandstone waterfall at the end of a long creekside hike.
Sight · 2.7 mi awayMill Creek River AccessA simple launch where Mill Creek meets the New River.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayGrandview Main OverlookSeven miles of river and gorge from one short overlook.
Visitor center · 3.2 mi awayGrandview Visitor CenterMaps, a small shop, and a walk to a seven-mile river view.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayCliffside AmphitheaterA 1,200-seat stage for live summer drama at Grandview.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayNorth OverlookA river bend framed by Grandview’s flowering rhododendrons.Parkwolf’s New River Gorge ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
