Grandview Visitor Center

Grandview Visitor Center is a small, seasonal information building in the Grandview section, high above the New River. Pick up maps or the park newspaper, ask a ranger, or browse the small gift shop. Then make the short walk to Main Overlook; the center is a useful starting point, while the gorge is the main event.

The center area has parking, drinking water, picnic tables and shelters, with accessible flush toilets in a separate nearby building. From I-64, take Exit 129B from Beckley or Exit 129 from Lewisburg, then follow Route 9 north about six miles. Grandview is open year-round, but the building has limited seasonal hours, so check the current schedule if you're coming for the indoor stop or its passport stamp.

Main Overlook is a short walk from the center and sits about 1,400 feet above the river. On a clear day, the view reaches about seven miles along the New River and its watershed. Look for the active railway and the small community of Quinnimont below; the first coal from the gorge shipped from there in 1873.

Grandview has about six miles of trails, from easy forest loops to strenuous cliffside routes. Big Buck is an easy 0.9-mile loop, with tree-identification signs along the way. For a closer look at the rock walls and exposed coal seams, Castle Rock is a strenuous 0.6 miles one way. The Grandview Rim Trail runs 1.6 miles one way from Main Overlook to Turkey Spur, with gorge views along the route; turn around when you've had enough.

West Virginia bought 52 acres at Grandview in 1939 for a day-use park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built roads, shelters and a picnic area that are still in use. The 1,200-seat Cliffside Amphitheater followed in the 1960s, along with more paths and recreation facilities. Grandview joined the National Park Service in 1990.

The rose-purple Catawba rhododendrons around the parking areas were planted in the 1970s and bloom in mid-to-late May. Great rhododendrons, West Virginia's state flower, bloom pale pink in late June and early July; mountain laurel flowers show up around the overlooks from late May into early July. The blooms shift with the season, so the same stop can look very different a few weeks apart.