New River Gorge Bridge

The New River Gorge Bridge is a 3,030-foot steel arch carrying U.S. Route 19 across the gorge, 876 feet above the New River. It is the park’s defining engineering landmark, and the easiest full-span view is from the adjacent Canyon Rim Visitor Center. From there, a short boardwalk reaches two overlooks where the arch, river and wooded gorge line up in one view. This is a bridge to look at on an ordinary day, not a pedestrian crossing; do not stop on its highway deck.

The upper Canyon Rim deck has an accessible ramp; the lower deck is reached by stairs. The visitor center has parking, flush restrooms, potable water, picnic tables and a small book and publication sales area. For a lower view, Fayette Station Road descends beneath the bridge to river level, with several pullouts along the way. It is an 8-mile one-way drive that usually takes 30 to 45 minutes, so treat it as a separate outing rather than a quick stop. Vehicles taller than 12 feet cannot complete the route, and large RVs and trailers are discouraged because of tight turns and low railroad clearance.

Fayette Station Road gives you the other scale of the bridge: the arch and supports rise directly above the narrow road and river. A separate guided Bridge Walk tour uses the maintenance catwalk beneath the roadway; it is not the same as walking across the bridge. The boardwalk decks at Canyon Rim are the simplest place to photograph the full arch with the river below, while the Fayette Station pullouts give you a closer, upward view.

Before the bridge opened on October 22, 1977, getting from one side of the gorge to the other meant a winding mountain-road drive that could take about 40 minutes. The bridge cut that crossing to less than a minute. It still carries U.S. 19 traffic, so the bridge itself is part of the route through the park as much as a landmark to stop and see.

The single arch spans 1,700 feet. Construction began with steel placed in 1974 using trolleys that ran on cables stretched 3,500 feet between towers. Michael Baker Company designed the bridge and American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel built it. Its Cor-ten weathering steel develops a rust-colored surface and was chosen so the structure would not need painting; the whole bridge weighs about 88 million pounds.

When it opened, its arch was the world’s longest steel arch; it held that title until Shanghai’s Lupu Bridge opened in 2003. It remains the longest steel arch bridge in the United States and is the country’s third-highest bridge. West Virginia put the bridge on its state commemorative quarter in 2006, and it entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Bridge Day began in 1980 with five parachutists. It is now the annual exception to normal access: on the third Saturday in October, the roadway opens to pedestrians for jumping, rappelling, vendors and music. Event traffic and access details vary, so use current event information if you are planning around that day.