Tunney Hunsaker Bridge

The Tunney Hunsaker Bridge is a narrow, one-lane crossing over the New River at the bottom of Fayette Station Road. It carries the eight-mile route between the rim roads, with the high New River Gorge Bridge rising above this lower, river-level view. Treat it as a landmark within the drive, not a separate stop with parking on the bridge.

Fayette Station Road is an eight-mile, one-way drive from Canyon Rim down to the river and back up the opposite gorge wall. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes without lingering. Use the signed pullouts and parking lot at the bottom for river access and broader views of the gorge and high bridge. For a photo that shows the scale of the arch, frame the river below it from one of the pullouts.

A railroad bridge on the route has only 12 feet of clearance, so vehicles over 12 feet cannot complete the drive. Sharp hairpins and railroad tracks make RVs and trailers a poor fit too. Download the park's road audio tour before setting out; cell coverage is spotty through the gorge.

Townsend's Ferry carried people across here from early colonial times through the Civil War and afterward. The Fayette Station Bridge replaced it in the late 1880s. The C&O Railroad arrived in 1873, and the towns of Fayette and South Fayette grew on opposite sides of the river as coal communities. Remnants of both towns remain near the lower bridge, and interpretive panels on the crossing tell their story.

After the New River Gorge Bridge opened high above in 1977, this crossing stopped carrying through traffic. It was rebuilt in the late 1990s and reopened under the Tunney Hunsaker name. Hunsaker was Fayetteville's longtime police chief and a professional boxer; Muhammad Ali's first professional fight was against him in 1960. Ali won, and the two remained friends.