Parking
Park at Thurmond Trailhead; parking and a vault toilet are available there. Follow Rend Trail about 0.7 mile to the Church Loop branch.
Overview
About Church Loop Trail
Why go
- A distinctive historic church is the payoff
Heads up
- The short church loop requires a longer Rend Trail approach
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the New River Gorge map
Full mapElevation1,110–1,194 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active New River Gorge alerts
- ClosureRend and Church Loop trails closedMentions this trailRend Trail is closed from both trailheads through approximately December 2027; Church Loop Trail is also closed because its only access is from Rend.Official details
- ClosureKaymoor Miners Trail weekday closureThe upper Kaymoor Miners Trail is closed Monday–Thursday through November 19 for trail rehabilitation.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
New River Gorge Tour Guide
Your drive to Church Loop Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Rend Trail's Railroad Grade0:00 / 0:22
“You're nearing Thurmond Trailhead for the Rend Trail, a gentle walk along an old coal railroad.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf New River Gorge Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Dunloup Falls from the Roadside
- Thurmond's Railroad Town
- Stone Cliff Beside the River
- Thurmond’s Black Church
- 92 audio storiesacross New River Gorge’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, White-tailed Deer, Pileated Woodpecker, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 49 trails, 55 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Church Loop Trail
A short walk with a longer approachChurch Loop is a 1.
Church Loop is a 1.8-mile out-and-back from Thurmond Trailhead when you include the Rend Trail approach and return. The Church Loop section is about 0.1 mile; its published distance is labeled “one-way” even though the route is described as a loop. Allow about an hour. Don’t mistake “short” for “easy”: the published difficulty is moderate to strenuous.
Follow Rend to the turnPark at Thurmond Trailhead and follow Rend Trail about 0.
Park at Thurmond Trailhead and follow Rend Trail about 0.7 mile to the Church Loop branch on the right. The route’s return connection is not clearly shown on maps, so follow the established path and retrace the known corridor if you don’t find a clear connection back to Rend. Pets are allowed on park trails on a physical leash no longer than six feet.
The church beside Dunloup CreekThe walk passes the historic Thurmond Black Church near Dunloup Creek, one of the few historic…
The walk passes the historic Thurmond Black Church near Dunloup Creek, one of the few historic African American churches still standing in the gorge. Its original name and denomination are unknown. The approach follows part of Rend’s former railroad grade, built to carry coal from the Minden mines to Thurmond.
Wildlife
Wildlife in New River Gorge
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.
