Hiking The Grandview Rim Trail In New River Gorge National Park
The Grandview Rim Trail is located in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. This pet and family friendly hike is around 3.2 miles long and has a little under 300 feet of elevation gain.
I think most of that elevation gain is the steps you have to climb at Turkey Spur Overlook (there’s 150 of them), but the views from the top are great.
To reach the trail take the paved path from the parking lot of the Grandview Visitor Center to the main overlook. Follow the signs for the rim trail and begin your hike. Make sure to take a few minutes to check out the views from the main overlook though, because they are pretty darn impressive.
You could also start the trail at the Turkey Spur Overlook. There is a small parking lot there.
I gotta be honest here and tell you that neither of us was a fan of this hike.
It was boring!
It’s 1.6 miles between the main overlook and Turkey Spur then you just turn around and back track. There are a couple viewpoints, but they are lackluster at best compared to the main overlook. At least half of the trail is just you walking parallel to the road. The rest is through the forest and rhododendrons trees.
Now there is quite a bit of rhododendrons and walking through those when they are blooming in the spring is quite pretty. Unfortunately, we were there in October. We hiked through a ton of rhododendrons when we spent two months on the Appalachian Trail a couple years ago and I always enjoyed it.
So unless you just want an easy hike to breathe in some fresh area and enjoy nature for a bit I would say skip the Grandview Rim Trail. Do not skip the main overlook and Turkey Spur Overlook though, because they are definitely worth your time.
You can still check out both of them without hiking the rim. Click on any of the links above for my posts on those attractions.
If hiking is your jam though you can extend the 3.2 mile rim trail by adding in the Castle Rock Trail that intersects it. Castle Rock is a great trail and will add another 0.6 miles to your hike. This particular trail has a higher degree of difficulty and is not recommend for younger hikers.
Just click on the link for my post on that fun trail. If fact if your in the area I highly recommend the Castle Rock Trail. It’s one in the park that shouldn’t be missed.
