NEW RIVER GORGE, W.Va. — Readers of USA Today have named the Endless Wall Trail at the New River Gorge National River Recreation Area in Fayette County the best national park hike in the United States.
“It’s a hike that I always recommend here because it’s one of the best views in the park,” Dave Bieri, district supervisor for the New River Gorge National River Recreation Area, told MetroNews.
“It’s nice, easy hike with some really spectacular views,” Bieri said of the trail that covers 2.4 miles in the more than 70,000 acres of the New River Gorge.
Hikers can often hear the voices of whitewater rafters paddling the New River, nearly 1,000 below the trail, one the National Park Service rates as “moderate.”
“They call it Endless Wall Trail because of the cliffline there. It’s really popular with climbers. It’s one of the most popular climbing areas in the East, actually. They call it Endless Wall because the line of cliffs there goes on for quite some distance,” Bieri explained.
USA Today readers chose from 20 nominated national park hikes in the U.S. for the 10Best list that also included Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park, Kilauea Iki Trail at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Narrows at Zion National Park and Bright Angel Trail at Grand Canyon National Park.
“Just being on the top 20 list was kind of an honor and then to actually come up No. 1 was really neat,” Bieri said. “A lot of people in the area obviously enjoy that trail.”
Voting for USA Today’s 10Best national park hike list ended earlier this week.