FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Officials predict it’s going to be another record year for visitation in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve this summer.
New River Gorge National Park Chief of Interpretation in Education Eve West told MetroNews the park saw a record number of visitors at more than 1.7 million, a little over a 6% increase from Summer of 2023.
West said summertime is peak season in the park as visitors across a national and even international scope make their way in to enjoy all of the recreational gems the park has to offer, including whitewater rafting, rock climbing, hiking, and kayaking.
“We think our visitation is going to probably continue to go up, it hasn’t dropped at all in the last few years, so right now we’re reflecting a little over 40-percent visitation rate parkwide,” West said.
Data shows that NRG National Park visitation rates have been at a steady increase since the park’s national redesignation, and with the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic when more people turned to outdoor recreation as a way to safely practice social-distancing– both of which happened almost consecutively with one another.
West said the park’s visitor center’s visitation rates have also been up.
She said last year, the Canyon Rim Visitors Center in Fayette County, on the park’s northern end. received a little more than 500,000 tourists alone.
However, West said, as always, the increased visitation within the park also comes with a greater share of responsibility.
“With increased visitation, you naturally get more use in an area, so we’re having to figure out and manage that, and what we try to do is spread the footprint out as much as we can with that, but it just makes it more challenging for us,” she said.
She said it’s a constant balancing act the park plays in welcoming and maintaining visitation, and preserving and preparing the park for future generation use.
West said they are looking at potentially implementing carrying capacities within some areas of the park to alleviate some of the impact.
She said they are also conducting some studies on how the increased numbers of human traces are impacting the habitats and native wildlife species the park contains within its borders.
“We are taking a look at those things as we are developing longer-range plans to help us manage some of this use, so we’re trying to, I can’t necessarily say get ahead of the curve, because the curve’s already here, but we’re trying to look at what some of those impacts might be and then manage accordingly down the road.”
However, West said one of the upsides to the increased numbers of visitors is that it enables them to implement additional programming for this summer.
Starting now, she said they are holding Ranger’s Choice programs everyday at 10 a.m. at Canyon Rim Visitors Center.
At the Thurmond visitors center, West said they are offering a guided hike or a historic tour at 11 a.m. five days a week this summer.
The main visitors centers at Canyon Rim and Sandstone are set to be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday.
In addition, West said Thurmond will be open Wednesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Grandview every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.
She said even the the visitors center/depot is closed at Thurmond, visitors can still utilize the historic walking trail through the town.
West also reminds that Theater West Virginia holds their annual outdoor theatrical dramas at Grandview. She said those will be starting up in June.
West said that traditionally, their busiest month has been July with the second busiest tied at June or October.
But, she said the more quieter summer months in the park, like August or September, are a great time to come as well.
“So, if you want to come when it’s a little bit slower, you might be looking at September something like that, if you still want to do a summer sort of trip, but regardless, even in July when it’s busy here, the park is a wonderful place to be.”