American Locations 1 - New River
The trip is from New River, West Virginia, to Stinking Creek, Tennessee, by way of Long Key, Florida.
New River Wilderness Area, West Virginia
In September of 2017 I and my wife began another road trip. We drove northwest from Cincinnati up I-71 to West Lancaster, then turned south east on Hwy. 35. We passed through rich farmland until we crossed the Ohio River at Point Pleasant into West Virginia. The terrain grew steadily hillier as we continued south to I-64. Then we headed east into Charleston, where we picked up Hwy. 60. This twisting curving two-lane road followed the Kanawah River up into the Appalachian Mountains. A scenic drive to begin our trip.
We stopped at a small dam in the river to stretch out legs. This is where the Kanawah River joins the Gauley River to form the New River.
We didn't drive very far beyond this point
before stopping once again to view a waterfall.
As we continued winding through the mountains we passed the Mystery Spot. This looked like the kind of roadside attraction that was popular in the mid-1900's. Sadly, we didn't stop to check it out. We did stop at Hawk's Nest State Park.
We checked out the lodge, which gave a good
view out over the New River valley.
In this photo you can barely see the New River Gorge Bridge.
We continued east on Hwy. 60 from Hawk's Nest State
Park to Hwy.. 19, where we turned southwest. This
led us to the New River
Gorge Bridge.
We took a walkway down to a viewing platform below
the bridge.
That gave a good view of the valley the
bridge spanned.
It is an impressive structure. Here is an
entry about it from the National Park Service site:
When the New
River Gorge Bridge was completed on October 22,
1977, a travel challenge was solved. The bridge reduced a 40-minute drive down
narrow mountain roads and across one of North America's
oldest rivers to less than a minute. When it comes to road construction,
mountains do pose a challenge. In the case of the New
River Gorge Bridge, challenge was transformed into a work of
structural art - the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and the third
highest in the United States.
The New River Gorge Bridge
is one of the most photographed places in West Virginia. The bridge was chosen to
represent the state on the commemorative quarter released by the U.S. Mint in
2006. In 2013, the National Park Service listed the New River Gorge
Bridge in the National
Register of Historic Places as a significant historic resource.
Bridge
Construction
The West Virginia Division of Highways chose the Michael Baker Company as the
designer, and the construction contract was awarded to the American Bridge
Division of U.S. Steel. In June 1974, the first steel was positioned over the
gorge by trolleys running on three-inch diameter cables. The cables were strung
3,500 feet between two matching towers. Cor-ten steel, with a rust-like
appearance that never needs painting, was used in construction.
Once a year the bridge is
closed and the local population has quite a party:
On the third
Saturday of October, the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce hosts "Bridge
Day." On this one day a year, the famous New River Gorge
Bridge is open to
pedestrians and a wide variety of activities—great views, food and crafts
vendors, BASE jumping, rappelling, music, and more—draw thousands of people.
Bridge Day is West Virginia's
largest one-day festival, and it is the largest extreme sports event in the
world.
The
first official Bridge Day was celebrated in 1980 when two parachutists jumped
from a plane onto the bridge. They were joined by three additional
parachutists, and all five then jumped from the bridge into the gorge. Today,
the event lures hundreds of BASE jumpers, cheered on by thousands of
spectators. "BASE" stands for Building, Antenna (tower), Span
(arch or bridge), and Earth (cliff or natural formation), the four categories
of objects in which BASE jumpers jump from. For more information, visit
the Official Bridgeday website,
or call the New River Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 927-0263.
I ripped off two images from the Bridge Day site, to give you an idea what the event is like.
After visiting the New River Gorge Bridge we were ready to proceed to our campground. It had been a full day driving.
Next Location – Babcock
