Almost Heaven, West Virginia

18-23 May 2026

My first time in West Virginia was amazing! The scenery is gorgeous even though the roads were steep, winding and narrow. Everything was lush and green. I stayed at Babcock State Park near New River Gorge National Park. Babcock is a smallish campground and has a historic grist mill in the park. There were lots of trails, but we never got around to exploring any of them. The campground was quiet and very well maintained.

They have these swings all over West Virginia

Glade Creek Grist Mill

Glade Creek Falls with the grist mill in the background

I loved New River Gorge and wished I'd been able to take a rafting trip. Unfortunately, with me having a subcutaneous pump attached for my Remodulin, I can't go in the water - BOOOOO! We made the best of it though.

At the visitor center I got my first National Park passport stamp in 2 years! I was excited they had a special one for America's 250th birthday.

Behind the visitor center there is an upper and lower overlook. There are 178 stairs down to the lower overlook. The New River Gorge Bridge is the longest steel arched bridge the Western Hemisphere. It is 3030ft long and 876 feet above the New River. It was completed in 1977 and replaced the prior 40-minute drive to get from one side of the river to the other, to a one minute drive. It is one of the most photographed places in West Virginia and was featured on their commemorative quarter.

View from the upper overlook

Humorous sign to the stairway

View from the lower overlook

Yep! Your girl here made it to the bottom

The bridge below is on Fayette Station Road and is the one I took the money shot you'll see later

Starting back up the 178 stairs

I still can't believe I made it up all those stairs. I did have to stop several times to catch my breath but I'm so proud of myself. A year ago I couldn't have done 10 stairs, much less 178 of them.

Sage and I took the scenic drive on Fayette Station Road to the bottom of the gorge. This 8-mile, historic route was the main travel route for nearly 100 years. The vehicle bridge at the bottom was the only way to drive from one side of the river to the other. In 1977, upon completion of the New River Gorge Bridge, this bridge was condemned and closed and a replica was built in 1998.

Sage enjoyed hanging her head out the window on the way down Fayette Station road. It's mostly one-way road and very narrow

The money shot! At first I was concentrating on getting the entire bridge in and didn't even notice the reflection on the water. Just beautiful and a wonderful feat of engineering.

Of course Sage had to take a dip in the river. It was a pretty warm day.

Next we headed to Sandstone Falls. Sandstone Falls is the largest waterfall on the New River and spans the entire river 1500 ft wide! Their height varies from 10 to 25 feet and are divided by a series of small islands

The "lower" part of Sandstone Falls

There is a nice boardwalk that takes you through the woods and out to the main falls

Another part of the lower falls

The main falls

The next day we took a drive to Cathedral Falls near the town of Gauley Bridge. The falls were low but still beautiful. The falls drop 60 feet over ledges of shale and sandstone.

Cathedral Falls

That's all we had time for on this trip. Next we head back to Virginia.