Weekend with 4 kids at the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

Skip to Trip Info Box

We spent a weekend exploring New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. Our plan was to get a good mix of hiking, overlook, and time by the river, while staying somewhere that worked well for all six of us.

Taken before sunset from the Concho Rim Overlook

The New River Gorge in West Virginia is a whitewater river and is considered one of the oldest ones on Earth (this is not a mistake!), that flows north and is responsible for carving the deepest and longest river gorge in the Appalachian Mountains.

The park has a unique cultural history that contributes to its importance, including old coal mining towns and 19th century railroad tracks that broke the isolation of this land to the outside world (read further at the National Parks website).

The park offers many recreational activities, including whitewater rafting, biking and so much more.

There are a few coal-mining sites you can visit, and many hiking areas, including Fayetteville, Nuttallburg and others. Limited in time, and hiking with our 4 kids (who were 2-12yo at the time), we chose a family-friendly trail - through Glade Creek, leading to Kate's falls.

Hiking to Kate’s Falls

We decided to check out Kate’s Falls, beautiful waterfalls inside the preserve. There are actually two ways to reach it, and knowing the difference makes planning a lot easier:

• Option 1: Long Route (Glade Creek Trail)

  If you start from the Glade Creek Campground trailhead near Prince, you can hike the full Glade Creek (out and back) trail. It follows the creek for nearly 5 miles one way, which makes it 9.4 miles round trip. This is considered a moderate hike on AllTrails, with over 760ft elevation, so best if considered when your group is used to such long/challenging hikes.

• Option 2: Short Route (Glade Creek Road access) This is the shorter option, where you drive down Glade Creek road (a gravel road) to a pull-off trailhead that’s much closer to the waterfall. From there it’s about 1 mile round trip to reach Upper Kate’s Falls. This makes it accessible if you don’t want to commit to a long day hike but still want to see the waterfall.

We made it to the upper section of Kate’s Falls. The trail leads right to the drop where the water spills down into the gorge. You can continue farther to the lower section where the water flows into the creek itself, but even with the short hike, you still get to see the upper cascade without needing hours on the trail.

Concho Rim Overlook

We also visited Concho Rim overlook, which turned out to be the most scenic stops of the weekend. The overlook gives a wide view across the gorge and down toward the historic town of Thurmond. It’s easy to reach by car and doesn’t require a hike, so it worked well to fit in alongside our longer outing to the falls.

View across the gorge

At the Base of the New River Gorge Bridge

Another highlight was heading down near the ACE rafting exit point to see the New River Gorge Bridge from below. From the riverbank you get a sense of just how huge the structure is, and it’s a completely different experience from viewing it at the official overlooks. Being at river level also connected the two big pieces of the park: the water that built the gorge and the bridge that spans it.

For the kids, this stop worked well too. There’s space along the riverbank to climb around on rocks, explore the shoreline, and stay busy while we took in the view of the bridge

Trip Takeaways

🗓️ Trip Length: 2 days (weekend)

🚶 Main Hike: Kate’s Falls via Glade Creek Road (~1 mi loop). Longer option: full Glade Creek Trail (~9.4 mi out and back).

👀 Other Stops: Concho Rim Overlook, base of the New River Gorge Bridge

🌦️ Weather: We came in April — cool and comfortable for hiking, but too early for water activities.

🧒 Kid-Friendly? Yes. The short hike to Kate’s Falls and Concho Rim are easy with kids. At the bridge base, ours enjoyed climbing rocks and exploring the riverbank.

🏡 Where to Stay: Cabin at ACE Adventure Resort — kitchens and space for families. The inflatable water park on the lake is open in summer but was closed during our April visit.

🍽️ If you’re planning a trip, check our Vegan Pantry for Traveling Families.