New River Gorge National Park in southern West Virginia is one of the newest national parks in the system, but it has been a mecca for adventure sports for decades. Whitewater rafting and rock climbing have had a foothold here for a long time. There are plenty of gorgeous hiking trails, and you can even walk underneath the length of the New River Gorge Bridge on a Bridge Walk. But one day a year, the adventure gets just a little more extreme in this national park.
On the third Saturday of every October, the authorities close the New River Gorge Bridge to traffic. Folks are allowed to walk on the bridge, and folks who signed up are allowed to BASE jump off the bridge and down to the New River below. This is Bridge Day.
BASE Jumping at Bridge Day
BASE jumping is when you free fall from a fixed structure and then deploy a parachute seconds later. It’s a very dangerous sport, but one that has caught the attention of people into extreme sports. New River Gorge National Park is the only place in the entire National Park System where it’s legal to BASE jump. And it’s only legal this one day a year.
That one day a year has developed into a festival called Bridge Day. It’s free to attend, and you can walk out onto the New River Gorge Bridge and watch these people jump off the bridge.
After working on the Shaka Guide driving tour for New River Gorge National Park, I vowed to come back sometime for Bridge Day. And I was fortunate to come back this October, just one year later. I brought my family and in-laws with me to experience this incredible event.
FYI, you’ll see a lot of vertical pictures in this post. I was mostly taking video while I was there, so some of these are screenshots and not the best quality.
New River Gorge Bridge National Park
So let’s back up for a moment. The New River is one of the only rivers in the Appalachians that travels south to north. It cuts through the mountains and creates the beautiful and deep New River Gorge. For decades, the main way across the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia was to take a long, windy road down into the gorge and then drive back up. It was a narrow, twisty road that took something like 45 minutes.
So to help people out and get across the gorge more quickly, the New River Gorge Bridge was completed in the 1970s. The New River was a national river for a few decades, but the area was upgraded to become New River Gorge National Park in 2020, as part of a COVID relief package. And it includes the New River Gorge Bridge within its borders.
The national park preserves the area’s industrial history, and stewards nature’s comeback to this formerly depleted and struggling landscape. Today, it’s a wonderful place to hike, look for waterfalls, enjoy a wide variety of outdoor activities, explore the ruins of coal mining and railroad towns, and of course, watch people perilously jump off a bridge one day a year.
Bridge Day Tips
Thinking about visiting New River Gorge NP for Bridge Day? Fantastic. Here are some expectations to lay out:
- You’ll park far away.
There are shuttles that take you from area parking lots to where the festival starts, which is on the approach to the Bridge. Shuttles are $5 a person round trip, cash only. Some people were parking alongside Route 19. While technically their parking spots were closer than ours, they had a much longer walk, because the shuttle took us straight to the entrance. - Prepare to do a lot of walking and standing.
You’ll stand in line for the shuttle, you’ll walk a long way through vendors and booths to get to the bridge (and walk further onto the bridge). You’ll stand while watching the jumpers, and then of course you’ll do everything in reverse. And there are no seating areas. - The event has a strict policy on bags.
Clear bags only! They do sell bags at the shuttle stop, but it’s good to be prepared beforehand. We’d normally carry a diaper bag, but with the bag policy, that wasn’t going to happen. We were able to get through with a plastic shopping bag, because it’s see through. - The jumps are non-stop.
I’d say about every minute or so, somebody’s jumping off the bridge. So there’s plenty to see! - It’s a party!
Vendors come with the food, merch, and more to get you hyped up for the event. Jumpers line up on the bridge, and there’s a DJ right next to the jump spot. Almost makes you wanna jump yourself!
Here you can see a jumper after he just deployed his parachute. They’re all aiming to land onto a target next to the New River below. Rescue teams and boats are at the ready.
What to do in New River Gorge National Park
Of course, there’s much more to this national park than one event, one day a year. Bridge Day is timed so that fall colors are just starting to pop in some places, so hiking around the park is definitely recommended. The Endless Wall and Long Point trails get my vote for best bang for your buck. They’re not too difficult or long, and you get some great views of the gorge. I had some littles with me, so I didn’t get to hop on those trails this time.
We did, however, take the Fayette Station Road down into the gorge. This is the old road that people used to cross the gorge, before there was the New River Gorge Bridge. Today, it’s a one-way scenic drive, so it’s more leisurely than scary. And you get to hang out below the bridge, where the jumpers land.
Another easy thing to do that doesn’t require any hiking is to explore the Grandview area. This is the highest elevation part of the park, with a spectacular view of the gorge below. We were lucky to catch it on a sunset. There are some hiking trails here, but it’s also easy to stick to the paved paths and enjoy the overlooks. There’s also a playground here.
Some other highlights I recommend in the area are the Glade Creek Grist Mill, Sandstone Falls, and the Thurmond ghost town. And of course, I recommend you take my Shaka Guide tour, which directs you to anywhere you want to go in the park, and tells you stories along the way.
So, do you have it in you to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge? Or do you just want to hang back and watch? Either way, you don’t want to miss Bridge Day. For Ohioans, New River Gorge National Park is just a short drive to West Virginia. From Columbus, it was just under four hours, which isn’t a bad drive for a national park. There are a lot of small towns in the area with hotels and Airbnb’s, so you’re never too far from civilization here.
Have you been to New River Gorge, or Bridge Day? Share your experience in the comments!
Matthew Caracciolo: Writer 