Cancel

Open app

Search

Canyon Rim Visitor Center

4.9 (20 reviews)
Closed 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Canyon Rim Visitor Center Travel Services Photos

More like Canyon Rim Visitor Center

Recommended Reviews - Canyon Rim Visitor Center

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Jpb T.

Awesome Visitor's Center This is the visitor's center that is right next to the bridge. There are several trails and places to have a picnic. The are wooden rocking chairs inside the center with GREAT views. They have an educational film about the National Park and building the bridge.

Canyon Rim Visitor Center
John D.

The Real Rim Shady Official Visitor Center for the New River Gorge National Park and is the main hub for the park's 300k annual visitors. The Good: *Free entrance *Gift shop *Good cell signal (there might be wifi, but I don't recall) *Clean restrooms *NPS Passport Stamp *Bottle-filling stations *Beautiful nature garden out front *Picnic tables *Park info and maps *Amazing views of the New River Gorge Bridge from the boardwalk (this might be the main reason people come here) The Meh: *No food sold other than maybe some snack items at the gift shop (but I'm not 100% on that). The Ugly: *The weather here during the summer can be ungodly hot and humid, so be prepared. TLDR: A must stop when visiting the park or just want a great view of the bridge.

Kelly G.

Perfect place to kickstart your visit to the national park . Theres a small museum with exhibits and displays and there's also a short video . There are rangers available to answer your questions and provide recommendations based on your preferences. They have a small gift shop and clean restrooms. If you're a Stamper, there's a park passport stamp and they also sell passport accessories. New River Gorge was designated national park status in just 2020 so this visitor center still has the "new car" smell :-) PARKING : large free parking lot

View from the parking lot
Ta'Brechi H.

Yelp 100 - #13 March 2023 Canyon Rim Visitor Center is a great first stop before hiking. There are a lot of information to be learned and the park rangers are always helpful. There is seating located in the inside that allows you to look down at the river, and the Gorge outlook is a short walk. The New River Gorge Outlook was closed in February because a tree had fallen and destroyed the walk way. During our visit park rangers and maintenance crew were actively fixing different parts. I recommend the Fayette Sation Road Tour. This road is a little over 100 years old and it winds down to the bottom of the gorge and spits you out on 19. There are stopping points for you to get out and you're able to get a closer look at the bridge. V

David T.

We came here to see the new river bridge. We met Grant smith, who is the park ranger here. He was so sweet and nice to my wife as he swore my wife in again as a junior ranger. She was a junior ranger in Alaska and now in West Virginia. I'm so proud of my wife to continue to fight the good fight.

Cheryl M.

Very cool. Worth the stop. You can walk down a lot of stairs four am amazing view down into the gorge and of the bridge. Just remember you have to walk back up! There are stops along the way to rest. The visitor center itself has an area you can go outsid into the gorge. There is also a view of the bridge from inside. Small gift shop but there is also a big one adjacent to the parking area with more stuff and snacks. Bathroom and picnic areas available. Check it out! Park ranger was inside to answer any questions.

My beloved as he checks out the views.
Marqus R.

If you are on Route 19 headed north out of Fayetteville and cross the New River Gorge Bridge you MUST turn right, drive down Visitor Center Road to the National Park Service's "Canyon Rim Visitor Center." The views from the center are totally breathtaking and one look with tell you so much about West Virginia and the beauty of it that so many people love. The center itself is also spectacular. It's really a wonderful architectural accomplishment with super clean rest rooms along with an exceptionally good gift shop. The gift shop itself has all kinds of tee shirts, books and souvenirs. It's really one of the better of government gift shops I've seen and don't hesitate to ask the ranger behind the counter any question you may have as I'm sure they'll have the answer in detail. And while you're here you out to walk around the outside areas as there are all kinds of trails. The best on is where you get a perfect view of the New River Gorge Bridge to see for yourself why so many consider it to be such a masterpiece of engineering.

He wished me a happy birthday.
Toni M.

What a great resource for ballooning your brain with useful and useless historical facts. My group of five throughly trekked through every square centimeter of the recently government funded property free to visitors such as ourselves. The bird sanctuary was magnificent to say the least, although I'm not fully convinced that the funds were put to sufficient enough use to show off their hidden skills and secrets as flying creatures. To the sun's credit, I was able to soak the back of my shirt with the saltiest of sweat for all the native insects to get their skin-puncturing fix. The 11-minute film was excellent and rich in history, but the narrator put me to sleep sooner than my poison dart frog soup did. I also add that the seats in the auditorium were unforgiving, reminding my meatless tootsie that I need hit the gym for leg days unlike the infamous Captain Tootsie. I will be back!

Park Map
Ward D.

One of the must see sites in the New River Gorge Park This site is located right off 19 on the southeast side of the road. It is easy to exit off and get back on the main road. This is a great start to a tour of the New River Gorge Park. There is plenty of parking for small or large cars. This is a one story structure that has a small gift store, restrooms and a display room. When we visited the display room was closed. The ranger was wonderfully helpful and gave us several ideas and places to visit while we were in the area. The center is very nice with a great viewing window out the back of the building. You can walk around the building and view the bridge and river from the outside of the building. I believe that it closes at 6 pm so make sure you get there before that. There are two paths in front of the building. Both are a short walk down to bridge viewing areas. One is a short walk that is a view from nearer the bridge and closer to road level. The other leads to a set of wooden stairs that give a better view, in my opinion, of the bridge structure and river. I highly recommend this to visitors trying to see the sights in this area.

New River Gorge Bridge  Sunset
Josh And Kelly M.

Great information and amazing views! We loved the boardwalk! Merchandise left some to be desired, but we found some stickers and patches.

View from behind visitor center

See all

2 months ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 0

1 month ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Jpb T.
0
495
2559

10 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 29
Thanks 8
Love this 38
Oh no 1

3 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 6
Thanks 0
Love this 5
Oh no 0
Photo of David T.
174
1046
2598

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0
Photo of Kevin S.
98
1147
82

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of Marqus R.
1831
4485
26333

8 years ago

Helpful 12
Thanks 0
Love this 11
Oh no 0
Photo of Toni M.
7
293
213

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Ward D.
8
1240
3209

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Tj W.
0
31
1

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

6 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

Ask the Community - Canyon Rim Visitor Center

Review Highlights - Canyon Rim Visitor Center

There are stopping points for you to get out and you're able to get a closer look at the bridge.

Mentioned in 9 reviews

Read more highlights

Verify this business for free

Get access to customer & competitor insights.

Verify this business

Thurmond Depot - Bridge into Thurmond

Thurmond Depot

4.8(15 reviews)
7.4 mi

What an amazing site in the National Park. This is an abandoned town from the early to mid 1900's…read morethat had quite the past. They do an excellent job of explaining the buildings and life when it was a booming steam engine railroad town. Take your time visiting the area. I could believe that it is an active Amtrak site today.

What an amazing place to stop and try to imagine this was once a place bustling with people…read moreworking, traveling, living .. it's so small and empty now that only the pictures can tell the tale! They did a good job putting up information and learned so much about what it was like to work here for the railroads way back when. It's incredible how times change, things become more efficient, jobs are reduced, and eventually eliminated. I spent a total of an hour and 15 minutes here for reference. There is a gift shop where I got my usual souvenir magnet, but there are other neat things here as well! I was tempted to buy the "dining on the railway" book (or a name something like that). A great piece of history here and I hope someday the interiors of the buildings can be brought up to code and replicated to look how they did in their heyday so we can get a real feel of walking into the businesses (also a rebuild of the Lafayette Hotel would be amazing, even if just a smaller scale). I'm glad what is there has been preserved by the NPS! I have to say, I left West Virginia with a treasure trove of history!

Photos
Thurmond Depot
Thurmond Depot - The old Main Street

The old Main Street

Thurmond Depot - 2nd floor visitor's center

See all

2nd floor visitor's center

Canyon Rim Visitor Center - visitorcenters - Updated May 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...