New River Gorge in West Virginia: Canyon Rim visitor center, hiking trails, Grandview visitor center and overlooks, Sandstone Falls visitor center, and more!

June 2019, 2 weekdays, traveling as a couple

In addition to this blog post, you can find more photos and information in the New River Gorge photo album on my Facebook page.

View of New River Bridge from Canyon Rim visitor center 
lower observation deck

Canyon Rim visitor center and New River Gorge bridge

There is no charge to visit any of the New River Gorge visitor centers. The staff member at Canyon Rim was an excellent resource for information about the areas we wanted to visit. He provided trail maps, trail information, and clear directions.

View of New River from deck at Canyon Rim visitor center

New River is visible from the back deck at Canyon Rim, and there are two trails that walk down toward the bridge. The main trail is handicap accessible to the first observation deck. There are many steps to the lower observation deck. Both decks offer excellent views.

View of New River Bridge from Canyon Rim visitor center 
upper observation deck

Kentucky: Middle Fork Campground at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Red River Gorge, and more

June 2019, Weekday-weekend, 3 nights

Below Princess Arch in Red River Gorge.

We loved this area when we visited in 2016. We stayed in Whittleton Campground then, and I previously provided a lot of information about that campground and some of the hiking trails. You can click this link for that blog post. I am providing new details in this post.

View from campsite B015 after most campers left on Sunday.
Click photo to enlarge it and see nearby labeled sites.

Middle Fork campsite B015

All of the RV campsites in this campground are the same as the ones in Whittleton with water and 20/30 amp power. Again, some of the hookups are quite a distance away, so extra hose and cord may be needed. 

Another view from campsite B015.
Our first evening before we purchased firewood!

Campsite B015 is in an excellent location on the stream, and would be a great site on quiet weeknights, or if you have kids who want to swim. We would never choose this site on a weekend again, because during our stay, the stream and back of our site became the local swimming hole. We enjoyed a peaceful Friday afternoon along the water when we first arrived, and again later in the day on Sunday after most people had left. It was very noisy on our site Friday evening, and when we returned from hiking Saturday afternoon. The road visible in the photo above only goes inside the park, so traffic from that road was not heavy or bothersome. 

Campsite B014

Slide, Kentucky: Natural Bridge State Resort Park: camping, hiking, and more

September 2016, Weekdays-weekend, 3-nights, Whittleton campsite A029

View of Lookout Point from Natural Bridge

Advance reservations, arrival and check-in

When I looked at the campgrounds online in Natural Bridge State Resort Park, I thought we would want to stay in Middle Fork Campground along the stream. By the time we were ready to make our reservation, all of those sites were either reserved or not suitable, so we reserved a site in Whittleton Campground.

Labeled map

We arrived via Highway 11 from the south. The Whittleton campground sign is a short, small sign at the entrance with no forewarning, and we missed it. We pulled into the next drive north of Whittleton, which was the entrance to the skylift and lodge. We turned around after driving over the entrance bridge because the sign clearly said "No RVs" to the left. We could have also turned around by the skylift, if we had turned right. Even though the map shows a road through the picnic area after turning left, you cannot get through on that road with an RV. There is also a drive into Whittleton campground on the south side of the stream, which is a dead end with no turn around. If you happen to miss the main drive arriving from the north with an RV, I do not suggest pulling into that drive. You can enlarge the labeled map I have inserted here by clicking on it.