New River Gorge Visitor Center To Close To Allow For Upgrades

Published Date

December 1, 2023

New outdoor displays have already been installed including silhouettes on the exterior wall of the center and a wayfinding sign adjacent to the parking lot/NPS file

The Canyon Rim Visitor Center at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia will close on January 1, 2024, while the building undergoes extensive renovation, with a reopening date tentatively scheduled for early March. Upgrades to what is the park’s busiest visitor contact station include new exhibits, a new sales area, carpeting, lighting, wall coverings, and new seating for the auditorium.

The new exhibits will include orientation to all three national sites — Gauley River National Recreation Area, Bluestone National Scenic River, and New River Gorge National Park and Preserve — and interactive displays on geology, history, plants and animals, recreation, and information about other national park sites.

“We are pleased and excited about being able to provide our visitors with the opportunity to learn more about all of our national park sites here in southern West Virginia,” said Superintendent Charles Sellars. “The new displays will also give our returning visitors and local community a fresh look at a familiar story.”

This will be the first major upgrade to the 8,700-square-foot facility since it opened to the public on May 23, 1991. Providing one of the best views of the New River Gorge Bridge and New River, Canyon Rim hosted 498,000 visitors inside the visitor center last year and close to 750,000 who walked the boardwalk to the bridge overlook.

Sandstone Visitor Center on the southern end of the park will remain open throughout the winter from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days per week. Visitors to the northern end of the park may visit park headquarters in Glen Jean for information, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Thurmond Depot will also be open on weekends January and February where park-related sales items also may be purchased. The self-guided walking tour of Thurmond remains open seven days per week.

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