GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — Hidden beneath the forests of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is one of the easiest ways to experience one of America’s newest national parks.
Unlike many of the gorge’s steep, rugged trails, the Rend Trail follows the nearly level grade of a former railroad line. Families, cyclists, older hikers, photographers, and anyone seeking a leisurely walk have long been drawn to its quiet forests, historic railroad trestles, and the gentle course of Arbuckle Creek.
Soon, it will become even more welcoming.
Beginning Aug. 3, the National Park Service will close the 3.2-mile trail to begin an $11.8 million rehabilitation that will transform it into the park’s first fully accessible earthen-surface trail. When the project is complete, visitors will find restored historic railroad bridges, improved trail surfaces, new visitor amenities, and a route designed to accommodate people who previously could not experience the trail independently.
Although the work will temporarily close one of the park’s favorite walks through late 2027, Acting Superintendent Eric LaPrice said the investment will preserve both the trail’s history and its future.
“Once completed, this trail is going to be a great addition to the park’s recreational offerings,” LaPrice said. “It will offer the public a fully accessible trail and reconnect the park with a gateway community, providing additional national and recreational opportunities to park visitors and residents.”
The rehabilitation is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund, created to address decades of deferred maintenance throughout America’s national parks.
A different way to experience the New River Gorge
Many visitors know New River Gorge National Park and Preserve for its soaring cliffs, world-class whitewater rafting and challenging mountain trails. The Rend Trail offers something entirely different.
Following the route of a former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway branch line, the trail winds gently through mature hardwood forests, crosses historic steel trestles and follows Arbuckle Creek through a landscape where nature and Appalachian history coexist.
Without the steep climbs found on many of the park’s signature hikes, the trail has become a favorite among families with young children, beginning hikers, photographers, birdwatchers and visitors who simply want to slow down and enjoy the scenery.
Every season brings a different experience. Spring wildflowers brighten the forest floor, summer offers cool shade beneath towering trees, autumn paints the valley in brilliant color and winter reveals long views of the surrounding mountains and the historic railroad’s engineering.
The trail also offers glimpses into the region’s past. Historic railroad structures remain scattered along the corridor, while nearby communities such as Thurmond, Rend and Minden tell the story of the coal industry that once shaped the New River Gorge.
Along the route, hikers also pass McKinley Rock, a sandstone cliff tied to one of the area’s best-known legends. According to local tradition, railroad workers blasting the cliff in 1901 noticed what appeared to be the profile of President William McKinley, only to learn later that day that the president had been shot. Whether coincidence or folklore, the story has remained part of the trail’s character for generations.
Opening the trail to more visitors
The rehabilitation project is about more than repairing aging infrastructure.
Among its most significant improvements is the construction of an accessible route around the trail’s massive Big Rock, replacing a stairway that has long limited access for many visitors. Crews will also rehabilitate five historic railroad trestles, resurface the entire trail, and build a new parking area, restroom, picnic area, and scenic overlook at the Minden Trailhead.
Levi Moore, an outdoor recreation guide, believes the accessibility improvements will have the greatest long-term impact.
Moore, who spent several years using a wheelchair and now leads youth outdoor recreation programs, said expanding access will allow more people to experience one of the national park’s most distinctive trails.
“Any time any organization or authority wants to become more compliant with ADA standards, I’m always going to be 100 percent for that,” Moore said.
He is particularly interested in how engineers design the accessible route around Big Rock while maintaining the gradual slopes required for wheelchair users.
Moore also believes reopening the trail will reconnect nearby communities with one of southern West Virginia’s most significant outdoor destinations.
“I think it’s long past due that the Park Service did something with that trail,” he said. “It gives that part of the county, so Minden and Upper Oak Hill there, access to the national park that they really didn’t have before.”
For years, deteriorating conditions on several historic railroad trestles prevented visitors from hiking the trail from end to end, limiting access from either trailhead.
Preserving a walk through history
The Rend Trail occupies more than an abandoned railroad bed. It preserves a corridor that helped shape the New River coalfields in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The five railroad trestles scheduled for restoration carried trains linking coal camps to the outside world. Preserving them helps protect an important chapter of Appalachian history and ensures visitors can continue to experience it firsthand.
Construction is expected to continue through fall or winter 2027.
For hikers, the temporary closure will require patience. When the trail reopens, it will offer something increasingly rare in America’s national parks: a place where visitors of nearly every age and ability can experience the beauty, history, and quiet character of the New River Gorge together.