A recent trip to New River Gorge was an effort to keep a ball rolling on two long-standing projects. For many years I’ve researched my family’s ancestry, and West Virginia is a central part of that work. I can trace family back to many parts of the state. However, I have become very interested in the Cabin Creek area. Several relatives worked in the mines during the infamous mining upheaval of the early 1900s. Southern West Virginia is central to the story of America’s coal mining history. New River Gorge is also hard to resist for its obvious photographic opportunities.

Whenever I am back in West Virginia, the sights and sounds of the railroad trigger memories of my early childhood. We heard trains every day.

We hiked what is probably one of the most popular trails and then explored an abandoned mine. The Endless Wall Trail is a hike with plentiful views of New River Gorge and the New River Gorge Bridge. It’s popular and you pass lots of people.

Our second hike along The Kaymoor Miner’s Trail was interesting, and not for those who are challenged by stairs and steep, loose rock. Both the down and up of the stairs puts legs to the test. I was carrying my camera gear and water and felt my calves shake as we headed down. We hit this trail early before the heat and humidity had a chance to make things very, very unpleasant. The mine ruins were interesting, but more details on the signage would make the leg pain more tolerable. At one time there was a small community of miners working and living along the river. The park’s website says this trail is about to undergo a several month closure for repairs and upgrades beginning June 30,2025.

I made a few trips to the overlook at Grandview at different times of day, and the sunrise trip turned out to be the most impressive. On this morning, only the tips of the mountains poked through a heavenly, fog. There was the echo of trains moving below, unseen beneath the misty air. The tracks run parallel to a sharp elbow in the river here, but it couldn’t be seen. I hadn’t heard this noise in a long time. It took a moment to realize what it was.

All in all a great trip and the first of many more. I hope. What landscape surprises can I capture and what memories can I stir by getting closer to this place?

Copyright Amy Linn Doherty, 2025

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