East River Mountain Scenic Overlook — Attraction in Bluefield

Great little park on the border of WV and VA above the City of Bluefield, which operates it according to their website (but has little info about it otherwise). But only giving it 4 stars because the old trail system apparently has been abandoned.

I've been here numerous times since the early 1990's and the spot has changed quite a bit since then. I'm not sure when the park opened but I was there in 1993, before the park, when it was just a barely graveled pull off. At the time, just behind the pulloff where the state line fell on the mountain crest, there was a pair of old buildings that just had the frames standing, no roof or interior pieces left. These were relics of the pre-East River Tunnel era, as all traffic coming from points south would follow the combined routes of US52/US21 up and over the mountain from VA into WV. My dad told me one of them was a restaurant and Greyhound stop back in the early 1960s when he took a bus from the Navy base in Charleston SC to get home. In fact, as this route was THE main route south from Charleston and Beckley to the southern states, and especially Myrtle Beach, prior to the WV Turnpike, generations of Mountaineers would have been familiar with this pass and its buildings. These are both gone now; Overlook Road is where one of them stood.

In the first years after the modern park was built, there used to be a small trail system that went up the hillside behind it. It was a loop trail that took you up near the crest and then came back down, with great views of the valley and some upclose looks at rock formations. The trail was really steep in places and if it was the slightest bit wet, you could slip and fall. I did. But it was worth hiking, and I hoped the county would extend the trail eastward along the ridge.

My last visit there was 5 years ago, and that system appears to be long gone. I think it may have even been fenced off, and it was overgrown. Which is too bad. I hope they bring it back, but it looks like the city has had problems keeping the place clean anyway. And there could be legal reasons they can't.

Anybody else remember the trails?

Side note: for anyone wanting to visit, if you can, take the VA 598 route up from the VA portal of the East River Tunnel. It's somewhat steep, but not nearly as steep as WV 598 which comes straight up from Bluefield....

I couldn't enjoy the overlook due to the fact that I was not dressed for such coldness that I wasn't expecting . When I left N. Carolina at noon the temp was 68°. By the time I arrived at the overlook 4 hours later, it had dropped dwn to the freezing temp of 32°. With all my clothes packed in the trunk, I had to endure the weather w/ a crop top n light jacket. Anyway, the scenery was beautiful. Especially w/ it being fall. The colors of orange, red, yellow and green were shining and bright. If you're not big on heights, this isn't the place lol Even the ride up to the overlook was quite terrifying for me. However, I've never seen the mountains so I had to "bite the bullet". Overall, I loved it! But I DID NOT like that the restrooms...

I grew up in this area, but even today when the visibility is as good as it's going to be....I still enjoy the awesome view from the top of East River Mountain. Looks like some improvements have been made since the last time I stopped by. The old building where the restrooms are located has been painted and patched up, and a new fence has been built along the overlook. I noticed they have also installed several bear proof trash cans as well. For anyone from out of state passing through the area, I recommend taking a few minutes to stop and have a look at the wonderful scenery from atop the mountain instead of driving through the tunnel...