Bridge Walk LLC — Attraction in Fayetteville

I finally got to do the walk across the New River Gorge Bridge. Admittedly I was somewhat nervous about doing so, especially when I first rode across it and could see the lay of the land and the deep void below. And then when I stopped at the scenic overlook I was totally thunderstruck by the unbelievable scale of the bridge and the landscape around it. This bridge truly dominates its environment in every sense of the word. I could barely believe that soon I would be strolling along that catwalk hundreds of feet above the river, taking in the epic view.

I arrived at the building where the tour starts and not long afterwards our small group, including our tour guide, were on a bus heading towards the end of the bridge where we would enter the catwalk. All four of us (not including our guide) were secured by a safety harness that would be attached to a cable that ran the length of the catwalk. In my mind I knew I was safe, but upon following the guide onto the catwalk I noticed that my mouth had gone totally dry...and it wasn't my allergy medicine that was causing that! The distance was so vast and the curvature of the arch of the bridge was enough that the other end disappeared into an ever vanishing horizon, not unlike like looking into an infinity mirror. All around us were huge struts and crossbeams above and to the side, looking like giant steel rafters in the attic of some enormous building. As I was walking along, I looked down, and the support columns seemed to almost vanish into the foliage below. With each step, the height became more and more extreme, the ground below getting further and further away. I could feel myself breathing faster than normal as I stared down into the chasm, and so I would instead look straight ahead for a bit before looking down again. After walking a good ways, we finally arrived at the dead center of the bridge, where the top of the arch meets the deck truss. The scale here was truly breathtaking; it was like being inside the steel skeleton of a monstrous skyscraper! At this point both ends of the catwalk could be seen, way off in the distance, as this was the highest point of the bridge.

Our guide invited us to have a seat on the walkway and hang our legs over the edge, and then he took pictures of each of us with the vast gorge far below. There is really no way to describe just how vast this structure is – pictures and videos simply do not do it justice.

And then there are the sounds....the whistling of the wind and the high pitched droning of the traffic passing across the road deck above. A very specific noise unique to this bridge, I would imagine. I found it to be kind of spooky and ethereal with all of that noise echoing around in the vast metal frame of the deck truss. Finally, this beast of a bridge almost seems to come alive with movement – it shakes, bounces, and shudders! This is even more pronounced the closer you are to the center, which is between the two expansion joints. Walking on that catwalk was not unlike walking across a vibrating fun house floor – an open air fun house 851 feet above ground! It was totally epic in so many ways. All in all it was a very surreal and unforgettable experience unlike any other. The bridge walk has to be about one of the coolest and most memorable things I've done in my lifetime. This coming from someone who has seen in person Stonehenge, the Roman Colosseum, and the...

I was on the fence about doing this and waited until the end of my time in West Virginia. The only mistake I made was not doing it sooner. The reason I say this was the guides are a wealth if knowledge about the area. They also give you a paper at the end with other things to see in the area and it also has food recommendations. It would have been nice to have this at the start of my time in the area.

This is a really cool and unique experience. You get to walk the catwalk under the bridge which is 850 feet above the New River at the highest peak of the arch. The guides give you information about the history and building of the bridge and the area in general. The views are spectacular. If you are lucky you get to see the jet boats or rafters on the river or possibly even the train running through the gorge. I wasn’t lucky enough to see that but it rained and the views were pretty cool. When the rain stopped you could see the steam from the rain rise off the mountains in the distance and see the water flowing out of the drains on the bridge.

The trip took about 2 hours and the pace isn’t rushed. It’s easy for anyone to keep up with. They encourage you to have at seat at the top of the arch. I was leery about that but did it anyway. I do tend to like my feet planted firmly on solid ground but it was easy to do. The experience was great all around.

I do recommend going into the shop before you leave to go on the bridge walk. They have lanyards to secure your phone in which hang around your neck. I didn’t have one and I was paranoid I would drop my phone. I found out about the lanyards halfway through the walk.

Also a shout out to our guide Larry. He was awesome. Also Ron our bus driver who picked us up on the other side and passed out water bottles...

A once-in-a-lifetime Bridge tour If you want a great adventure that you will remember and is unique to this area, then do this bridge walk. It is a tour of the bridge from the structure and catwalk below the bridge. We signed up online and arrived at the location a few minutes early. It is located on the south side of WV-19 where the New Gorge Bridge is built over the New River. Their building is before you get to the New Gorge visitor’s center. We were greeted by our tour guide who was wonderfully engaging. He explained what to expect on the tour, ran over safety details, helped us put on harnesses and drove us to the parking lot for the visitors center. We had a group of about 10 people. He escorted us to the center walkway below the bridge where we hooked onto a traveling wire that runs the entire length of the span. The tour is as good as the interaction of the group and our group was good in that we had a lot of questions. He allowed plenty of time for questions, pictures and stops from the beginning to the end. The bridge moves a fair amount and traffic is pretty noisy but it is a great one-of-a-kind tour with really neat views of the river. At the south end of the bridge you are unhooked and loaded onto a van for a drive back to the office. He shared all the pictures that he took of the group and individuals by airdrop. If you go in winter months, wear warm clothes. Also, you can bring your phone so long as it is secured so that it cannot fall or be dropped. They sell lanyards for this if you want. This was an absolutely wonderful tour that I would highly recommend for anyone...