Have you ever wondered what it was like to walk 876 feet up in the air? Metal rattling and shaking due to the cars driving overhead. Sitting on the edge, letting your feet dangle above one of the oldest rivers. All just for a “I did it” sticker at the end. Well, whether you have already booked your Bridge Walk experience or are trying to decide if you should do it, I am here to share my thoughts and tips to help you have a great experience.
New River Gorge National Park & Preserve is the newest U.S. National Park (as of this post’s published date). With many hiking trails and history around the area, this new National Park has brought in many new visitors to West Virginia. The crowned jewel of this park is the New River Gorge Bridge. With construction beginning in 1974, this bridge took three years to complete but shaved off 40 minutes of travelers commute across the Gorge.
Sitting as the third highest bridge in the United States, you are not able to walk across the top of bridge except on Bridge Day. A day where the community shuts down the bridge and pedestrians can walk across, enjoy the views or witness people base jumping and repelling off the bridge. However, even though this is the only day you can walk across the TOP of the bridge, you can walk UNDER the bridge anytime. This is where the Bridge Walk enters the chat.
Saving Your Spot on a Bridge Walk Tour
The Bridge Walk is an exhilarating way to experience the bridge and the park from a unique perspective. The first thing you will want to do is check their website to see if they have reservations available for the time you are visiting. I would recommend doing this in advance, as spots fill up quickly. During the “off season” or winter months, they only offer two tour times per day. However, beginning in April they increase to four different tour times per day. The tour lasts around 2-3 hours depending on your tour guide/group. If you are worried about weather, the tour will take place rain or shine. Tours start at $75 per person and you can reserve your spot here.
Let’s {Bridge} Walk
Once you have reserved your spot, you are ready to walk almost 900 feet in the air! When you arrive, you will meet your guide and others joining you in your group. If you want to take your phone with you, I highly recommend purchasing a phone holder that you wear around your neck. Or bonus, if you already own one bring it along with you. This just put my mind a little bit at ease, as I knew I would want it out to take photos but also didn’t want to worry about dropping it while taking it in and out of my pocket.
Once your tour guide is ready to start, everyone will put on their harness and then load up for a short shuttle ride over to the bridge. After getting off the shuttle, you will walk a little way to a gate that leads under the bridge. Along the way, your guide will start teaching you fun facts and history about the bridge and the area. As you reach the gate, your group will line up and your tour guide will start to attach everyone to a cable so you are safely secured on the bridge.
Tip Break
My biggest tip for this experience is to try and be last in line when entering the bridge. As we were walking to the bridge, I started to hang back a little bit so it wasn’t too obvious I wanted to be last. The reward for being last in line on the bridge, is you can take a little more time walking and snapping Pixel Perfect photos of the bridge and the view. You can also snap some photos looking back and don’t have to worry about having any people in your shot (as you can see in the photo below). Now if someone else in your group is wanting to be last too, well you might just have to rock, paper, scissors!
Alright, back to the walk. Once you are on the walkway, you immediately feel the shaking and vibrations of the cars driving overhead. To be honest, it is a little unnerving but you just have to remind yourself it is normal and it is actually supposed to happen. Bridges move! If they didn’t they wouldn’t last as long. As you begin to walk along the walkway, your guide will start sharing details about how the bridge was built, why it was built and even some history about the Gorge and why the bridge was such a needed structure for travel in the area.
Once you reach about the middle of the bridge, you will have an opportunity (only if you want to) to sit down on the walkway and let your legs dangle over the edge. Don’t worry, you are still attached to the cable so there is no change in your safety. Also, about this point in the tour, our guide climbed up and snapped photos of all of us on the bridge. This was a fun photo to have so I really appreciated the extra effort. At the end of our tour, our guide just airdropped the photos to each of us!
The rest of the tour is about the same, just a fun stroll 876 feet up in the air enjoying the views! Once we reached the end, the shuttle was waiting to drive us back to the other side where are cars were parked. We were able to take off our harnesses and purchase any souvenirs we might want from the gift shop. But be sure you don’t leave without getting your (free) “I did it!” sticker.
So is the Bridge Walk worth it?
All in all, if you are on the fence about this experience, I would highly recommend doing it. Even if you are a little afraid of heights, I think you will be glad you overcame your fear. It is very safe and after awhile, you kinda get used to the bridge shaking. I will say, the price is a bit high but there aren’t many places you can get this experience, so it is one of those things where you just say “why not?”.
Important Things to Know
The Bridge Walk will happen no matter what the weather might be. Luckily you are covered, unless it is windy… they might delay or have to reschedule your tour time in the event of lightening nearby.
Children may go on the Bridge Walk but have to be at least 8 years old.
They do not allow you to take any kind of backpack or fanny pack with you on the Bridge Walk.
You are allowed to bring your cell phone and your camera. I recommend having good quality straps or some way to have these precious items attached to your body.
Pixel Perfect Tips
Wear layers, it can be quite breezy under the bridge. Especially if you are going in the morning or late afternoon times.
Try and be last in line getting on the bridge. This is will allow you to take your time taking photos and take some cool shots of the walkway without any people in the picture.
Purchase or bring your own phone strap. It is basically a lanyard you wear around your neck with rubber that stretches tight around all four corners of your phone.
You might consider bringing a little extra cash in the event you want to tip your tour guide at the end.
Just have FUN and enjoy the VIEWS!