• Home
• 2: Real Estate
  • 2.2: Project Information
• 3: The Area
  • 3.1: Fayetteville
    • 3.1.1: History
    • 3.1.3: Dining Guide
    • 3.1.5: Schools and Hospitals
    • 3.1.6: Arts and Culture
  • 3.2: New River Gorge
    • 3.2.1: History
    • 3.2.2: Activities
    • 3.2.3: Flora and Fauna
    • 3.2.4: Geology
    • 3.2.5: The New River Gorge Bridge
    • 3.2.6: Touring The New River Gorge National Park
  • 3.3: The Region
    • 3.3.1: Transportation
    • 3.3.3: Weather Data
    • 3.3.4: Surrounding Parks
  • 3.4: Photo Gallery
• 4: Schedule a Visit
• 6: Area Events
• 9: Vacation Rentals

An Outdoor Paradise

Just beyond the New River Gorge Preserve lies 70,000 acres of wilderness, filled with a unique natural history. This part of the Appalachian mountains has a flora and fauna all its own. From spring wildflowers to fall bucks, the New River Gorge offers something different to nature lovers every time they leave the house.

Wild Forests

While gentle trails wind their way through the slopes and plateaus of the gorge, the forest around you is a living monument. Once in danger of devestation from mining and logging, the enormous stands of forest throughout the area are now federally and locally protected.

Beginning in the spring, a burst of color signals the coming of West Virginia wildflowers, a favorite time of year. Green then climbs up the gorge, a little more each day, to shade hikers from the coming summer sun. A true mixed forest, the many deciduous trees in the gorge lose their leaves in a spectacular fall palette. There’s plenty of winter green remaining, as the seasons get ready for another cycle.

The New River Gorge is at the center of the largest remaining block of mid-latitude forest in the world.

Amazing Animals

One of the great benefits of living among so much relatively unbroken forest is you neighbors- the animals. Eastern woodlands are filled with diverse species, that are as beneficial for the ecology as they are for the wildlife viewer.

The New River Gorge Preserve is set among the region’s best habitat for bird watching. Many birds in West Virginia fly south for the winter, but several species stay all winter long and several more visit from the north. From hummingbirds to raptors, there is some great viewing to be done in the gorge, from your kitchen window or from the trail.

There are a wide variety of animals that make their home among the eastern woodlands of the West Virginia. The gorge itself is a migration corridor, and we commonly find animals here that make their homes much farther south. Deer, foxes, mink, and other creatures are common within the gorge, and along the plateau.