New River Gorge National Park & Preserve · West Virginia

Castle Rock Trail

0.5 mi of trail, end to end · Castle Rock Hike: 1.1 mi in the Service's write-up · about 80 ft of climbing · 150 ft of descent · 2,363 ft–2,487 ft · native surface · trail class Developed · hiking

Views

2,487 ft 2,421 ft · 0.5 mi high 2,487 ft

Along the way Grandview Main Overlook Grandview North Overlook

Castle Rock Hike 1.1 mi · the Park Service's write-up

30-120 Minutes · dogs allowed · season The Castle Rock Trail is beautiful year round. Take caution when rocks are wet or when there is snow or ice.

Start Castle Rock

Combination of rocks that include Sandstone, shale, conglomerate, and coal.
Amazing Rocks of Castle Rock Trail Photo: NPS/ Sheila Malone

This is the most unique and fun trail. However, this trail is not for the faint hearted. The Castle Rock Trail is listed as strenuous and is .6 mile in length. After the .6 mile mark, the trail merges into the Grandview Rim Trail. From this intersection, if you turn right you will be going out to Turkey Spur for another scenic view and then retrace your steps and follow the upper trail called the Grandview Rim Trail back to the parking area (this is approximately 3.2 miles all together). The other option is to turn left and this will bring you back to the main parking area (this is approximately 1.1 miles in total).

This trail is listed as strenuous. The steps that are made out of rocks are uneven. The trail is about 3 feet in width and the gorge is just off to one side as you are walking along.

This trail is not recommended in rainy weather or when there is ice or snow on the ground because the rock surface can make this very slippery.

If you are interested in geology, this trail is for you. You will be within and arms length of the rock striations that make-up the gorge. Along this .6 mile trail you will see a coal seam at approximately the .4 mile mark and also a variety of conglomerate, shale, sandstone and limestone along this trail. If you are afraid of heights, this trail might give you the butterflies.

Accessibility The Castle Rock Trail has many uneven terrain feautures and once you are on the trail, the only way to get off is to either continue to the end or to retrace your steps and go back to where you started. The Castle Rock Trail may require some scrambling over large rocks. The Castle Rock Trail is very slippery when wet. There is a restroom located in the Main Parking area.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 50 trails in New River Gorge National Park & PreserveFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.