NRGE 2019: Fayetteville Trail, Mining History, and Long Point

OVERVIEW

Hello fellow lovers of the outdoors and New River Gorge Enthusiasts! I’ve personally mapped out this route for our enjoyment at NRGE and made sure to pick some of the more interesting and nicer trails – the Kaymoor Trail (8) follows the gorge and passes by relics of the gorge’s mining history; the Kaymoor Miners Trail (9) also includes relics of and structures from the gorge’s mining history; several trails feature views of the gorge before we get up to one of the nicest views of the gorge and bridge from Long Point (12). I’m expecting to hike around 9.1 miles; some of that will be a steep uphill up the Kaymoor Miners Trail*. See this map (the blue loop (on the elevation chart it’s the first section, from mile 0 to mile 9) – https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/map–68086) for the expected route (we’ll go clockwise, unless there is widespread disapproval of getting a killer leg workout climbing the Kaymoor Miners Trail.

*You can optionally skip around 1/3-1/2 of this (approx. 0.2 miles of climbing) if you choose to wait at the top of the steps, though I will definitely go down with whoever else chooses to.

**ALTHOUGH THIS ADVENTURE IS MARKED BEGINNER, IT WILL BE A DIFFICULT HIKE. All experience levels are welcome, but please be prepared for the length and strenuous parts of the hike. Please let me know in the questions if you have concerns about this.

Where: Ray’s Campground/New River Gorge (Fayetteville Trails: Long Point Trailhead)
When: Sunday, October 27
Additional info: https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/fayetteville-area-hiking-trails-map.htm (on this map, we’ll hike the following trails or parts of them: 7, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12); https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/map–68086 (we will hike the blue loop (this is the first section of the elevation map, from mile 0 to mile 9))

Here’s the plan:
9:00 AM – depart from Ray’s (make sure you pack up all of your belongings and bring them with you; they can stay in the car while we hike
9:25 – arrive at the trailhead, start hiking
11:45 – get to the bottom of the Kaymoor Miners Trail, eat some snacks to prepare for the long way back up
1:15 – get to Long Point, each lunch while basking in the beauty of the New River Gorge
2:45 – arrive back at the car(s)
6:30 – Arrive back at UVA

What to bring:
– Water for the hike: 2 Liters
– Lunch
– Snacks
– Good shoes for hiking
– Layers – you’ll get warm hiking but it may be colder while we’re eating lunch
– Rain coat (you should bring this to NRGE anyway and can leave it in the car if the weather is nice)
– Sunscreen if you don’t want to burn

There is no additional cost for this trip, but you have to pay $10 to go to NRGE. Remember to join the main NRGE carpool trip as well once you have been added the list of adventurers for this trip.

DRIVER(S) NEEDED: I do not have a car, so without any drivers this trip cannot happen! The drive from the campground to the hike is 20 minutes/11 miles and the trip back to Charlottesville is another 3-3.5 hours/200 miles. The club will reimburse for your gas usage on the NRGE trip + 50% tip (capped at $20).

Image shamelessly taken from Google Images