New River Gorge.

One of America’s newest national parks is defined by a river older than the Appalachian Mountains themselves. Carving a deep canyon through southern West Virginia, the New River Gorge is a haven for both high-adrenaline sports and quiet Appalachian history. The park’s steep sandstone cliffs offer more than 1,400 established climbing routes, while the river itself drops 750 feet to create some of the premier whitewater rafting in the eastern United States. Spanning the chasm is the New River Gorge Bridge, an engineering marvel rising 876 feet above the water. Below the rim, visitors can hike through dense forests to hidden waterfalls like Big Branch Falls, or explore ghost towns and old railroad tracks that tell the story of the region's rugged coal-mining past.