New River Gorge National River: Bicycling to Thurmond

Noelle and I awoke to a pouring rain this morning. It made it pretty difficult to get out of the tent. When we finally got moving, we drove to get some breakfast at a West Virginia chain called Tudor's Biscuit World. A descent breakfast. We then headed to the National Park Service visitor center where we watched the video, checked out the exhibits, and walked to the New River Bridge overlook.

By that point it had finally stopped raining, so we headed back to ACE to pack up our campsite. By the time we got to the Minden trailhead of the Thurmond-Minden Trail it was gray and damp, but we decided to give the bike ride a try.

I'm glad we did, the ride was nice and the trail offered great views of cascading creeks, waterfalls, and old railroad trestles. The old town of Thurmond was very interesting also.

It's practically a ghost town that highlights how the railroad industry has shaped the New River Gorge.