Bridge Day is an annual one-day festival in West Virginia where the New River Gorge Bridge is closed to traffic and opened for BASE jumping, rappelling, and zip-lining.

Some daredevil jumps off the bridge about once per minute for the entirety of the event (9am to 3pm). It’s pretty wild…

Most jumpers do basic forward leaps, but occasionally you’ll see tandem jumps, spin jumps, and single, double, and even triple reverse flips.

There was one couple who jumped while holding each other, the man deployed his parachute for them both, then the woman base jumped (base dropped?) from him!

There’s even a catapult!

Thousands of spectators gather to watch the parachuters make the 800 foot descent. Most people watch from the bridge, so the viewing area up top fills fast. However, awesome views can also be found from the less-crowded sides of the canyon and in the bottom of the gorge below.

Camping

One of the best features of New River Gorge is its free camping system. Anyone can show up and camp…that’s it!

During my visit I stayed at the Glade and Meadow Creek campgrounds. Both had decent access roads, boat-ramps, and basic camping amenities, but I liked Glade Creek more because of its beach and hiking options (The Glade Creek Trail).

Other Places in the Park

Besides the main event, these were the best sites that I visited.

Grand View Overlook

This lookout features a stunning vista of the New River, a railway, and the mountains and forests beyond. This lookout is less than 100 yards from the parking lot, so it’s a great option for all visitors.

Sandstone Falls

As the largest and widest waterfall on the New River, this area is a must-see. There’s a boardwalk that brings you most of the way to the falls, but you’ll need to scramble over rocks for this view.