The Long Point Trail

After hiking the Endless Wall Trail, we hopped back in the car and cranked the air conditioner, then drove back across the New River Gorge Bridge, through Fayetteville, and then a bit further.  We followed the twisty Gatewood Road until we got to Newtown Road, which is the location of the trailhead for the Long Point Trail.  This is the other iconic hike of the Fayetteville area, offering perhaps the best views of the New River Gorge Bridge.  The National Park Service website lists this out-and-back hike as 1.6 miles each way, for a roundtrip hike of 3.2 miles.  The trail skirts along the edge of a field near the beginning, but the majority of the trail is shaded, passing through mature forests.  Grades are easy, with the trail mostly flat or rolling gently until the end, when it descends to the viewpoint along a narrow peninsula of rock.

I was absolutely overjoyed to spot cranefly orchid flowering along the trail!  I have never seen this species before; it is a more southern species, endangered in New York State, with only a few disjunct populations. 

cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor)

When we arrived at the viewpoint, there were a number of other visitors there.  We snapped a few quick photos, but it is a fairly small area, so we retreated to an out-of-the-way shady spot to see if crowds would thin out.  Long Point is a super neat area, just a thin spine of rock jutting out into the gorge with steep drop offs on either side. 

Our patience paid off and we soon had the place to ourselves, taking turns posing out on the point.  My goofball child took the task seriously and made all sorts of ridiculous faces we had to capture for posterity.  Eventually we convinced him we had enough photos and made our way back to the car. 

last look back

This hike is well worth the very modest effort required to get out to the viewpoint.  I think it would have been worth hiking even before the bridge was constructed because the point itself is so cool.  MapMyRide tracked the elevation gain at just under 500 feet roundtrip.  This was easy for us, despite the excessive warmth, but we did see some folks struggling a bit in the steep rooty section.  Wear sensible shoes and keep an eye on young kids and dogs, and this is a great little outing.