The 2.4-mile Endless Wall Trail in West Virginia’s New River Gorge was named the top trail in the country by USA Today. The hike was one of 20 nominated by a panel of experts and then voted into the top spot by the public.
The trail passes through forestland lush with hemlocks and other trees, crosses the Fern Creek and then meanders along the edge of the cliff, offering stunning views of the New River 1,000 feet below.
The trail was pioneered by rock climbers in the 1980s before the land was a national park unit.The trail is named after a three-mile-long unbroken section of exceptionally hard sandstone cliff that is one of the Gorge’s most popular climbing features. Climbers use the trail to access climbing routes along the cliff, and they have installed rappel anchors and ladders in order to better access the bottom of the cliff line because there is no other way to walk from the top to the bottom.
The Endless Wall Trail beat out several more well-known trails out West such as the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park and The Narrows in Zion National Park.
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