Hawks Nest State Park Overlook
Built by the CCC in the mid-1930s from local sandstone, the Hawks Nest clifftop overlook sits directly on US-60 in Ansted and delivers a 750-foot vertical drop to the New River below. The horseshoe-shaped paved walkway is 80 yards with a handicap-accessible viewing station aimed at the dam and the New River's dry gorge. The park lodge, aerial tramway to the gorge floor, and small gift shop are all steps away. Easy roadside pull-off with no hiking required.
The overlook sits directly on US-60 — the Midland Trail — in Ansted, and the structure itself dates to the mid-1930s, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from local sandstone. That CCC craftsmanship is still the stone you lean against when you look out: the same picnic shelter, shop, and restrooms the corps left behind remain in use today. The drop to the New River below is 750 feet, confirmed on the park's Wikipedia entry, and the view takes in the river, Hawks Nest Dam, and the gorge walls in a single sweep.
Access is free, parking is ample and roadside, and crossing US-60 between the overlook and the gift shop area is the only real caution — traffic moves at road speed here, so watch both directions. The park's 31-room lodge and a seasonal aerial tramway to the gorge floor are a short distance away if riders want to linger longer. The New River Gorge Bridge is within easy riding distance down US-60, which makes this a sensible mid-run pause rather than a dedicated side trip.
One of the most dramatic roadside overlooks in the East — pull in directly off US-60, zero hiking, 750-foot plunge view. A natural 10-minute break between the Midland Trail (US-60) run and the New River Gorge Bridge.
Shot by the riders who've run it.
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