Sandstone Visitor Center

"The Ranger was very friendly and started the movie when we asked. It had nice clean bathrooms and nice landscraping. I like the exhibit about water conservation and how all watersheds are tied to the land and so important."

"Very helpful employees, nice restrooms, nice gift shop. The little museum inside is also pretty good. Recommend stopping in if you need any information or guidance on what part of the parks will work for you."

"Located at the southern end of the New River Gorge Park & Preserve is the Sandstone Visitor Center. The SVC is a nice modern facility designed for energy efficiency & resource conservation. Here, visitors can learn about the natural & cultural history of the New River through interactive exhibits. Easy access off the highway, large parking lot for cars & RVs, and clean restrooms. Ranger & assistant on-duty for questions and maps. Small gift shop. Sandstone Falls is a short 1/2 hr drive from there."

"We visited on a Saturday morning (9AM) when they first opened. There were only a couple other cars in the parking lot with us. The bathrooms are located outside adjacent to the visitor center and parking lot in a separate structure. In between the two building there was a nice picnic table and area for kids to run around in if you were planning to do lunch here. The exhibits are to the left when you walk in and they are much more newer and interactive than the ones at Canyon Rim Visitor Center. They also had a 3D topography map on a sand table so you can play with elevation changes and see what happens. The kids really enjoyed this. They watched eagerly on as the Ranger was setting it up. If you walk straight when you enter there is a large theater room where they show a short film that is different from the one at Canyon Rim Visitor Center. On the right when you walk in is the NPS store. It is about the same square footage as the one at Canyon Rim Visitor Center and from what we gather sold the exact same items. So no need to hit both to find different items. However the passport cancellation stamp here is different from the one at Canyon Rim Visitor Center. The stamp station is located in the NPS store on one of the bookshelves. I liked the separate station they had at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center as there wasn't as much room here to put your book down to stamp and can only imagine what it would be like on a more crowded day. We spoke to a Ranger here about doing the Sandstone Falls Boardwalk Trail and he gave us a couple tips on other overlooks to stop at along the way. Even though the falls are very far away on the map you have to drive about 30 mins to get there since it's on the other side of the river and the closest bridge is through a small town south of the visitor center. The bridge was also under construction at the time we visited and it was only single lane going through with a temporary stop light. So each side has to take turns. The parking lot for the trail head was nice and large. For being about 10AM there were quite a few cars already there. There are 2 separate trails you can take including the Island loop and that's what we did to see it all. It was also nice that as we were leaving we saw the same ranger on the trail talking with folks. It's not very common we see Rangers on the trail. Overall it's worth a visit even if just to get information about trails or what to do. The exhibits where much nicer and focused more on environmental impacts of humans. You don't get the view of the Bridge like at Canyon Rim but it's a nicer and larger visitor center in general in my opinion."

"A very wonderfully, interesting building. Upon arrival we were not sure if we were at the right place. The exterior is quite deceptive. It is definitely one of the most unique visitor centers I have seen. The interior of the building was equally unique and had a map of the area on the floor.The exhibits were well done and provided a lot of information of the ecology and wildlife of the area. The Staff was very friendly, informative and helpful. And the facility was clean and well kept. Definitely a must see."