Glade Creek Falls

Bringing kids

OK with supervision

Reachable only by a ~1-mile trail with muddy sections and brief steeper stretches, ending at a natural, unsupervised plunge pool below a tiered sandstone waterfall, no lifeguard, no designated swim beach, and rocks near the falls can be slippery. NPS-cited regional guidance recommends PFDs because water levels/currents change daily. Manageable for cautious families comfortable with a short hike and close supervision at the pool edge, but not a easy, low-risk wade-in spot.

Parking

Free

Trailhead parking lot at the Glade Creek Campground entrance, reached via gravel Glade Creek Road (about 5.6 miles of gravel from Rt. 41, per Lafayette Flats directions). No day-use or camping fee is charged at NPS primitive campgrounds/trailheads in New River Gorge (first-come, first-served, no reservations). A separate upper trailhead exists but NPS warns its access road is steep, narrow, winding, unpaved, and suitable only for high-clearance 4WD vehicles.

Restrooms

Yes

No restroom at the falls/pool itself. Glade Creek Campground, which sits at the recommended trailhead, is one of New River Gorge's primitive campgrounds; NPS states its primitive campgrounds have 'limited restroom facilities' (typically vault toilets) and no drinking water or hookups.

Water clarity

Mostly clear

The only descriptive source found (Lafayette Flats, a local lodging guide) calls the plunge pool 'blue-green,' consistent with a fairly clear appearance typical of Appalachian sandstone-bed creeks; no turbidity, algae, or murkiness complaints were found in any source checked. No independent water-quality testing data located.