New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
Church Loop Trail
easy History BuffsFamiliesShort Walks
0.1 mi Distance
Varies Estimated Time
loop Trail Type
What to Expect
Less a hike than a short detour with a story attached, the Church Loop Trail peels off the Rend Trail for a few minutes and deposits you at the crumbling foundation of a church that once served one of the gorge's long-vanished coal mining communities. The path is compact and mostly flat, threading through second-growth forest that has quietly reclaimed what was once somebody's neighborhood. Stone remnants and cleared ground are all that remain, but the site carries a certain gravity — you're standing where people gathered every Sunday, lives now entirely swallowed by the hillside. The forest is dense and shaded, which keeps the mood appropriately contemplative. This is a perfect stop for anyone already walking the Rend Trail who appreciates history and doesn't mind their nature coming with a side of melancholy.
Trail Details
Distance 0.1 miles round-trip
Difficulty easy
Estimated Time Varies
Trail Type loop
Pets Not allowed
Season Year-round
Trailhead Church Loop Trail
- 1
Pair this with the full Rend Trail rather than treating it as a standalone destination — the loop itself takes under ten minutes, and the surrounding trail network gives it meaningful context.
- 2
Bring a phone with the NPS app or a downloaded trail map; the junction with the Rend Trail is easy to overshoot if you're not watching for the spur.
- 3
Late October through early November strips enough leaves to let you read the old site layout more clearly — the stone foundations and cleared areas become legible in a way they aren't when everything is in full summer canopy.
