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Landmarks of Legacy

Where an American Icon Meets the Adventure of a Lifetime

Some landmarks are merely famous. Others become part of a place’s identity, woven into the stories people tell, the memories they make, and the pride they carry long after they’ve gone home. Rising 876 feet above one of the oldest rivers on Earth, the New River Gorge Bridge is one of the latter. As America marks 250 years, Aramark Destinations invites you to experience it from the one place that knows it best: Adventures on the Gorge, perched on the rim just a mile from the bridge, at the edge of West Virginia’s newest —and wildest—national park.

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The Rusty Rainbow: 876 Feet of American Ingenuity

When the New River Gorge Bridge opened in October 1977, it instantly became the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, a record it held for 26 years. Today it remains the longest in the Western Hemisphere and the third-highest bridge in the United States. Built from COR-TEN weathering steel that develops a rust-colored patina over time, the structure locals call the “Rusty Rainbow” looks as though it grew from the gorge itself. Learn More.

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Experience History in New Ways

  •  Guided interpretive tours and legacy experiences
  • Special events and commemorative celebrations
  • Property-specific stories and milestone moments
  • Culinary and retail offerings inspired by local destinations
  • Immersive content revealing the past, present, and future of each place

Our Promise to These Places, and to You

Landmarks of Legacy connect our destinations through three shared commitments.

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Stewardship

Caring for What Endures: As part of the continent’s oldest landscapes, stewardship here means protecting the endangered hemlock forest and sustaining the wild whitewater systems, ensuring that this corner of Appalachia remains extraordinary for the next 250 years. 

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Stories that Shape Our Destinations

Every Landmark Has a Voice: Before the bridge, a 40-minute drive along a narrow mountain road was the only way across the gorge. The New River itself is older than the mountains that surround it—a fact that puts every rapid, every climb, and every crossing into a deep geological perspective.

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Experience in Legacy

Not Spectators. Participants. From running the rapids of the Lower New to watching peregrine falcons wheel above the bridge to gathering around a fire under an Appalachian sky—every experience at Adventures on the Gorge connects you to something larger than the moment.  

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Give Back to the Places You Love

Through our Round Up program and other philanthropic initiatives, guests can support preservation, education, and community programs near Adventures on the Gorge—helping to protect this local landscape and the stories it holds. Because honoring legacy also means investing in the future.

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Join the Journey

Landmarks of Legacy is more than a campaign. It is a movement across America's most meaningful places — a shared commitment to the destinations that shaped our nation and continue to define who we are. Learn more at landmarksoflegacy.com.