Spring Sunrise from Grandview Overlook, No. 10

The Story:     A panoramic Spring sunrise from the New River Gorge National Park.  Due to Canadian wildfires, the sunrise occurred through smoke-laden skies which drifted over the Beckley, West Virginia.  The park’s north overlook provides an expansive view as the New River meanders out of the Appalachian Mountains.  This image was captured months before New River National Park experienced its own tragedy, where wildfires took to the lush hills featured in this peaceful scene.

The Rest of the Story:   New River is a bit of a misnomer.  The New River is the remnant of a massive ancient river called the Teays.  The Teays flowed from these West Virginia headwaters, passing through Ohio and towards the middle of today’s Illinois.  In my geophysics studies, I mapped the cross-section of one of its tributaries by measuring minute changes in gravity.  The New River is so old, that it existed before the tectonic uplift that created the Appalachians.  It’s literally older than the mountains.

If you’d like to see more pretty scenes from this region, check out these West Virginia Art Prints.

Sublocation:   New River Gorge National River

City, State:      Beckley, West Virginia

Year:                2023

This room visualization depicts my original photography as displayed in an AI-generated room. The art print features the Sunrise over New River Gorge National Park as witnessed from the North Overlook at Grandview. Print features the classic horseshoe bend in the New River on a spring morning. This room visualization was generated through FreePick with their permission and license, while I retain the copyright of the displayed art print.