Hawks Nest

Overview

A station under the cliffs

Hawks Nest took its name from the cliffs above it, which rise 585 feet over the New River and were home to fish hawks until railroad blasting drove them off between 1869 and 1873. When the Chesapeake and Ohio finished its line through the gorge in January 1873, the mouth of Mill Creek became the natural place to bring down coal from the plateau around Ansted. A British company, the Hawks Nest Coal Company, was organized in 1875 and built a narrow-gauge railroad up the ravine. By 1877 it had a tipple and two coke ovens at Hawks Nest itself.

The coal business changed hands several times. A cooperative association that leased the mine in 1877 quit after four months, and in 1878 Colonel Joseph L. Beury took it over with William N. Page as manager. In 1890 the Mill Creek line was rebuilt to standard gauge as the C&O's 3.4-mile branch from Hawks Nest Station to Ansted, and a depot went up at the junction in 1894. The USGS sheets of 1897 to 1931 print Hawks Nest there, a small cluster where the branch leaves the main line. The Mill Creek Colliery opened up the ravine in 1921.

The end came slowly. A dam built in the early 1930s turned this reach of the river into Hawks Nest Lake, and in 1935 the state bought the land above for a park. A ghost-town listing says a settlement grew up here around the dam work of 1930 to 1933; the railroad history dates the place to the 1870s. Passenger trains on the branch stopped in 1939, coal traffic in 1965, and the branch was abandoned in 1972. The station, a shelter since 1940, rotted and was pushed into the river in 1980. The old branch is now the Hawks Nest Rail Trail.

Timeline

Coal, rails and a dam

1. 1869–1873Blasting for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway drives the fish hawks from the cliffs that gave the place its name. The line through the gorge is finished on January 29, 1873.
2. 1875The British-owned Hawks Nest Coal Company is organized; its narrow-gauge Hawks Nest Railroad is already being built up Mill Creek.
3. 1877The company has a tipple and two coke ovens at Hawks Nest. The mine is leased that year to a cooperative mining association, which gives up after four months.
4. 1878Colonel Joseph L. Beury leases the mine, with Captain William N. Page as manager.
5. 1890The Mill Creek line is rebuilt to standard gauge and finished on August 20 as the C&O's branch from Hawks Nest Station to Ansted, 3.4 miles.
6. 1894A C&O depot and tower are built at Hawks Nest. A shelter station replaces them in 1940.
7. 1897–1910USGS sheets print Hawks Nest at the mouth of Mill Creek, with the branch climbing to Ansted.
8. 1921The Mill Creek Colliery opens, halfway between Hawks Nest and the Mill Creek trestle.
9. 1930–1934A hydroelectric dam is built on the New River below the Hawks Nest cliffs and forms Hawks Nest Lake.
10. 1935The state buys the land for Hawks Nest State Park.
11. 1939Passenger service on the Ansted branch ends in August.
12. 1965–1972Mine traffic ends in 1965 and the branch is formally abandoned on May 17, 1972.
13. 1980The rotting station is pushed into the New River.

The dam stands about a mile downstream of the townsite. Union Carbide's three-mile tunnel there is the scene of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster: Wikipedia says silica dust killed thousands of the workers who dug it, most of them poor and African American.

What's left

Foundations at the bottom of a park

Foundations are the only remains reported at the townsite, in an undated directory entry. The station is gone, pushed into the river in 1980. The CSX main line still runs along the north bank and crosses the river on the Hawks Nest bridge, and the old branch bed climbs Mill Creek as the Rail Trail.

Hawks Nest State Park now uses the flat ground at the creek mouth. The West Virginia Encyclopedia (revised February 2024) lists a snack shop, nature center and boat rental at river level. The park's trail page (read October 29, 2026) puts the Rail Trail's start behind the gift shop and nature center at the base of the aerial tram, and the jet boat launch near the tram. It describes the trail as following Mill Creek on an old coal railroad, with two bridges, waterfalls and the remains of a coal mine that worked through the 1920s.

The USGS sheets show the change. The 1897 and 1908 sheets print Hawks Nest at the junction, with the branch to Ansted. The 1969 Fayetteville sheet shows the lake, a building and benchmark 835 at the creek mouth, the tramway coming down from the park, and MacDougal across the river.

• Foundations (undated report)
• The C&O main line and the Hawks Nest bridge, still in use
• The Mill Creek branch bed, now the Hawks Nest Rail Trail
• Mine remains along Mill Creek, per the park
• The station: gone, pushed into the river in 1980

Historic maps

Hawks Nest on USGS maps, 1897–1969

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18971:125,00019081:48,00019101:62,50019311:62,50019691:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Hawks Nest sits at the bottom of the gorge, below Hawks Nest State Park and the town of Ansted. Both routes end at the park off US 60 (Midland Trail), at the top. From there the park's GSYP Canyon Trail, 1.6 miles with steps most of the way, descends from the lodge area to the river near the tram base and jet boat launch, which is the townsite. The Rail Trail climbs from the same spot up Mill Creek to Ansted.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Directions go to Hawks Nest State Park, off US 60 in Ansted, where the drive ends, not to the townsite.

Photos

Hawks Nest in photos

Hawks Nest Lake and its dam from the Hawks Nest overlook on US 60, May 2015.From the overlook in December 2009: the main line along the river and the bridge at the townsite.The Hawks Nest rail bridge over the New River, seen from a passing Amtrak train, November 2025.The main line beside the river at Hawks Nest, with the bridge ahead, November 2025.Hawks Nest Dam across the New River, from the train, November 2025.Mill Creek, the ravine the Ansted branch climbed, November 2010."Horse Shoe Bend at Hawks Nest on New River", a linen postcard of about 1930 to 1945.Signs on a path near Hawks Nest Dam in April 2022 warn that water may rise fast without notice and to get out if conditions change.

Visitor reports

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Nearby

Other sites near Hawks Nest

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our West Virginia index.

• MacDougal0.2 mi NW · Fayette
• Gaymont1.1 mi E · Fayette
• Bachman1.2 mi S · Fayette
• Sunnyside1.7 mi SE · Fayette
• Whitney2.1 mi SE · Fayette
• Ames2.7 mi SE · Fayette
• Michigan3.2 mi SE · Fayette
• Carver3.3 mi SE · Fayette

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Sherman Cahal, "Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Hawks Nest Subdivision", Abandoned (abandonedonline.net), read October 29, 2026: the Hawks Nest Coal Company of 1875, the tipple and coke ovens by 1877, the 1877 and 1878 leases, the 1890 standard-gauge branch and its 3.4 miles, the 1894 depot and tower, the 1921 Mill Creek Colliery, the 1939, 1959, 1965 and 1972 dates, the 1940 shelter station, and the station pushed into the river in 1980.
2. ghosttowns.com, "Hawks Nest", read October 29, 2026: fact sheet (county, roads, climate, best time, foundations as remains) and its account of a settlement formed around the 1930–1933 dam work.
3. Wikipedia, "Hawks Nest, West Virginia", read October 29, 2026: the 585-foot cliffs, the fish hawks and the 1869–1873 blasting, the C&O completion on January 29, 1873, Union Carbide's three-mile tunnel and the silicosis deaths of its workers.
4. Maureen F. Crockett, "Hawks Nest State Park", e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, last revised February 8, 2024: the 1934 dam and lake, the 1935 land purchase, river-level snack shop, nature center and boat rental, the tram closed for renovation or replacement, expected to reopen in 2024.
5. West Virginia State Parks, "Hawks Nest State Park Trails", read October 29, 2026: the Rail Trail's start, route, coal-railroad history, bridges, waterfalls and mine remains, its closure notice to June 2026, and the GSYP Canyon Trail to the river.
6. West Virginia State Parks, "Hawks Nest State Park", read October 29, 2026: open 24/7, address, phone.
7. USGS GNIS, "Hawks Nest" (1554665): the populated place's coordinates at the mouth of Mill Creek.
8. USGS historical topographic maps: Kanawha Falls 1897 (1:125,000), Fayetteville 1908 (1:48,000), 1910 and 1931 (1:62,500) and 1969 (1:24,000), public domain.
9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026, to the park entrance off US 60.

Photo and map credits

• Hawks Nest Lake and its dam from the Hawks Nest overlook on US 60, May 2015.: Chris Light, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• From the overlook in December 2009: the main line along the river and the bridge at the townsite.: jpmueller99 from Shenandoah Valley of VA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• The Hawks Nest rail bridge over the New River, seen from a passing Amtrak train, November 2025.: Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The main line beside the river at Hawks Nest, with the bridge ahead, November 2025.: Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Hawks Nest Dam across the New River, from the train, November 2025.: Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Mill Creek, the ravine the Ansted branch climbed, November 2010.: ForestWander, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 us
• "Horse Shoe Bend at Hawks Nest on New River", a linen postcard of about 1930 to 1945.: Pub. by The A. W. Smith News Agency, Charleston, W. Va. "Tichnor Quality Views," Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass., Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Signs on a path near Hawks Nest Dam in April 2022 warn that water may rise fast without notice and to get out if conditions change.: Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Kanawha Falls 1897, 1:125,000; Fayetteville 1908, 1:48,000; Fayetteville 1910, 1:62,500; Fayetteville 1931, 1:62,500; Fayetteville 1969, 1:24,000.