Description

The catbird woke me at dawn. I’d just spent the night in one of the loveliest spots in West Virginia, Audra State Park.

I had the good fortune to have a copy of Johnny Molloy’s The Best in Tent Camping, West Virginia : A Guide to Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos with me, which is precisely what it says it is. By choosing from campsites listed in this guide, I found places that were secure, scenic, and (for the most part) quiet wherever I went. Molloy’s description of Audra State Park sounded almost too good to be true, but it wasn’t.

Audra has several things going for it, not the least of which is its remote location. People come here for the scenery, not because the park is conveniently located or features much in the way of activities. While of little interest to the “passing through on the Interstate” crowd, however, Audra is a big hit with locals. A couple from Philippi that I met later in the week smiled broadly when I told them I’d stayed at Audra. “That’s where we did most of our courting,” they explained.

Audra’s biggest draw is its beautiful setting, with many of the campsites right on the banks of the Middle Fork River. When I first drove into the park, I pulled over and simply stared. The Middle Fork was the river of my dreams, a clear, cool torrent of aquamarine water tumbling over large rocks, flanked by thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel in full bloom. And then there was the all-encompassing roar of the river, almost but not quite drowning out all other sounds, providing the ultimate in white noise.

Though Audra is a small park, it boasts one of the nicest hiking trails I’ve been on. It parallels the Middle Fork through a lush forest, passing through a large “alum cave” for additional interest. I highly recommend this modest 2-1/2 mile trail as well as the park-run swimming area featuring a natural swimming hole in the river.

Last but certainly not least, Audra is an extremely well supervised and meticulously maintained park. The ever-active rangers were present day and night, and as a lone female camper, this was something I truly appreciated. The head ranger was especially kind -- after checking me in during the late afternoon, he later stopped by my campsite just before dark to see if everything was okay. This was not long after another ranger had made the evening rounds collecting all the trash –- an effective method of “critter control.”

I had to laugh, though, when he opened my trashcan and saw the bottom was filled with Coors Light beer bottles. (Alcohol is prohibited in this as well as many other West Virginia parks.) “They’re not mine!” I protested. “I wouldn’t be caught dead drinking light beer!”

Surveying my ample form, he had to concede that had the ring of truth to it.