Audra State Park is a West Virginia state park located on 355 acres (1.44 km2)[3] in southwestern Barbour County. It was established around the remnants of an early 19th-century gristmill and the tiny community of Audra. A gristmill spillway is still visible in the river.[4]
The park is a hilly, secondary forest area bisected by the Middle Fork River. The deep pools, large, flat rocks, and riverside beach have provided generations of campers, local teens and college students a place to swim or work on their tans.[5] Audra State Park is the site of Alum Cave, which is accessible by a boardwalk built along this overhanging sandstone ledge.
The park serves as the put-in point for a 6.6 mile kayak run along about 2.8 miles the Middle Fork River and about 3.8 miles of the Tygart Valley River to the confluence of the latter with the Buckhannon River.[6]
Features
- 67 camp sites
- Swimming in the Middle Fork River
- Hiking trails
- Kayaking in the Middle Fork River
- Picnic area
Accessibility
Accessibility for the disabled was assessed by West Virginia University. The assessment found the campground, picnic area, and park offices to be accessible.[7] The main swimming hole (just below the site of the former gristmill), with wet, slippery rocks and unpaved approaches is not considered accessible.
See also
References
- ^ "Audra State Park". Protected Planet. IUCN. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ Where People and Nature Meet: A History of the West Virginia State Parks. Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. April 1988. ISBN 0-933126-91-3.
- ^ Carrol, S. and Miller, M., Hiking West Virginia, p.92, Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT (2003).
- ^ Audra State Park web page, accessed March 16, 2008.
- ^ Crockett, M., "Jewels in our Crown", Pictoria Histories, Charleston, WV, 2004. ISBN 1-891852-35-3
- ^ American Whitewater web site, Middle Fork River page, accessed July 19, 2006.
- ^ Guide to Accessible Recreation and Travel in WV, WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities web site, accessed July 31, 2006 Archived July 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine