Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.
Audra State Park
A compact park on the Middle Fork River built around a boulder-strewn swimming area and the Alum Cave boardwalk, which runs beneath an overhanging rock shelter above the river. One of the better swimming holes in the state with an actual campground attached.
Know before you go
- Water is cold and the river bottom is all rounded boulders
- Boardwalk trail is short, scenic and family-friendly
What you can do here
The swimming area sits in the Middle Fork River among rounded boulders, and the water stays cold well into summer. Footing on the river bottom is uneven, so shoes help more than they hurt. Check with the park on water levels and whether the swimming area is open before you make the drive.
Audra runs 355 acres, small enough that the campground sits within easy walking distance of the river. That is the whole appeal: a swimming hole with an actual campground attached rather than a day-use pullout. Book through the state park system, and ask the office which loops are open in April and October.
Trails here are short. The Alum Cave boardwalk is the one to walk, passing beneath an overhanging rock shelter above the river, and it is easy enough for children. Expect a scenic hour rather than a full day; 355 acres do not hold long mileage.
Local organizations
The Middle Fork runs through the park cold and boulder-strewn, which shapes where fish hold: pockets and seams behind rock rather than long open runs. The park publishes nothing about what is stocked or caught in this stretch. Check current WVDNR regulations and stocking listings for the Middle Fork before you plan around it.
The boulder-filled river at the swimming area and the Alum Cave rock shelter are the two subjects here, and the boardwalk puts you under the overhang for the second. Both sit close to parking and work in flat light, which suits a gorge bottom. Wet rock near the water is slick, so mind your footing with a tripod.
Guides, gear and lodging near Audra State Park
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Mountaineer Country
Coopers Rock State Forest
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Cheat Canyon
One of the classic big-water runs of the East: roughly 11 miles of Class IV–V through a remote gorge below Albright, with named rapids including Big Nasty, Coliseum and Pete Morgan.
Mon River Rail-Trail System
About 48 miles of connected crushed-limestone rail-trail through Morgantown: the Caperton Trail along the riverfront downtown, the Mon River Trail running north to the Pennsylvania line and south toward Prickett's Fort, and the Deckers Creek Trail climbing 19 miles east to Reedsville.
Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Area
Purpose-built modern singletrack in Preston County, the anchor project of a regional effort to link northern West Virginia into a single mountain bike destination.
Big Bear Lake Trail Center
A long-established private trail center in Preston County with dozens of miles of cross-country singletrack and doubletrack around a lake, plus camping.
Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining in West Virginia.
West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.