Babcock State Park, Clifftop, WV
June 26-28

This small state park campground is an oldie. Originally a CCC camp – Camp Lee – remnants of hefty stonework and projects from the camp peek out here and there alongside more recent construction. It’s a popular place, so our reservations barely snagged us one of the last available spots.

Sadly, I have to say this wasn’t one of our favorite campgrounds. It’s funny how that works sometimes. On another day, with a different set of circumstances, we might have felt differently. On this day, we were struck by the comparison to other places we’ve stayed and couldn’t help but think that West Virginia State Parks – at least this one – are overwhelmed and lack resources for upgrades and maintenance. The campground actually isn’t in the park itself. It’s another couple miles down the road. We did go back to visit the main part of the park and had a much better experience.

Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, Clifftop, WV

The most outstanding feature of Babcock State Park is the working Grist Mill. This is one of West Virginia’s most iconic photo images. The mill isn’t an original; it dates from 1976. It’s a reconstruction that was built with parts from three other retired mills. It is, however, a real working mill. Visitors can watch corn being ground, and then buy cornmeal to take home. The giant water wheel isn’t the whole story to a grist mill’s power. A dam somewhere further upstream usually provides the flow that powers a mill. John, who has a great sense of curiosity about how machines work, learned about this from the mill’s interpretation specialist.

We hiked the nearby Island in the Sky Trail. I’m still not sure where the “island” was, but the trail definitely headed skyward. West Virginia has some challenging hiking trails. Lots of big boulders to scramble over and under. Afterward, we drove through the park and had a little picnic lunch before traveling on.

New River Gorge Bridge, Fayette, WV

The New River Gorge Bridge is not so new. Constructed almost fifty years ago, it still stands as the longest steel span in the western hemisphere. The New River certainly isn’t new either. It’s one of the oldest rivers in the world, coming in somewhere between 10 and 360 million years old. (I guess calculating the age gets fuzzy after 10 million years or so…) It flows northwest, from the Blue Ridge Mountains, joins the Gauley River, and then makes its way to the Kanawha River. The New River is said to be older than the Appalachians, and they are considered one of the planet’s oldest mountain ranges. The layers upon layers of sheer-faced rock cliffs are formidable. The rock formations are actually one of the tools scientists use to date the gorge and river.

We parked at the Visitor’s Center and hiked down a short trail to get a better view. It really is stunning. Imagining the engineering and effort involved in construction is mind-boggling. The bridge revolutionized the local area by connecting the two sides of the gorge. Like the locals, we drove back and forth across the bridge multiple times, never pausing to imagine what that trip would have been like fifty years ago.

We also drove to Fayette Station on old Route 82, a twisty, one-way road following the river at the bottom of the gorge. Fun and worth the time to find the route, which was off the beaten path and sort of hidden.

Ready for a Leap of Faith? The annual Bridge Day Festival is scheduled for October 17 this year. The New River Bridge will be open to thousands of pedestrians and dozens of extreme sports enthusiasts who will BASE jump 876 feet from the bridge down into the gorge. See the Bridge Day website if you plan to add it to your event calendar.

Fayetteville, WV

We made the trek to Fayetteville, WV, which was charming. It’s a town that’s working hard to promote a friendly, small town feel. Storefronts have been updated and older buildings have been repurposed for trendy businesses Think yoga studio, vintage clothing, and art studio with wine gallery. Open spaces are landscaped and there are hanging baskets of flowers along the sidewalks. We had a great lunch at the Secret Sandwich Society, which really isn’t such a secret, as we had to get in line, and then wait half an hour for our order. No worries, the staff was friendly and the bar was open to help span the wait with local brews.

Our after-lunch stroll revealed that several points of interest were closed due to Covid, but we did have one serendipitous find: a camper conversion business right on the main street in town. The overhead garage door was open, so we stopped and had a nice chat with Mike Williams, the owner of Bridge Bound Campers. He kindly took time from his work to show us around. They are currently doing custom conversions, most of these are specialized for outdoor enthusiasts and their sports equipment. Bridge Bound Campers has a website and Facebook page, if you are interested in seeing their work.

Next stop: Summersville Lake, WV