Audra State Park: Alum Cave Trail

Audra State Park is located in rural Barbour County, West Virginia. The park is relatively well known in WV, but virtually unknown outside the Mountain State. 

We visited on a beautiful spring morning. The night before, we’d spent the night camping in Maryland’s Swallow Falls State Park. We had not visited Audra before, but a good friend and proud West Virginian highly recommended it. 

We pulled into the parking lot around 9 a.m. It was about halfway full. We decided to hike the Alum Cave Loop, a 2.7-mile loop that did not disappoint. The entire loop comprises two different trails: the Upper Alum Cave Trail and the Lower Alum Cave Trail. 

We hit the trail after loading up a backpack with water and snacks. Shortly after starting, we came to a boardwalk built under a large rock overhang or the cave portion. The boardwalk hugs the edge of the Middle Fork River. The views along the way were nothing short of spectacular. If you do not want to hike the entire 2.7 miles, you can shorten the loop by turning around and looping back after the boardwalk portion. We saw tons of squirrels and a few white-tailed deer along the way as well as plenty of songbirds.  We were too early for the rhododendron blooms, but you could tell that it would be incredible to time it for the bloom. 

The trail took us a little over an hour to complete, but it was definitely worth it. We’ve done quite a bit of hiking in West Virginia, and this trail was among our favorites. 

Camping in Audra State Park

We liked it so much that we drove to the campground to check it out. It was awesome! It appeared full or nearly full. Some of the sites were right on the river. There were dozens of people swimming in the river!  It looked incredible to have a swimming hole right behind your campsite. Audra State Park’s campground has 67 campsites. It is generally open from April through mid-October. Some of the sites have electricity.

We will most definitely be back!