Monday, October 17, 2011

Rapidan Wildlife Management Area (WMA) - Middle River Tract

This past weekend, my daughter and I decided to explore the Middle River Tract of the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Graves Mill, VA.  We have camped several times along the Rapidan River tract which has become our go-to camping escape for its relatively short distance from Northern Virginia.  This time we drove a bit further to see what the Middle Tract of the RWMA had to offer.

Similar to the Rapidan tract, the Middle River tract is accessible by a stone/dirt road (VA Route 615) which crosses over the mountain and descends down to the Conway River.  From there the road more or less follows the Conway River as it continues back upward before ending at a Shenandoah National Park boundary gate.  While the road is in considerably better shape than along the Rapidan, be mindful that there are several creek crossings that could be between 1-2 feet deep depending on recent rainfall.

All along the road there are cut-offs which lead to numerous campsites.  Unfortunately, due to our late Saturday afternoon arrival most were taken.  I was encouraged that from what I could see, most the campsites are quite large and could accommodate groups of tents.  We did score a camp spot along the road near the confluence of the Bush Mountain Stream and Conway River.  The camp area didn't appear to have been used in some time, but it was great for the two of us.  It was also right along the bank of the river which was a bit swollen after a few days of rain.  Nothing beats falling asleep to the sound of rushing water.

I will definitely return to this area and hopefully snag a better spot the next time.  There's plenty more to explore including a number of criss-crossing trails that connect to the wider Shenendoah National Park trail-network.