Virginia’s Wildlife Management Areas are diamonds in the rough. These large tracts of land, set aside for hunting, fishing and wildlife observation, are also great places to hike, ride bicycles or go horseback riding.
The article has a good description of the 10,300 acre Rapidan Wildlife Management Area, which is located on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Madison and Greene counties.
Wildlife Management area hides treasures
The News Leader – Staunton, Va.
Author: Nancy Sorrells
Date: May 25, 2006
Virginia’s Wildlife Management Areas are diamonds in the rough. These large tracts of land, set aside for hunting, fishing and wildlife observation, are also great places to hike, ride bicycles or go horseback riding.
The Rapidan WMA is one of those jewels. Just over 10,300 acres of land in Madison and Greene counties are located along the eastern flank of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area is divided into eight parcels, several of which border the Shenandoah National Park.
To find the Middle River entrance to the Rapidan WMA, which is the entrance I visited recently, take I-81 to U.S. 33 East. You will cross over Swift Run Gap and continue east through the village of Stanardsville. Make sure you take the old U.S. 33 (business) downtown into the village. In the middle of Stanardsville, turn left on Va. 230. Continue for eight or nine miles until you see a gas station and country store (and also a Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries sign) and make a left turn onto Graves Mill Road. Continue on Graves Mill for just over 6 miles. Graves Mill turns to the right just before a little 19th century chapel. Continue straight for another mile and a half on Bluff Mountain Road until you reach the wildlife management area parking lot.
Immediately upon entering the area the road narrows and becomes gravel. Follow that winding path upward and you will soon find yourself in a lush deciduous forest. The bright, late-spring green comes on in a rush. Ferns sparkle a light green under the filtering sunlight along the slopes on either side of the road. As you travel deeper into the forest, a mountain stream follows the road, sometimes crossing over it and at other times spooning next to it, matching the road’s curves meander for meander.
The most amazing plant that I saw while traveling into the heart of the forest was the umbrella magnolia. I have never seen so many of these trees in one space before, all drooping their fans of leaves and big flowers over the road. This magnolia (Magnolia tripetala), unlike many of its better known relatives, is deciduous, which means it loses its leaves in the winter. It is a Virginia native, but I have always thought that this tree, with its wide leaves that reach 2 feet in length and its giant, showy flowers, would seem more at home in a tropical rain forest.
The roads and the rougher trails in the Rapidan are open to cyclists and horseback riders unless otherwise posted. Planted areas (for wildlife food) and eroded areas are also off limits. Caution should be used during hunting season.
A visitor could spend a few hours or a few days exploring this area. If you have a lot of time and are really into some cycling, I would suggest you park back at the gas station/country store and cycle in from there. Graves Mill Road is generally flat and passes through some amazing beef cattle country. If you watch closely you might even see a few buffalo in one field their eartags a sure giveaway of their domesticity.
At the intersection of Graves Mill and Bluff Mountain Road, sits Grace Episcopal Chapel built in 1855. The small white frame church has two picnic tables in front for a welcome rest stop before tackling the climb up into the wildlife management area.
One more suggestion if you have several days for playing is to stay at the Old Mill House Bed and Breakfast, located just behind the chapel. The B&B offers sumptuous breakfasts and massages for tired cyclists. If you choose to stay there, you could bring your mountain bike for the WMA and your road bike for touring the countryside.
To learn more about the WMA, go to http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/wma/rapidan.html. For the B&B, visit http://www.virginiaoldmillhouse.com/.
Read (Staunton News Leader)