Rifrafters Campground

Rifrafters Campground was the 8th campground we stayed at during our 2017 National Park Tour (the 16th day of our trip 🙂 ). I hadn’t done much research about the surrounding area when picking this campground. It was chosen because it had an opening and it was along the route. For an overnight stay that covered the basic needs – although it wasn’t located right off the highway.

About the Campground

Rifrafters is a smaller campground located at the end of country road in Fayetteville, West Virginia. There 16 RV sites and only one pull through (site #20 the one we had). It is very rustic but it wasn’t that crowded so it made for a quiet stay. They have an area for tent camping and a number of small primitive cabins for rental on one side of the campground.

Rifrafters Campground - Fayetteville, West Virginia

Rifrafters Campground – Site #20

Fall was just starting to arrive in the area – it was nice to start seeing some of those fall colors.

Signs of Fall – Rifrafters Campground

We arrived early in the afternoon and while out walking the dogs I struck up a conversation with a fellow camper from Arizona. We were swapping stories of our travels and he mentioned the New River Gorge to me. Since I hadn’t done any research in the area I had no idea what he was talking about. So when I got back to the RV I looked it up to discover we were down the road from a beautiful steel arch bridge that sits 876 ft above the New River Gorge National River. In addition to the bridge there is a one way road (Fayette Station Road) that prior to the bridge being built was the only way to cross the river. I had to check it out.

New River Gorge

First the bridge – it is HUGE! 876 ft above the river below it spans over 3,000 feet. It was amazing to see how high up we were actually staying. I first drove across the bridge to the visitor center where you can walk to a look out point.

New River Gorge Bridge , West Virginia

After checking that out, I made my to Fayette Station road. The road is a one way road with a number of switchbacks. Making you way down to the bottom of the gorge there were several places to pull over for different vantage points of the bridge.

Along Fayette Station Road – New River Gorge Bridge

Another older smaller bridge awaits at the bottom of the gorge offering many different views of the bridge and the river.

New River Gorge, West Virginia

Across the bridge you can drive down to the river and making your way up you pass a number of small waterfalls and hiking trails. I spent a glorious afternoon exploring! See more photos of the New River Gorge.

Once again, huge thanks to my fellow campers for their friendliness and sharing of travel info. I would have hate it if I missed this.