Down to the New River we go
The same day that @flowerbaby and I visited Babcock State Park, we also decided to stop by nearby Fayetteville. We have been to Fayetteville several times together. There are so many great hiking trails in this area, places to swim, and options for outdoor adrenaline rushes. Plus Fayetteville itself has a very small downtown area with some yummy restaurants.
Since Babcock did not take very long to fully experience, we had quite a bit of time to hang around Fayetteville. As many times as we have been there, we had yet to ever drive down the one-lane road called Fayette Station.
A bit about Fayette Station...
This one-hundred-year-old road of hairpin turns winds down to the bottom of the New River Gorge, across a narrow bridge, and up the other side of the river. Visible along the way are vistas of the river and bridges, a hardwood forest, and remnants of the old mining communities that once teemed with activity. Source
I had been on this road a couple of times during my two of my experiences white water rafting. I never actually drove Fayette Station myself though, I always just rode on a school bus with over rafters during the day of our adventure. Once the day was finished, we always left by driving up the second half of Fayette Station. The road is so narrow and curvy, it was always shocking how the bus driver was able to maneuver his way through all of it.
The road is much easier to navigate through for a smaller car like my Audi. There certainly is no space for two cars to be driving in the opposite direction though. I already knew this was the case, yet somehow I drove us to the wrong end of Fayette Station. We were greeted with a do not enter sign since all of the cars were coming out at that end, rather than entering. Luckily actual entrance was only about 5 minutes away, across the giant New River Gorge Bridge. So we drove across again and made our way towards our destination.
Once we actually got to Fayette Station, I drove us through the beautiful curvaceous roads that led us downhill towards the New River. We were not able to drive fast through here, although the roads were paved surprisingly well. It was sharp turn after another, over and over. About halfway down the mountain, we stopped to take some photos with the bridge behind us. This bridge is absolutely massive and just so impressive to look at.
After a quick set of unforgettable photos, we got back in the car and continued driving down Fayette Station. Eventually, we came across a small wooden bridge. I must admit, it looked sketchy as hell. Luckily we saw other cars driving across and some people standing on it taking photos of the bridge. At this point, we were down to the bottom and just above the New River.
As soon as we crossed the bridge, we were met with a couple of parking lots. The first one we went through was at maximum capacity already. So we drove towards the other one, which led us across another smaller bridge, even than the first one. This lot was full of cars and buses, but there was thankfully one last spot that we were able to claim. Had this lot been full, we would have had to drive up the hill towards the exit a bit to find the last parking lot.
After we parked, there were two directions we could go, both of which led down to the river. In the middle of either side were some rapids. This was considered the lower New River, and it is a popular area for rafters to finish their day. Most of the companies with rafting guides get out of the water in this area. On the other side of the rapids, it was less busy. There were a few people sitting around and a couple on some flotation donuts just relaxing in the water. We even saw a girl out on her paddleboard.
We elected to just chill on this giant rock. I took my boots off and dipped my toes in the water. Just like a mentioned in my Babcock post, I didn't bring stuff to go swimming. We were in a shaded area and I only had a very small hand towel. I mean I could have gone swimming still, but I was content just hanging out on the side with @flowerbaby. I took some photos of her doing some yoga with the bridge in the background.
Once we were ready to leave, we made one last stop before getting back in the car. We walked through a stream leading to the river and a bunch of rocks. I was amazed at just how waterproof our Columbia boots really are. I had my feet ankle-deep in water, and my socks seriously didn't even get wet. This took us out to the best view we had seen thus far.
You can see the rapids behind us, plus the bridge stretching across the sky above us. It was such a majestic view and I am so glad that we finally went down to this area. Going back to Fayette Station is totally something I plan to do again in the future. Next time I will make sure we are more prepared to swim.
I must add that seeing all of the rafters go by made me want to go white water rafting again sometime. It has been several years since the last time I went, which happened to be with my brother before he moved away.
Driving up and out of Fayette Station was equally as interesting as first coming down. The road continued its shape and size, narrow and curvy, except all uphill rather than downhill. I imagine this would be the perfect road for touge drifting. If you don't know what I'm talking about, picture The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift's final race scene or some of Ken Block's Gymkhanas. Only elite drivers and tuned cars would be acceptable to drive on this road at a high rate of speed. Otherwise, it would be suicide, considering there are no guard rails or anything else to save you from tumbling down the mountain and into the river.
Once we got back to Fayetteville, we stopped by The Free Folk. We had never been to this spot before but wanted to check it out. This place was so badass, the murals inside and a large amount of space were both impressive. Neither of us was in the mood to drink and the place didn't seem to be serving food that day. We ended up leaving after a few minutes and instead went to Southside Junction Taphouse. This was another place neither one of us had been before. I am so glad we went though!
Southside Jct. wasn't terribly busy. We got a table right away and looked over the menu. This is one of those places where you order everything at the bar. We decided upon a burger and a pulled pork sandwich. Both were delicious and I would 100% go back here again in the future. Also, there was a guy there playing some live music. He was pretty good and even started playing a Johnny Cash song at one point, which I know @flowerbaby loved.
Overall this was such a great day. I am so lucky to be able to do things like this with somebody who truly loves me. Even better is the fact that I can share all of our experiences here with you on my blog.
Thanks for checking out my blog 😎🤝
Come back again soon. I will have another adventure to share with you this week. Teaser... we went paddleboarding again.
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