Babcock State Park - Glade Creek Gristmill

Glade Creek Gristmill - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

Technically in Clifftop, West Virginia, the closest town of any size to Babcock State Park is probably Fayetteville on U.S. 19, 5 miles south of  U.S. 60, about 45 miles southeast of Charleston. Fayetteville is also close to The New River Gorge National Park and some of the country's best white water rafting.

Glade Creek Gristmill - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

The main attraction here, of course, is the Glade Creek Grist Mill. There are a couple other photo spots in the park, and with all of them, it makes a trip over there worth it. I will hit the 3 or 4 spots in the Park that are worth spending some time. With ond possible exception, everything is in the park.

Directions to Babcock State Park. As noted above, most visitors to the park for multiple days will probably stay in one of two places: nearby Fayetteville, or the cabins in the park. We stayed in Fayetteville. The park cabins are truly rustic. The advantage is being right there. Either way, you will have to get to the park, and most approaches will be from Fayetteville, or nearby. From Fayetteville, take U.S. 19 north 5 miles to the intersection with U.S. 60. Turn onto 60 east and follow it 9 1/4 miles to Route 41. Turn right onto 41 (which is a state or local road - Stannaford Road) and follow it for about 1.5 miles where you will pass a small road called Clifftop Loop Road. It was really weird for us here. We are used to unimproved road in both Michigan and Vermont, but some of these were none we have ever seen. Almost like you are driving on a golf cart path (you have this erie feeling that you aren't supposed to be there - but you are). Clifftop Loop is one of those roads. Don't take it. At just over the 2 mile mark, you will pass it again (the other end of the loop). Keep going on Stanaford. At the 3.5 mile mark you will come to another one of these tiny roads. This is the road to the Babcock Cabins if you are staying there. If not, keep going another roughly 3/4 mile and you will come to the Babcock State Park entrance road. Turn right (west). About 500 feet in there will be a branch to the right (goes to the Cabins). Keep going straight another 1/2 mile and you will come to the parking area/administration building. The Mill will be visible straight ahead.

Glade Creek Gristmill - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

Keep in mind that the area is very rural, and the road has twists and turns. As photographers, we are often traveling these roads in the dark, so proceed carefully and keep an eye out for local wildlife.

The Grist Mill

As the title implies the major attraction here is the (photographically, at least) iconic Glade Creek Grist Mill, which is situated on  the edge of a medium-sized waterfall on Glade Creek, with a nice pool in front of it. While it is a fully operational mill, the Glad Creek Mill was build in its current location in 1976, as part of an attraction and a kind of monument to the hundreds of similar mills that were found in West Virginia in years past. There was a working mill on the grounds years ago (Cooper's Mill). It stood where the current day administration building and parking lot for the park is. Much of the mill, however, is constructed from parts that were salvaged from three different historical working mills around the state.

Glade Creek Gristmill - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

In placing the Glade Creek Mill, the designers had the luxury - to some extent - of creating a visually inviting scene, which is what makes it such a draw to photographers. It is expecially inviting during the fall foliage season. My buddy, Rich and I decided to take a "long-weekend" trip over there from Michigan. It was a long drive, but in the end, worth it. Unfortunately, is happens too often, there was a lot of heavy rain, especially for the first day we were there (and which had been happening for a day or two prior). The weather brought down a lot of the foliage. We found enough, however, to make decent photographs. They did a nice job of placement, with a rather dramatic waterfall in the foreground. You can also cross the creek next to the mill, and then follow Old Sewell Road back toward the cabins, for a shot from downstream. It is a bit challenging because of the angle, but it is possible.

Boley Lake - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

Boley Lake

The other primary attraction in the park is Boley Lake. It is reached by driving up the road to the left of and then behind the mill. It is a twisty road through a wooded area, but is gravel and well maintained. Any vehicle can easily drive up there. It is only about 3/4 mile to the Boley Lake parking lot. The lake is small (coming from Michigan - land of 100's of inland lakes - we would call it a pond); just 19 acres. It is said to be stocked with trout, and various internet sources say there are kaya and, canoe rentals. We were there in October, and things were quiet. We didn't see any evidence of boats. But lake has a hiking trail all the way around it and is surrounded with foliage - much of which turns during the fall foliage seasons, yielding some pretty nice reflection opportunities for photographers.

Boley Lake - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

Other Attractions

There are just a couple other attractions for photographers. On the road to Bolely Lake, about 1/4 mile up, there is a small pull-off and there is a pretty cool view out into the mountains, called "Island-in-the-Sky." We spend a few minutes there, but struggled to come up with good photographic compositions. But I would judge it worth a stop anyway.

Island-in-the-Sky  - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

If you follow the road (Old Sewell Road) back behind the mill toward the cabins for about 1/2 mile, you will see another lookout with a very small gravel parking area. There is a bench marking the lookout spot and you can see down into the valley as well as off into the mountains. In the appropriate conditions there are some nice, potential shots there. I found some fog.

Scenic Overlook - Babcock State Park - Clifftop, West Virginia
Copyright Andy Richards 2011 - All Rights Reserved

In general, there are hiking trails and a lot of foliage and things to see, but I think these are the primary photographic objectives.