Seneca Creek West Virginia

Mindy and I decided to get away for a short overnight backpacking trip in West Virginia. Our destination was the Seneca Creek Backcountry about an hour south of the Dolly Sods. Our plan was to hike a few miles down the Seneca Creek Trail and set-up camp, then do a little fishing. My knee has still been bothering me so our destination was the Judy Springs Trail Junction only 3 miles from the parking lot. The entire trail is very well maintained and well traveled. Mountain Bikers and Hikers were out in numbers especially for a late fall Sunday. There was a slight downhill grade down to where Seneca Creek meets the trail but from there very flat. There was a few tricky spots where you had to cross the stream but the water was relatively low so it didn't present too much of a problem. We past a few nice campsites around mile 2 but the majority of campsites where at the Judy Spring Trail Junction. I would say at least room for 10+ parties to relax and have a good time, plenty of open space and great access to water placed this in my top backpacking destination in the East Coast so far. But we all know good camping and water access isn't all that made this trip in my favorite list.....I also tried out Seneca Creek with my fly rod. The water was flowing very good for this time of year which on a smaller stream is better in my opinion. I would say the creek is only 25 feet wide at most and is mostly filled with pocket water and a few deeper holes here and there. We started right by the Judy Spring Trail Junction and fished downstream until the trail crossed over the river again. At almost every spot I threw a cast fish were present. I missed a bunch and landed 5-8. We only fished about 3/4 mile of stream but had pretty good success. The banks weren't choked with brush so casting was relatively easy for a small mountain stream. All the fish I caught were native rainbows ranging from 3 to 8 inches. I did miss a few bigger ones. I would come back here in a heartbeat, there is lots of trails and streams left to explore.