Rapidan Wildlife Management Area

Rapidan Wildlife Management Area
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location within Virginia Show map of Virginia Rapidan Wildlife Management Area (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Madison and Greene counties, Virginia
Coordinates	38°22′19″N 78°28′52″W / 38.372°N 78.481°W / 38.372; -78.481[1]
Area	10,326 acres (41.79 km2)
Governing body	Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Rapidan Wildlife Management Area is a 10,326-acre (41.79 km²) Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Madison and Greene counties, Virginia. It is composed of eight separate tracts of land along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains; four of these adjoin Shenandoah National Park, and combined they share 25 miles (40 km) of boundary.^[2]

Elevations within the area range from 1,400 to 3,840 feet (430 to 1,170 m) above sea level. Much of the area was forested prior to being acquired by the state, although timber harvesting took place frequently. Most of the woods are hardwood, dominated by chestnut oak and tulip poplar; populations of sugar maple and yellow and black birch may be found in some of the higher and deeper areas. Some of the older timber nearly died from gypsy moth infestation before being salvaged in the late 1980s. Evidence of former human habitation, including old home sites, cemeteries, and rock piles, may still be found in the area.^[2]

Three major waterways, the Rapidan, Conway, and South rivers, cross the property. These fast-moving streams and their tributaries support healthy populations of brook trout.^[2]

Rapidan WMA is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The area is open to the public for hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and primitive camping.^[2] Access for persons 17 years of age or older requires a valid hunting or fishing permit, or a WMA access permit.^[3]