Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine

This place is a must do if you’re in the area! The coal mine tour was awesome! The guide was informational but funny and engaging, too! Myself, my husband and my kids all enjoyed our time there

What an experience! Our Coal Mine Guide Don is an absolute legend retelling the history of the coal mines and his own past in them. Having him take us through the mines and singing about the county store was incredible. I wouldn't mind paying twice the price to have more time with this man 👏 The exhibition's main attraction is the mine tour. Its cooler in the mines and you have a couple stops along the way. Don was great demonstrating how the miners worked and survived underground. The ceiling is quite low and the walls are close so definitely mind your head. Our tour lasted around 45 minutes or so. Once the tour is complete, there is plenty more to do in the area. Be sure to open those doorknobs on the buildings adjacent to the wooden path and walk inside to view. Walking on the upper boardwalk is a superintendent house (with 2 floors of period style rooms), and a 2 room schoolhouse. Walking back down are a single miner and a family house along with a miner church. Then the youth museum and beyond that a pioneer village with multiple structures to view. Most these had attendants which were lovely to talk with. The main building has a small museum on the top floor, and super yummy fudge in the back of the gift shop. Maybe I got lucky but my 1/2 pound fudge was very generous near the end of day 😋 Definitely gives you an appreciation for the workers and families of the coal mine. Thank you for informing and highlighting these people as a part of West Virginia and US history.

Surprisingly fun and entertaining. We stopped here while visiting Beckley, WV and Sandstone Falls during a day trip. We definitely had a great time. Our guide, was funny and informative. The coal mine cart was very cool. Our 6 year old did have a hard time listening to the stories and information from the 1900's (his words). My mother and father enjoyed the coal town and the historic items/ buildings, reminiscing about their childhood. Our son also enjoyed the youth museum and bonus frontier town. When it says you need 2- 2.5 hours to explore everything that's the minimum. We probably could have spent at least 3.5-4 hours here walking around and exploring. If you have the time I would recommend visiting.

They do a really good job with this "museum." You can go on the train ride into the museum, guided by a retired coal mine worker. There are also other actual buildings from other coal mine camps that have been relocated to this location - - two room schoolhouse, chapel, managers house, bachelor's house, and a very nice complete children's museum. Good exhibits and artifacts. Pretty grounds. Certainly can spend a half a day or more there.

This was a great experience! Underground tour lasted about 30 minutes. The retired coal miners were wonderful guides. Admission also includes the coal museum, coal camp, youth museum (Eric Carle) and Mountain homestead. Even better than I expected.

Well worth the money for what you get out of it. In addition to the 45-minute coal mine tour, you also get a guided tour of an old homestead and how they lived back then which was really interesting. The children's museum only took about 20 to 30 minutes. It was rather small but a nice addition. Kind of wish the coal mine tour had time for questions and answers.

Overall the buildings and mine tour are very interesting and a fun thing to do if you’re visiting the area and want to glimpse a piece of coal mining history. The youth museum is included in the admission price but it’s extremely underwhelming and the mine tour is not kid friendly if your child cannot remain quiet for 30 minutes. Our 2.5 yr old loved it, but unfortunately that resulted in him toddler rambling excitedly and the tour guide asked us several times to quiet him down because he couldn’t talk over him. We were at the very end of the end car and he stayed at the front; everyone heard the guide just fine. While I can see his point and I agree, I wish our son would have been silent, they should forewarn people that everyone must be able to remain quiet during the tour in order to participate, or better yet make the tour for a certain age and up only. At $22 per person the price is a bit steep, but I doubt they get a lot of traffic and that’s the reason for the higher cost so they can remain funded and operational.

This was a fantastic experience! Lots to see and do here. There are docents near most of the buildings, eager to tell you about the history of a coal mine camp. Our mine tour guide, Don, was amazing. His stories and songs were entertaining as well as educational. He is a real gem!

What an awesome place with the most friendly people! Honestly, the kindness of folks I met in this state, combined with its natural beauty and low cost of living has me considering moving here. But let's not get ahead of myself ... The overall time I spent here was 3 hours! There were wonderful guides in many of the places you'll see that were rich in knowledge of just about everything! I honestly was not expecting to learn as much as I did and let me tell you: I left beyond grateful for the life we live today versus then! Wowza! Gail, Nancy, and one other younger gentleman (no name tag visible) were the 3 people that walked me through some of the buildings, filling my head with history. All of the buildings were moved there either in whole, partially dismantled, or wholly dismantled and put back together. They are original school houses, homes, blacksmiths shops, etc. (Some slight modifications only for safety purposes). It was absolutely incredible! The coal mine tour was one-of-a-kind! Every operator/tour guide is someone who worked in the mines. Ours (I regret that I forget his name) worked in them for 29 years. You will ride in a cart and stop at 3 locations. Yes, it is cold in there! And you'll be down there maybe 40 minutes or so, so bring layers for warmth! I couldn't believe everything I learned down there. I knew about dangerous conditions. But I always thought men took the risk because the money was good. Yikes ... those people lived in debted to the owners and worked their tales off for those debts. I'm glad our countries has the rules and regulations (and unions if you're lucky) that it does today. I will say no more as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Inside the main entrance, there is a museum upstairs and a gift shop down stairs. I cannot recommend the fudge enough! I got a little of each and YUM! Great stop for tourists and locals alike to learn about our history over the last 150 years.

A truly unique experience. It's hard to describe, but it's an immense, incredibly detailed mining camp. You can easily knock out several hours hearing about the history of each individual building and the roles that would have been filled by various mining camp personnel from the extremely knowledgeable staff. All topped off with a cart trip that takes you to a point where you are under well over a 100 feet of earth, and you get to see what "pitch black" really means. Well worth the trip.

First of all, Don was the absolute BEST tour guide of the coal mine. He was so interactive and upbeat plus displayed a strong faith in God. The ticket price includes the mine tour plus all the house tours, youth center and museum. Such a great pit stop on our road trip! Only a couple miles off Route 77. Totally recommend.

This tour is fantastic! A great break from the heat of summer as the mine is rather cool, and you get to ride through the mine in a tour cart!! The tours are led by coal miners, and the detail is fantastic! In addition to the mine, you get to tour a coal camp, youth museum (definitely kid focus!) and a mock pioneer settlement, with buildings relocated from other sites and brought to this location! You can walk in the buildings and get a look into the past! There's a coal museum in the visitor center as well!! Definitely must do if you are in the area!

Great tour guides! The experience and knowledge makes the experience even better! Being able to go into a former coal mine and see just how hard miners worked for so little is very humbling.

This is a must do when in the area. We toured the entire site, showing how the coal miners lived and worked. It was an incredibly tough life for these guys. And what little they made was needed to pay for everything they needed from "the company store." If you do stop here, do the underground portion as well to really get a feel of how they spent 12 hours a day.

I remember coming to this place on a field trip in middle school and I remember truly loving it! The tour is incredible (enough so that I have remembered it for going on ten years), and I remember LOVING the gift shop, it is wonderful for younger teens or kids. The people who work there are wonderful.

Very cool place to go. You can walk thru a coal camp and ride through an actual coal mine. The tour guide we had, Mike, was a retired miner and was obviously very knowledgeable. He was a great tour guide. On the grounds was an old school as well as some other buildings to explore. Schoolhouse rules were great.

Loved the tour! Our guide was awesome and we loved hearing the information from someone who had worked in a coal mine 25+ years. Everyone was very friendly and made the visit very enjoyable. I would like to return at some point with my grandkids.

Our guide, Dorsel, was amazing! He used to work in the mines himself and he is VERay knowledgeable about how the mines were run and how the men were treated, etc. the ride into the old mine was so much fun, and I felt safe the entire time. Everything was very well presented and well put together. Highly recommend!

A must experience if you're in the Beckley area! We flew in from California for a wedding along with a ton of others from every nook and cranny of the United States. We all agreed this was such a cool immersive activity. You'll go into a formerly active coal mine where a tour guide will explain the history of the industry, how the coal was mined previously and how it's done today. Beware, this probably isn't a great idea if you suffer from claustrophobia. It's a legit mine so be prepared for total darkness when they turn out the lights. Thankfully, they only do it for a quick second to show you what it really looks like in the depths of the earth where zero sunlight reaches.

On our Fallout76 tour through WV, Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine was on the list since it's a frequent lace we visit in the video game. When we arrived, we noticed immediately how spacious and well kept the grounds were. There were plenty of parking spots up front. We went inside to purchase tour tickets and bought a few souvenirs. There were a decent amount of trinkets and candies and I ended up getting a magnet and train whistle (for funsies). When we were called to our mining cart, we were greeted by Don, the most amazing tour guide ever! He made this entire visit to be a memorable, informative, and excited one. Not only did we have a fun time, we learned quite a bit on our tour as well. Everything was well maintained and clean. Every employee we encountered at Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine was an absolute delight. Superb customer service and employees that came off as genuine and kind. Highly recommend a visit through the mines!!

We were driving to the Midwest from Virginia to visit friends, and we decided to stop at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. We had a full day of driving, so a break of a couple hours was welcome. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine advertised as a trip into a former working Coal mine, and that's exactly what it was. Now, there are two kinds of Coal mines. A shaft Mine uses a vertical shaft going deep underground. A drift mine uses a horizontal shaft that tunnels into a mountain. Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine is a drift Mine. You board a trolley, maybe 20 people in all. The mine you tour was a working Coal mine, until it was made into an Exhibition Mine. Our guide was a gentleman that had been a working Coal miner for over 40 years. He really knew what it was like working in the mines. We had a great time. After the mine tour, we toured the Coal mining town. The had numerous houses, a school, and other buildings that had been an actual Coal mining town until they were moved to Beckley. It was fascinating, and very realistic. You really saw how miners and their families lived. They also had a children's building with many interesting activities kids would love. We spent 3 hours at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and it was time well spent.

Definitely a must see. How cool to go into a real coal mine and your tour guide used to work in when it was operational!!

What an amazing place to spend time!!! A "mine settlement completely rebuilt at the entrance to a mine. All of the buildings are authentic and most moved here from other mine settlements. Each building can be toured at your leisure. There's a church, school house, bachelor's quarters, superintendents house and a four room family house. There is also a museum on the second floor of the "company store" gift shop. So much to see and so much history packed in the place. Then the coup de grace! The mine tour. The tour guides are retired miners and trust me when I say they know what they're talking about! Our guide was Don And what an amazing talent! He engaged everyone from 4 years old to 74. He was informative, funny and held everyone's attention throughout the tour. If you are near the New River Gorge, you have to see this little gem hidden in Beckley, WV - so worth the time.

Excellent tour showing a little about how one mined coal in the history of the coal mining industry. I know that it is more complex today but it gives you some perspective and appreciation for those who chose this profession. Thank you to all of those who mined coal to support your families.

Our tour guide was phenomenal! I believe his name was Dan B. He was so engaging and friendly and we learned so many facts. The property itself us gorgeous and we visited the gift shop, the museum and the log cabins after the tour. We wanted to get our $22 per person worth! Very worth your time if you are near Beckley! Bring a light jacket, the mine is 58°. Plenty of parking and clean restrooms. The gift shop fudge is delicious - side note!

This was an unexpected gem. Not to be missed if you're in the area. The trip into the coal mine was awesome. Very informative guide - retired coal miner. Lots of amazing stories and great information. The little upstairs museum is interesting also. We toured a couple of the houses too. The thing not to miss is the mine.

We absolutely loved this attraction and would highly recommend for ages elementary to retirement. It's very informative, fun and our guide was very entertaining. My favorite part is the train into the mine and leaning the history and how it all worked. They also have a amazing kids museum that was fun for adults as well.

Very good place for a field trip or something. They have a little gift shop, old mining stuff, and the expedition coal mine. Very beautiful place to visit during Christmas/winter, they typically have lights and a little plastic skating rink. The actual coal mine was really interesting to go in. You had someone to explain and teach you about the stuff you would find in a coal mine. The coal mine was very low( like you'd expect). So if you are very tall I wouldn't recommend going in the coal mine. They had a bunch of old mining stuff on the second floor. Worth a visit, would recommend.

This is well worth the visit. The tour guide had great information and insight into the lives of the coal miners.

My family and I visited the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine Exhibit the weekend of June 29th. The underground tour was amazing as were all of the exhibits in the museum. Our underground tour guide, Dorsal was absolutely amazing. He was very knowledgeable and he made the tour fun with his quick wit. We will defiantly be back to take the tour again whenever Dorsal can be our guide.

An absolute gem of an historic and essential industry that enabled the world to defeat the Germany and Japan in WW2. Great coal company town preservation and the underground mine tour is a once in a lifetime experience to imagine what the miners did to provide for their families and help win the war against Nazi and Imperialism.

This tour was fabulous. Dorsa was our underground train driver and he was fantastic. As a retired coal mine worker, he shared personal stories as well as coal mining information. He was witty and really enjoyed his job. Visiting the coal mining camp buildings was informative and interesting as was the museum onsite. The cost was very low considering other tour venues. I highly recommend this tour for everyone except maybe young babies.

This was a really cool tour. We were camping at Summersville lake and had some questionable weather, so we went to Beckley. This tour takes you into an old mine and some small rail type cars and shows you what it was like to work in there. Our tour guide was Mike and he did a great job There is also historical buildings that have been brought there to show what coal miner conditions were at the time along with how the mine Supt. lived... Definitely worth the trip!

We recently took the Coal Mine Tour as a Side-trip on our way to the Kentucky Derby . Welllll we'd rank our experience at the mine in terms of absolute fascination and enlightenment wayyyyy above the Derby. It was amazing!! The tour is conducted by actual Coal Miners and their passion and intimate knowledge is enthusiastically shared with you---it was a true immersion experience we HIGHLY recommend!!

Highlight of my trip! The company town is extremely well staged, with antiques in fantastic shape filling the houses. The mine tour itself was fascinating! Our tour guide Eddie was super charismatic and did a great job demonstrating how miners would have used the various tools available during a few different time periods.

I'm a coal miners granddaughter. Not just any coal miner...one who helped make conditions better for the entire community. My grandfather helped bring a labor union to this industry when survival depended on it. I know what eventually happened with labor unions. I watched the world change...from union organizer, to Federal Mediator (dad) to union buster (brother) I loved this tour. I learned so much about mining, both before and after unions. And I have never been so proud of my heritage. If you find yourself in this corner of the world please allow time to educate yourself on this life. You'll have a new respect for workers everywhere.

Hi Gerald. We were on the 10:30 tour on Friday, July 14, 2023. We had a great time. You were very informative and enjoyed sharing your experience as a retired coal miner with all. It was as if we were alongside of you as you explained the tools and the way things were done. Your knowledge of coal mining from the beginning until current is amazing. Thank you for sharing. Loved the museum and the homes, church, and other buildings. It was an amazing and educational experience. Many thanks to all for keeping such a clean, educational, and historical facility.

A Great place to learn about the Coal Industry in WV What a great place. Be sure to check if it is open. I believe that we had one of the last tours for the season. We picked this place thinking that we would learn about the coal mining industry history in West Virginia. We did! You pay $15/person and that allows you access to the museum, grounds and a ride through the museum on the coal mine car. The main structure is a large 2 story house converted to a museum with the bottom floor as a store and the upstairs as a museum. This is also where you pay for entrance. The ride goes off on a regular basis and is accessed through the back of the main house. The ride into the mine was excellent. The tour guide was a real coal miner and answered all our questions and was the most honest person I had met. The ride stops at several places to show various sites in the mine. You may have a challenge if you are claustrophobic or afraid of the dark. At the end of the rid you are returned to the starting point. We wandered the other sites on the ground. There are several other structures with signs and placards explaining their uses. We ended up looking at the museum last (on the second floor of the main house). The buildings are still in good condition and allow you to see what life was like. Museum is very nice. You could spend hours there and still not see it all. Staff was excellent, price was reasonable and it was a great visit. I learned a lot. I highly recommend this site to any of my fellow travelers to understand coal mining and much of the history behind it for this seam (Sewell coal seam). Enjoy!

Just spent 1/2 hour writing a lengthy review, and then YELP said they are having problems "Oops, we're sorry, something went wrong on this page" so, sorry I am not writing another review. Please go see this extremely well done coal mine ride. It will change forever the way you see and appreciate the dank and dangerous conditions of coal mining. Our coal mine guide, Gerald,spent 45 years in the mines. I felt claustrophobic after 1 minute, so I have to admire his courage and guts. Please, I can't recommend this highly enough. Go, it's great for adults and kids, and very very unique.

I really liked my trip at the coal mine exhibit. The underground tour was excellent, with a 40+ year veteran of underground mining as the guide. Very informative! The above ground buildings were also good, with well informed docents in most of them helping to explain or answer questions. You ride down into a mine on a car with comfortable bench seats. It is cool in the mine so bring long sleeves. It felt great on a hot day. An actual retired miner brings you on the tour and tells you about mining left back when this mine was running and now. There is also some houses and buildings around the time when this was an active mine and people there to tell you about what their lives are like. Well worth the money and time to visit.

This is a fabulous experience rich with the most friendly people and rich with history. Our guide was Gerald, who delighted us with the evolution of the mine, the tools and the difficulties and bravery of the miners. He had us both astonished and had us laughing through out the guided tour. We also have to mention Peggy. Thank you for your friendly greeting and kindness at the ticket counter and store.

Had an awesome time at the haunted coal mine!! Definitely recommend!!! Make sure to take all the kiddos!!

We loved our tour of the grounds, and our mine tour with Don. So educational, want to come back again. Don tells his own experiences which make it even more alive.

Short and sweet review for the Christmas Underground Tour. Went tonight while in town visiting family for Thanksgiving. The tour is short and sweet, about 15-20 minutes, but is very informative and fun. You go underground about 60-70 feet on as fun cart and trailer. Entrance is $12. The gift shop has typical cups and souvenirs. The property also has the old church and schoolhouse which were fun. Overall, a lot of fun and a good way to spend an hour learning about a coal mine from 1890-1910.

Such a unique experience. The entire exhibit is very informative. A small museum, a mock mine camp and a mine tour. We especially enjoyed the tour of the mine. We went 300 feet below the surface and were shown various tools and equipment used in the mines. Our guide was a very informative and a retired coal miner. I do recommend wear/bringing a jacket since the mine is damp and chilly. Also be very cautious if you are claustrophobic, it's fairly narrow.

If you want to understand the life of a coal miner, come to this wonderful museum / attraction! The exhibits are very nice, with buildings that represent a typical coal mining town. But...the mining train ride into a real mine is top notch! Our tour guide into the mine (12:30 tour on 10/16) is the best tour guide I've ever had / seen. He is full of energy and tells great stories that really bring the miner's experience to life. I have a much higher appreciation for the difficulties and the risks for a miner! If anyone out there reading this needs an actor, he is the guy to get!!

My 13-year old daughter wanted to tour the Exhibition Coal Mine when we attended the 20th Rocket Boys Festival. The tour guide was informative and entertaining. He explained the mining process and equipment. He explained the evolution of mining practices. The early miners were paid very little for their hard work. I would not last an hour in their working conditions. If you are in the Beckley area, take the time to visit the Exhibition Coal Mine.

Loved the history lesson. Beautiful spot right in a residential area, almost seems out of place. Enjoyed the little train ride into the mine and it was nice to get out the heat. Mine is 50 degrees year round.

We have been to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine several times and we love visiting. The docents who take you around the sweetest and you really do learn so much about an important piece of West Virginia history. It is cold down in the mine, even in the summer, so you might want a sweater. The area is beautiful and you can take time walking around seeing how miners lived, the school where the kids learn and about life in a Coal Mining town in general. You learn about the mine from retired coal miners, which is really great and you learn about the progression of mining through the years. The underground tour is about 30 minutes, depending on your tour guide and they do a really good job interacting with kids and listening to their questions and answering for them. I would definitely recommend them as a stop on your trip in WV or if you are driving through.

This museum is a gem! It was amazing to hear the real-life stories and history as told by Dorsal, our mine guide. I learned so much and was mesmerized by the retell of historic accounts while we rode along the mine tracks (which was so fun!). We enjoyed touring the relocated mine camp structures including a church, miner's home, supervisor's home, and more! While visiting we also checked out the Children's museum as part of the experience. It was fun trying to complete the engineering activities. I highly recommend.

We stopped here with the children on the way home from Matewan, WV and really didn't expect too much. Boy, were we surprised! We spent 5 hours touring the homes and coal town exhibit and the children were engaged the entire time. The trip underground was impressive and informative. Mommy and the children really enjoyed it and learned a lot. The retired miners went out of their way to make the children feel special. It was a great time.

Visited the coal exhibition last week whilst staying in WV, defiantly worth the visit! Nice that they do a Military discount on the entrance fee. Our tour guide Larry was brilliant very informative and had a great sense of humor. Was quite chilly once under ground so a sweater or a blanket is a must. The tour it's self lasted 30 minutes, once it's over you can take a look around the camp they have set up, which consists of a church, school and houses which are all set up to what they would of looked like for the community. Myself and my family agreed it was the best part of our trip!

Cool experience for anyone even if you are a local. Me and my fiancé had a great time hearing about the history of the mine and the methods used back then. Great place to take kids!

Outstanding! We stopped in on our way through West Virginia with our grandsons for a quick visit and left more than 3 hours later! The staff is great. Very impressed with how engaging our tour guides were with our 10 and 7 year old grandsons (Marvin on the coal mine tour, Donna and Roger in the Mountain Homestead). The Youth Museum is so well done and the puzzles room was a huge hit with all of us. The entire location is extremely well maintained and staffed. Thank you Beckley for a great time!

I thought that the $20 ticket was a little pricey for a tour of a mine, but soon realized that it was well worth the money. There is so much history that I wouldn't have learned about with out the guides. Larry did a great job taking us down in the mine and explaining everything. It was authentic, as he himself had been a coal miner. One of the men on our tour had grown up in that Coal Camp, so it was a neat experience to hear some of his feedback as well. A great experience for the whole family!

Had a great tour. Our guide was a real retired miner with lots of great info. Felt like we got a good feel for mining. Well worth the admission. Kids museum was well done and the camp was neat. (Wish the buildings had signs to help guide us) but we figured them out.

The mine tour was fun and very informative. Our tour guide, Marvin, was so down-to-earth and entertaining.