The Exhibition Coal Mine is located in the New River Park near downtown Beckley, about 20 minutes from the ACE Adventure Center. This entertaining and highly educational attraction takes visitors under ground for a guided tour of an actual coal mine. In addition to the mine tour, the park has several restored buildings from the mining era. There's also a Youth Museum and the Mountain Homestead in the park, making it one interesting and educational place to visit. Visitors board an actual mine train for an underground trip through some 1,500 feet of mine passages.
Former miners serve as tour guides and spin entertaining yarns about life in the mines years ago.
You'll see how courageous miners battled dangerous gasses and the constant threat of explosion and cave-ins to blast coal out of the ground and bring it to the surface. Further along in the tour, you'll see how modern equipment such as roof bolting and continuous mining machines gradually made the mines safer as they became more mechanized. Be sure to dress warmly as the mine, like a cave, remains at a constant 53 to 55 degrees year-round. If you forget your jacket, the nice folks at the mine will loan you one. In recent years, the park has added several authentic buildings around the entrance to the mine to give visitors an idea of what life was like in the coal towns over a hundred years ago.