One Day Trips

You might want to start off at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine.  You can spend about half of a day there, and then drive down the southern part of the Coal Heritage Trail.  Grab some lunch at your stop off in Sophia, and then continue down route 16 hitting up Mullens, Itmann, Pineville and Welch.  In Welch, don’t forget to stop off at the History of our Mountains Museum before you grab US route 52 and follow it down to the Kimball War Memorial and out to town of Bramwell.  After touring the Bramwell depot and walking the historic streets, follow US route 52 down into Bluefield for dinner and the end of your day or a place to stay.

Another option is to start off in Beckley at the Exhibition Mine, and then head North into Fayette County.  Fayetteville is full of interesting and unique restaurants to grab some lunch at as you explore the town.  After Fayetteville, I recommend that you visit the Canyon Rim Visitor Center before you head down route 16 into Ansted to finish off your day with a hot meal and maybe some lodging at Hawks nest State Park.

A third day might involve starting off by heading off to visit the Miner Memorials at Eccles and then out at Helen.  Making your way out and back to Helen will take up most of the morning, so when you get back to Beckley, make a stop off at Tamarack for a while and grab some gourmet cafeteria style food while you look around.  For the afternoon, head down to Princeton and visit the Railroad Museum.  Finish off your day by visiting historic Bluefield and grabbing some dinner at a local joint in the city.