Always friendly staff. A must have experience with the children. Even if you go in the summer, be sure to take a jacket because its always chilly underground.

I thought this place was really well taken care of, very educational, and you can tell a lot of work and pride has gone into making this attraction what it is. This was all a brand new topic of education for my 8 year old son, and I was wary of he would enjoy it ; he absolutely did, and learned so much.Entry fees are more than reasonable, and the gift shops are adorable. My heart goes out to any establishments like this one - the current climate must make it a challenge to stay afloat. The folks in charge and running the day-to-day stuff should be very proud of themselves, and I wish all the best.

This is probably the most memorable museum I visited in US, period! The underground tour was the best part of the visit - it probably depends a great deal on your guide, but for us it was an actual coalminer, an older gentleman, and his stories were absolutely heartbreaking. Heck, I can thank our visit to the museum for my son getting into a college. He was so dazed by historical work conditions at the mines that he decided that it is worth getting an education to avoid that. I personally would never complain about my work conditions after seeing this mine! Recommended without reservations for the entire family!

Had a great time, Thanx to everyone who works here, Awesome staff

A really fantastic place to visit! We had an amazing time looking at (and learning about!) all the coal mining history gathered here from across West Virginia. From the various staged houses to the numerous artifacts. The collection is both impressive and well organized. Would recommend to you if you are anywhere nearby (or even not that nearby). Will be looking into leaving a donation to support this important piece of history. Even without the coal mine cart tour due to covid, we felt the (reduced) admission fee was far less than the enjoyment we got from this museum.We will be returning post-covid to have a ride on that cart (and to have another try at opening that safe)!

WOW........ this is an Awesome place to bring family, friends, school group, Church group or just stop in by yourself. This is a must see and do, not to be missed or dismissed. The overall facility is very well laid out, maintained by a great dedicated group of knowledgeable people. Theres even Retired Coal Miners that were there to run the buggy back in the ground to experience the mining industry. They were very friendly and knowledgeable, answering every question regardless of the relatively. We really enjoyed going in the Old Camp Buildings, Houses, and Schools. The HandsOn Caboose was a great big hit with our younger children in the group. The Gift Shop was great as well, and the fudge.... well I wish I would have bought more and more. Thanks for sharing your facility, teaching us the history of mining and not letting it die.

Again covid-19, impaired the ability of the staff to give The full experience. Guess Arnold underground because of the confined spaces that one would experience. Its hard to keep six feet away from folks on a tiny little cart taking you down to a coal mine. Staff is excellent, the information is interesting.

Great experience for the whole family. Even if you live in the area check it out..very education but fun foe the kids

Fabulous museum!Gives a real insight into coal mining and the local area and the challenges it faced.The highlight of the tour was the trip into the mine itself, a decommissioned mine. The mine remains cool regardless of the time of year so make sure you bring a jacket.Plenty of places to park, and the folks working there were friendly and knowledgeable.Highly recommended if you are in the area.

The Berkley Exhibition Coal Mine was excellent. Even though, due to the Covid 19 issues, we were unable to physically go underground, the video exhibit they have on site is wonderful. Having been underground before, I even found the video which takes you through the entire tour with an amazing former coal mne worker, to be even more informative. The buildings on site, homes, church, school, etc. are well maintained. I recommend this experience to all. Staff was extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

This is a great place to see and tour, to understand the history of coal mining in Beckley West Virginia. The exhibits that are on site are very interesting, tools outfits and what life was like as a coal miner. They have the original buildings there to. This was an active mine back in the day. The staff is made up of retired coal miners. They answered all my questions pertaining to what took place there in the mine. Good place to see and hang out for a while.

Great place to camp. Museum is well done. Campground very clean, neat, secluded with beautiful trees and paved, level spots. Getting in and out is a bit challenging with a large rig, but doable if you take it slow.

This is an amazing place to learn heritage. While I could as a student or a teacher talk about the first settlers, coal mining workers, coal industry, and the inventions along the way in the classroom...its it quite another to visit and immerse oneself or students for that very tangible breath of knowledge.Staff was very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. They were able to do immediate and personal tie-ins between the past and present.Everyone in my party enjoyed their trip and as we left many were trying to figure out a return trip to see parts we missed due to our personal time restrictions.

Was an absolutely amazing experience and it was great for the family. Would definitely recommend

We spent 3 hours touring this replicated coal mining camp. Our tour guide, Don, was highly entertaining and informative. (Try to sit in the middle of the mine cart during the tour. We couldnt fully view the underground stops sitting at the very front.) Everything Don taught and demonstrated was reinforced with additional artifacts in the upstairs museum. Touring the miners house, shanty, and superintendents house was a nostalgic blast from the past. There was a knowledgeable guide at each building available to share information and answer questions. Admission to the childrens museum was also included, though it was completely unrelated to the coal mine.If you have AAA membership, make sure to tell them. It was a significant discount!

The Covid BS kept us from riding the rail car into the mine. But the video and being able to talk to the guides was worth it. Loved all the exhibits.

Not able to go on coal mine tour because of Covid, but you can watch a video in a room that no one is 6 ft apart. How is this different. Plus they charge you to walk around, ridiculous. I understand a fee but not $10.00 a person for something I could see on Google or Pinterest. Sad

Loved what we were able to do, not every thing was open to enjoy, but we will bee back in the spring

Great learning experience. Too bad the mine tour was closed due to covid concerns. Well worth the trip.

The only thing holding me back from a 5-star review is the price of the tour. Its $22 a person, which is a lot for just a ride through the cave with a very informal tour. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and engaging, but its just a lot when youre taking a family of 6 to go check out the cave. We did enjoy it, and we also made sure to check out the model homes for the miners shanty and then the superintendents home. What a contrast! This place is definitely worth a one-time visit.

Very informative place. Gives you new insight on the coal miners of today.

Great self guided tour, at your own pace. History that should not be forgotten. Highly recommend. Historical buildings. Great explanations of the coal miners life and conditions.

Awesome place to spend some time. We wound up spending 4 hours there. The employees were terrific and very helpful. The mine cart ride was informative and the kids had a blast. This is a must see if youre in the area!

Very quiet on a Saturday morning. Would have been nice to see something on the website stating that the underground tours were suspended.

This was a fun family experience. We didnt get to take the tour through the mine because of COVID-19 but watched the video. It was still kid friendly and educational.

I was truly amazing for my young ones to learn about how coal originated. With the changes in today. The young generation may never personally experience how coal worked for AMERICA

History lessons very worth while

Ive been coming here and doing this tour since I was a young lad. Now I get to bring my son and he loved it. I only wish the tour was longer. It went by fairly quick.

Thanks go to Marvin for a great ride through the bowels of the coal mine. What a great teacher! If you want to really learn about what coal mining is all about, this is the place.

Really excited to go there but Google says its open year round...it is not. Only open during warm months. Plan accordingly. Probably would have loved it if it were open.

A quaint little coal mine town display. They are currently closed due to the pandemic but I would have enjoyed taking the mine tour.

$20 for adults $15 for seniors. We had a great time on the coal tour, very informative. After the exhibition tour, there were different buildings to go into to learn more about the history. I would recommend going if you are interested in learning more about the history.

Wonderful light display and ice skating

The lots are too short and our power kept going out.we had no power from 12;30 am until my husband changed it to 30amp thatmorning. It was the 50 àmp side that was too high voltage and thankfully our power management system worked.They did refund our money.

This is well worth the time and price. $20 for adults and it is very informative and gives you a whole new respect for the men and children that worked and dead in these mines.

A great place for a family day or a homeschool trip. Lots to learn about, to see and do. The brainteasers at the youth museum are great too!

It was a very educational and fun experience for both the kids and the adults. Super nice and knowledgeable staff. Great nearby touristy place to visit when family/friends come to town.

Very historical, and cool. I loved the tour of the School house, and the church.

Take a jacket or sweatshirt. There are waterdrips. Kenny was a wonderful tour guide. Very informative and underground exhibition really helped put what the commoners talk about into perspective. Very little walking up ramps to the church house and superintendent House and to the very cool school house. Tour underground is on a rail sytem.

Its was super cool and interesting . Just wish we could have gone down in the mine .

We drove 3 hours to go on the underground mine tour. Checked your website before going and there was no mention of restrictions. What a disappointment to drive that far only to be told no underground tours until social distancing is lifted.

Tons of West Virginia coal mine history, and all the staff were so polite! Our tour guide in the mine, Tony, was so enthusiastic and really took pride in the mines. He knew a lot of information too! The homes and school surrounding were awesome; the youth museum was wonderfully decorated with the Clifford theme and even had brain teasers for adults. Well definitely be traveling back here!

Loved it! From the old houses, to the history & photos upstairs, to the tour underground! My family goes here every time we visit WV & the new owners having solved the flooding in the mine makes the tour that much better!

Love this place, was sad the coal mine tour has been put on hold because of covid.

Awesome place and friendly people! You definitely get your moneys worth with everything that you are able to see. Great place for any age person young or old. Highly recommend!

Nice but Covid dosnt allow going into mine

It would be nice if they actually put the real hours on there website we whent by there covid hours and they where still not open just a waste of time will not come back

This place was absolutely brilliant! My family and I learned so much by taking the tour, and all of the staff treated us like family. The history and real stories were fascinating to see and hear. My respect for coal miners past and present has grown immensely. This place is definitely a hidden gem of West Virginia! We are so glad we took the 5 mins off the high way to explore the mines. We hope to be back again soon!

Excellent tour experience. Comfortable, beautiful and clean buildings, friendly staff.

Truly an eye opening experience of how hard coal mining was. The dangers the men were working in, is so gut wrenching and heartbreaking at the same time.

Great way to learn about coal mining from real miners who have lived it. Tour into the mine on the man-car is exciting and fun. It’s cool underground, but not uncomfortable. The staff are all wonderfully friendly. Eddie was our tour guide, and he was funny and very knowledgeable. The restored coal mining town buildings are all well set up and full of cool artifacts. Highly recommend this place for families to visit and let kids (and adults!) learn about West Virginia history.

Very interesting place. Nice roomy sites

Step back into coal mining history

Went to see the Christmas lights. Absolutely beautiful!

Took an 11 year old here and I think I had more fun then he did. I dont like small confined spaces but I was OK with being In the wet dark like cave mine. It was really neat to learn all of the different things about the mine and the people that worked in it. It was a lot cooler than I thought it would be you did not need air conditioning down there. The gentleman that ran our tour was a really knowledgeable man. It was really sad to learn that he ended up with black lung Also his dad and grandfather passed away from working in the mines. It was a really good experience if you get the chance to go you should take your family and friends.

Loved it! Real underground coal mine! Guide was great!, friendly, super informative and funny! All the homes and old items in them was nice to see too. Ladies in the gift shop were so sweet. Speaking of sweet, we loved their fudge! Easy parking right in front. Glad we went.

Great tour of the coal mine and village that spang up around it. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny!

A unique trip down a coal mines to see the way mining has evolved and helped shape this country. A good museum and mining village to explore.

Great for kids. Wonderful staff.

Nice but underground tour not open

Fantastic tour with miners who have lived it their whole lives! Lots of great info, stories and examples of equipment both in the tunnel and in the museum.

I really enjoyed it all. It is a small coal mine tour and a small recreation of a coal mine village. But it gives you a complete picture of how this area of the country grew and functioned. For those of us who had relatives in the industry, we get a snap shot of what life was all about.

This was a great experience. Our tour guide, Gerald, was very informative. We learned so much. Lots for adults and for kids as well.

It was great. I am so glad we went.

Great visit to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine! Everyone was so nice & helpful at the coal mine camp. Don Barrett was a fantastic guide! He took us thru the mine explaining the day of a miner to us...showing us mining equipment that was used then & now. As a former miner, he was very knowledgeable about the process and shared personal stories which made it a more meaningful experience! So glad we added this stop to our road trip!!

A very interesting piece of history.

Great go into the mine. Listen to a dinner tell you what it was really like. Will go back

Great tour of the mine and the guide really gives a great walk through what life was like for the miners back then. He answered any questions we had. When we left we had a great understanding of their daily life.

As we were entering the mine I felt this would be an experience.A seasoned coal miner of 44 years lead the coal car into the mine, as he did so he spoke of the safety process at the beginning of each day by the Fire Boss. Followed by the all the precautions taken during your work tour. How exciting listening to him speak of his personal knowledge. Would recommend this specific tour. Once through you’ll have the time to visit the different buildings to see how life was during the time that this mine was opened. There’s also a kids museum that would provide insight into the young minds.Go and enhance your knowledge, it’s an eye opener.

We had an amazing experience going through the coal mine even though its not operating per se. Our tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and had a worked in Coal Mines more than 28 years and his father worked in the coal mines for 49 years! The stories he told about how people working in the coal mines back then only made 2 to $3 a day if they were lucky enough to load 6 tons of coal per day to make that much money. Each card held about two tons of coal so they had to push equivalent of 3 carts everyday to make about $3. If the inspector found any large Stones mixed in with the coal that would be deducted from their money paid. Its hard to fathom the idea of how how many coal tunnels there are underneath the city of Beckley its just simply mind-boggling.They offer discounts for the tickets for seniors, military personnel, children, and students. It is very important place to bring children so they can learn the history of coal production and appreciation of value of money and hard work! It was very sad to see that there were so many deaths of coal minors During certain periods of time of the early days due to accidents and other things. It was also interesting to learn more about the black lung disease that many of the coal miners were affected by.It is very safe nowadays in this Museum mine because they set it up so it meets all safety standards and I would not hesitate to go again and bring children or family.

This Exhibition Coal Mine Tour is a must see if you are visiting West Virginia.The tour guides share their knowledge as the tourists ride through the cool, dark vintage coal mine on a train. The tour guides are said to be veteran miners and thus have a wealth of info about historical accounts of mining.The grounds are well kept and the employees are awesome. This tour is family friendly, so all can enjoy. But before you leave the meseum, parks, gift shop, homes etc Do Not forget to taste The Fudge. It is some of the Best.

If you are from West Virginia and have never been here... Then you need to get here.

It was an amazing history lesson. I will never forget.

While this exhibition is naturally a sanitized version of the real thing; particularly, the height of the main line, there is quite a bit of true and accurate representations of what coal mining was like mainly circa 1950. The park itself is a little difficult to find, so follow your GPS VERY carefully. The parking is ample and accommodating for RVs. The Rahall Coal Country Store is an excellent exhibit itself.

Wonderful place with very nice people. Would definitely recommend this place for the whole family. Lots of history about coal mining and a overall great experience.

Had a great tour guide! A lot of fun! Very interesting to see this exhibit.

I love ️ this place. Growing up as a proud coal miner’s daughter . It was the first coal mine my daddy was allowed to take me in. Back in the day before safety was first lol I had many more mines to explore. As my Daddy began to invest and own his own mines.

History, great guides, deeper appreciation for the epitome of hard-working men, that brought electricity and comfort to our lives for many years while enduring unbelievable working conditions by greedy company owners. Every man woman and child needs to visit this place or one similar to it. A visit here would be a good exercise in gratefulness! (Movie: Matewan gives an accurate look into this Black-gold history).

Lots of history and entertainment, Gift Shop was reasonably priced and had fantastic homemade fudge!!

Very interesting place to visit. Veterans and military get a discount.

Awesome! We took a Scout troop and it was great for them to get to see how people lived and settled the area. Highly recommended.

I learned so much about my family history just by going here! Great tour, great staff. Its a very informative tour.

Very interesting and informative. What the miners had to endure to make a living.. Unbelievable. I now know what the song meant owe my soul to the company store. Going into a coal mine was quite the experience. People flip a switch to get electric, with no thought of how they get it. I look at it all differently now. Thanks for a better knowledge of it all.

Great place to go into a coal mine. I hope I dont get black lung!

Was neat, being able to take my kids here decades after I went as a kid (in the early 80s). I wish they took you through more of the mine. Explanations of how the miners worked was cool, but I wanted to explore more! Lots of buildings, pretty much none of which were there back in the 80s. All in all a fun time, definitely recommended if youre in the area.

Wonderful place to experience history first hand from the people who worked and lived there. You get to ride in a coal car and see what the miners had to go through to get the coal, then visit the houses and see how they lived. From single men to those with families and hear first hand stories from a lady who lived in one of the houses when she was a child. Great experience for all ages and well worth the visit.

If you have Marvin as your tour guide, count yourselves lucky! He worked as a miner himself so he can give you a lot of tidbits about what it was like.The museum itself was a little lacking. I expected something bigger, but it was one room above the gift shop. The tour through the mine and our tour guide Marvin was what made our experience amazing.It says you may need a jacket, but I went through in shorts and a t-shirt and I wasnt uncomfortably cold at all.Definitely a great place to check out if youre in Beckley!

Fantastic tours into a turn of the century coal mine and historic structures from the industry. A very educational museum, and the perfect place to stop and rest or have lunch.

Really enjoyed our trip inside a real but not actively functioning coal mine . We would recommend anyone visiting West Virginia to make a trip here and explore it.The tours go every hour on the 30 min mark on a open trolley . Would recommend wearing a light jacket even in summer since the weather in the mine is colder than outside .The guides are miners by profession and are very friendly and knowledgeable giving an in-depth tour with real life experiences.They also have places you can explore in the compound replicating an old mine town which includes a school , church , manager’s quarters setup like olden times with furniture from the era, youth museum.However if you are on a time crunch would recommend to do just the mine tour lasting about 40 minutes which makes the trip worth it .

A great historical tour of a coal mine. They have a miners town set up as well.We try to visit there once a year on vacation. The tour doesnt change but the campground is very nice and super cheap - inexpensive. I think the price is around $30 / night for full hookups. The staff are friendly and the neighborhood fairly quiet. You will occasionally hear helicopters at the hospital in town but I was an EMT and I kind of like hearing them so it doesnt bother me.

This was a very neat and informative place to visit. Riding on real mine equipment to get in and see an old mine was truly a must have experience, and the grounds are covered with other reminders of the coal mining heritage including authentic mine housing a settlers village and a museum. Also there was this Youth Museum that had nothing to do with mining or history. It was cool, but seemed a little out of place.

It was a very neat experience not previously knowing anything about coal mines. If you camp at their campgrounds you get a very good discount on the mine tours. The mine tour was really neat. The old coal mine village was very interesting to learn about. Donna and Roger were excellent tour guides at the mountain homestead. Very affordable prices at gift shop. Only downside is that they say they close at 6, but start locking everything up at 530 so there isnt much to see around closing time. Overall great experience.

A great place for learning some hands on history of what coal mining is like. The tour includes a ride in a rail car through the mine. The tour guide was great!

Extremely educational and informative. The displays where well laid out and interesting. The employees where helpful and friendly. A must visit!

Awesome explanations of how coal was mined and how the miners and their families lived. The mine tour is very exhilarating, actually being in the mine and seeing how it all worked before the machines of today were invented. Great family tour!

Mine tour was interesting and informative. We also enjoyed the rest of the camp buildings and the 19th century buildings. Docents were friendly and taught is something new. Youth museum is very cute, but mainly for toddlers and preschoolers, with the exception of the brainteaser section. Highly recommend!

Highly recommend visitors to the area visit the exhibition coal mine to see the working and living conditions for miners who dug the coal used to power and build the industrializing country.

A very educational and interesting tour, collection of historical homes and items.

Staff was fantastic. My whole family really enjoyed our visit here.

I had a great time at the exhibit. The coal mine tour was informative, fun, and entertaining. The tour guide was a retired coal miner and he was funny. There is a small replica of what a coal mining town consisted of. There is a Youth Museum on site as well. The gift shop has a variety of items to choose from including coal carved figurines. I hope to come back in the future.