Top to bottom: Arrowhead Bike Farm; pet goats included. Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley, West Virginia, is a requisite stop for coal history buffs. Thurmond train station and mercantile section. Grandview – one of the best overlooks around; the rugged inaccessibility of much of the park is obvious.
Climbing back up the plateau to Fayetteville, I passed the county courthouse and my favorite local tavern, Southside Junction Tap House. A cute little town, Fayetteville has a number of shops, restaurants, and bars catering to locals and visitors alike. Leaving town, I took a side trip towards the Kaymoor mine, noting the Arrowhead Bike Farm on the way. Arrowhead offers another type of riding: bicycles, with extensive trails in the woods, along with brats and beverages for the famished and thirsty. I hiked a steep mile down to the Kaymoor mine portal, one of the more intact remaining mine complexes around, and snapped a pic. This entire region has extensive coal mining history. The Nuttallburg mine near my home is also worth a hike. In addition, an exhibition coal mine in nearby Beckley offers the unique opportunity to explore an underground coal mine led by veteran miners. I definitely recommend all of these locations for anyone interested in the coal heritage of West Virginia.
Next, I cruised down U. S. Route 19, waving at other riders, to State Route 25, which dead ends in Thurmond, an abandoned but well-preserved example of an Appalachian industrial town. Most downtown buildings remain beside the tracks, along with a still-in-use rail depot. Most of the movie Matewan was filmed here. That film is a fairly accurate depiction of the events leading up to the West Virginia coal mine wars, the little known but largest armed civil insurrection in U. S. history.
My next stop was Grandview. It’ s a short 7 miles as the crow flies, but topography and limited routes make it a 35-mile ride. I followed U. S. 19, then U. S. Route 64, circling the outskirts of Beckley, and ultimately State Route 9, to another dead end. Grandview is worthy of the name. Scenic overlooks abound throughout the entire national park, but this is arguably the best. The main view stands 1,400 feet above a great river bend, with sweeping up- and
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