The Road to Nuttallburg, West Virginia

The Road to Nuttallburg, West Virginia

by Nancy Carter of Making My Own Lane

VIsiting Nuttallburg

Nuttallburg is one of the abandoned coal mines and towns that is part of the New River Gorge National Park. The town is considered to be one of the best-preserved examples of a coal mining town in the US.

There were originally over 100 houses, 80 coke ovens, and a coal tipple with access to the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad.

Coke is a product used in steelmaking. It is made with coal but will burn hotter and cleaner than coal. It is produced by heating coal at high temperatures for a long time. pacokeovens.org

The town was leased by Henry Ford in the early 1920’s with the intent of providing coal for his own steel mills. He is the one who added the 1,385 foot long conveyor, or tipple, to carry coal down the mountain to the railroad cars at the bottom.

An abandoned town

According to the census records of 1890, there were 335 people living in Nuttallburg, and 100 to 150 children.

The town included a boarding house, a post office, a company store, schools, churches, and about 43 homes. All that you can see now are the foundations of the structures, including an area called Seldom Seen where more workers lived. 1

The company store is on the left, with the row of coke ovens going down the road.

The town was racially segregated, with separate schools and churches.

As other, more advanced mines opened in the area, Nuttallburg began to shut down. The mines were actually sealed off and closed in 1958.

The property was transferred to the National Park Service in 1998, and became part of the New River Gorge National Park.

Walking through the area, it’s hard to picture it with families and children.

The foundation is all that remains of the once massive boarding house.

The road to Nuttallburg

While I had read that the road, Keeneys Creek Road, was a narrow one lane road, I was still not prepared for this road that was basically designed for horses or walking, not cars.

It is narrow and steep, but when you first start out it’s at least paved. After a couple of miles (I think the road is about four miles long), the road turns to gravel, then back to paved for a short time, then back to gravel.

When you get to the bottom, there is a parking area where several cars were parked. There are well-marked trails with signs telling you what you can see and where.

If I thought the road down was bad, driving back up was worse. I had driven maybe a half a mile back up, over an old wooden-planked bridge, when I saw another car coming down the mountain.

We both decided there was enough room to pass, and we drove by each other slowly, but successfully. As I went to speed up a bit, to like 3 miles an hour, the gravel road suddenly gave out underneath me, and I slid back into the guard rail, with the front of my car on the ground, and no ground underneath my front tire.

I may have forgotten to mention that there is no cell service here.

I was able to reach 911, and through several staticy connections, I was able to explain where I was, and this 911 angel quickly sent a tow truck to find me.

Because I was traveling so slowly, there was mostly surface damage to my car, and I was able to collect the pieces, including the passenger-side mirror.

There were also other car parts scattered in the area that were not mine. I was very happy there was a guard rail there to stop my car from going over the edge into a ravine.

You can watch some of the recovery mission here

Do I recommend visiting Nuttallburg?

While I really enjoyed seeing and learning about the town, I cannot recommend driving on that road, and it is definitely NOT RV, or even van, friendly.

You are taking a great chance of having to interact with another car, either on the way down or the way up, and you may end up like I did, waiting for a tow truck to pull me back onto the road.

1 Rita Walsh, David N. Fuerst and Richard W. Segars, March 2005, May 2005, npshistory.com

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions about New River Gorge National Park and Nuttallburg, or if you would like to know when I publish a new article, you can message me here.

Thanks for joining me as I continue Year 2 of this full-time RV life.

Subscribe below for updates as we travel and continue to enjoy and learn more about life on the road.

Hi there! I'm Nancy.

In 2023, I ditched my heels for hiking boots, sold my house, and decided to travel the US full time in my 2005 Lazy Daze Class C RV.

I love to share the places I travel to and what it's like to live in an RV full-time.

If you have ever thought about hitting the road and traveling in an RV, either in your free time or full time, you are in the right place!

Follow along for weekly blog posts about my adventures as I travel the US with my two dogs, Rufus and Willie, and my cat, Katie.