I hiked down to the abandoned coal mining site of Kaymoor One in West Virginia to explore and document what remains of one of the highest producing mines in the New River Gorge. Kaymoor opened in 1900 and started to decline after World War II, eventually closing in 1962. Many of the camp structures were destroyed in a fire in 1960, and although there is still a lot of machinery, much of it is deteriorated and hidden by overgrown foliage.
There are 821 steps that take you from the mine level down to Kaymoor Bottom. There is still a historic sign and and powder house at the top of the stairs that are fairly well preserved.
Stone powder house
In the summer foliage, it truly felt like I was traveling deep into the jungle to find a hidden world!
While going down the stairs, you could see remnants of utility poles, a water tank, and the conveyor that transported coal to the bottom.
Finally, at the bottom are ruins of the tipple (preparation plant), powerhouse, and deteriorating machinery.
On the 2-mile hike back to Fayette-Station Rd on the Kaymoor trail, you pass by various mine openings and ruins.
That completes my tour of the Kaymoor One Mine Site. If you have a historic curiosity, adventurous spirit, and are relatively physically fit…I highly recommend exploring this area when you visit the New River Gorge. There are two ways to start your journey…one is by taking the fairly easy Kaymoor Trail from Fayette-Station Rd. for 2 miles until you reach the stairs that take you to Kaymoor Bottom, and the other is to take the shorter, but more strenuous Kaymoor Miners Trail from Kaymoor Top down to the mine level and then continue down the 821 stairs to the bottom.