Nuttallburg Coal Tipple

"NO CELL SERVICE. REMOTE. SAW TWO FOLK IN ONE HOUR. WORTH IT. A scary start because I was unprepared when the paved street turned into a muddy washed out rocky road just wide enough for a single car and no clear view to turn around or back out. As the road condition improved, I drove several miles with hill and rock a few feet from my car’s right side and a gorge on the left. It’s unlike me to go to deep woods unprepared but I had been distracted by the sound of white water and wanted to find it. About 30 minutes into the drive, I checked off things in my head like life insurance (check), last will (check). The Nuttalburg historic sites are found where the road soon ends and there is parking and open space. I enjoyed the scenic ride back and hated to be loosing daylight. Was a comfort earlier to come upon a Park Ranger patrolling and s/he had put their truck in reverse until there was space for me to continue on the path. This taught me to look for similar spots as I drove and I gave the same courtesy when I came upon another driver. My Crosstrek acts like my former Jeep and has new tires. This stop, which is on an audio driving tour highlighting African American history and coal mining, might best be enjoyed in a reliable vehicle with an experienced driver and buddy. The sounds and remoteness reminded me of the movie “Deliverance.” And of a past job filling out missing person reports. Breathtaking woods. Interesting insight into history."

"Awesome place to explore, hike around, and read all the signs. The history is rich and the area is beautiful, you can see the water through the trees. I'd come back to take on some of the other hikes and see what else is out here."

"awesome little piece of history. The road to reach it is an adventure in its own. Very twisty but beautiful."

"Long single lane drive to the bottom, careful a few spots seemed to be washed out at some point. You’ll pass a couple little waterfalls on your way down and we spied an old railroad bridge too. Bathroom and a decent number of parking spots there, and easy trail to see the ruins. Really neat to see the old tipple, it’s in pretty good condition for its age. Lots of ruins of stone buildings around. We walked up to Seldom Seen, a short walk but definitely wear close toed shoes as there’s a ton of tiny shards of broken glass littering the trail. We walked around and read some of the informational signs (my husband was annoyed they conveniently forgot to mention that Henry Ford, for all the upgrades he added to the coal mine in the 1920s, didn’t do anything about the segregation in the coal mining town). We walked up the rail trail a bit to maybe attempt what I want to call the “nightmare trail” with a half dozen switch backs going straight up the hill right underneath the tipple, but after walking through the fourth spiders web and seeing the trail, we quickly gave up on that. Lots of bugs, I’m itching like crazy. I’d say great place to check out if your into history, but not necessarily the best trail if you just want to hike."

"This is a very interesting place that's part of the national park service where you can walk through where an old coal town used to be. All the old structures are pretty much in ruins and covered over with vegetation, although you can see the foundations. Actually the most interesting thing there is the old coal tipple and a conveyor that comes down from the mine opening way up on the side of the gorge. Just be aware that it's a very tight and narrow road (lots of gravel) getting down to the park and and you may have to pull off to the side or even back up in order to pass someone else."