Beckley is in the center of Raleigh County (Southern Region).
The southern West Virginia's smokeless coal region is where the bituminous (smokeless) coal mined and is a higher grade of coal that produces less smoke when burned.
Beckley is the northern anchor of the Coal Heritage Trail which winds its way past company stores, miners' houses, railroad yards, coal tipples and over 500 small company towns on its way south to
Bluefield.