Starting your trip at Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley means everything around the region sits within an easy drive, from gorge overlooks to coal country history. Beckley is a plateau town in southern West Virginia, the closest city to New River Gorge National Park and a longtime crossroads for coal, rail, and mountain music. It is friendly and down to earth, with an exhibition coal mine in the city park and a sprawling artisan center that doubles as a rest stop.

Standout experiences around Beckley: - Ride a mine car underground with a former miner at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine - Shop West Virginia crafts and eat at Tamarack, the state's artisan showcase - Stand on the rim at Grandview for the classic horseshoe bend of the New River - Raft the New River or the Gauley, two of the best whitewater runs in the East - Walk the boardwalks to Sandstone Falls, the widest waterfall on the New - Photograph the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park - Ski or snow tube at Winterplace in winter - Catch an outdoor drama from Theatre West Virginia at the Grandview amphitheater

Beckley is a natural base for the gorge and beyond. Fayetteville and the New River Gorge Bridge are about a half hour north, where Bridge Day each October sends BASE jumpers off the span. Lewisburg and the Greenbrier resort are about an hour east, Charleston is about an hour northwest, and Bluefield is an hour south. Grab a pepperoni roll from a gas station counter, the state's unofficial snack, and come in October when the gorge turns every shade of red and gold.