State Coal Mine

Worth a visit, they show all the mining facilities above ground and tell the history of the mine. Underground tours are unfortunately discontinued since Covid but this might change again in future.

This place is amazing, came here because it was nearby where my partner and I were staying. It ended up being the best part of our trip.

We met an amazing couple people Steve and Jill, They are the people who run and volunteer at the state mine.

The knowledge Steve has is amazing.
We talked for hours and I'll be happy to come back soon and do it again.

I also didn't expect to find relatives who worked there in 1916.
I had family on the first fleet and there was always a missing link between where we settled and where we are now, but the state coal mine has a HUGE book with everyone's name who worked there in the past. This helped piece together some of my family history. Absolutely amazing 👏 . Thank you Steve and Jill ❤

This is free activity and there is a lot of history for the kids to learn. A must visit for the family. Make sure the sun is not shining too bright though as all the structures are out in the open and it's a bit of a walk around the complex. Also, the underground tours are suspended at the moment due to safety concerns and should be operational by mid 2025.

A great place to visit. Very educational. Gives great insight to the life of a coal miner. The grounds and gardens are spectacular. It is well worth a visit. It's free to enter and you can go at your own pace or go on a guided tour. There is a cafe on site and plenty of parking available.

This is an absolutely beautiful, historic and informative place. So amazingly looked after. At the moment there is no cafe or underground tours but wandering the beautiful gardens and reading all the information is well worth while. Pets are welcome even in the buildings. And it’s free.

Easily worth more than 5 stars. Starting with a visitor centre just next to the parking, it's so large and interesting, you can easily spend two hours. Within the visitor centre, there is a cafe, a large model of the coal mine and a theatre room showing a short 15 minute film featuring the history of the mine.
From the visitor centre, you can start a tour (guided tours were not available in December 2022, so self tour but that was more fun than a guided tour) of the place. There are museums, smith shop, coal trains, fire facility etc. It's entirely free. There are toilets just outside the visitor centre.

Definitely a place to visit from Phillip Island or the south eastern suburbs and its FREE. You can spend an hour here looking around and learning about the coal mining history in Victoria. Think of this as a smaller scale Ballarat. You can also take dogs inside the buildings.

Very nice staff, great coffee, huge park enjoys almost same size as Sovereign Hill but way much quiet and peaceful.
The only pity is underground tours currently unavailable, and the sliding door is too heavy for someone who's not quite familiar with this place.
Handsome and friendly Samson - the pony.
Worth a drive from Melbourne.

What a surprise, lots more to see than I expected, lots of history on the local mining, great for a day out, take a picnic, or eat in at cafe, open 10 to 4pm, to see it all you would probably need that time, very interesting, will return to do the actual mine.....

What a way to learn about the history of Wonthaggi!

The site has been well looked after by the lovely volunteers and staff, with so much to look at and explore.

We spent over an hour, looking at places like steam train, blacksmith's hut, museum that showed the lives of the coal miners and their families, the token hut, which displayed the names and tokens of those coal miners who once worked at the site.

We were very appreciative to have learned about the history in such an interactive, engaging way.

Unfortunately the café was closed, but there were a few snack options in the visitor centre.

Definitely worth stopping over while in Wonthaggi!

Something to see. Very well supported by volunteers and so much history preserved

Great place to learn about the coal mining in the old days in a well organized place.

Still lots of things & worthwhile to see even though the paid underground tour is currently suspended.

There’s also a decent cafe and a tiny garden sitting in the park which so the visitors could take a rest somehow.

Exceptionally well presented historical site... with free entry a bonus. Also a good on-site cafe.

The State Coal Mine is definitely the tourism highlight of Wonthaggi and the region! This is a terrific coal mine thanks in a large part to the dedication of a special group of people - The Friends of Wonthaggi State Coal Mine.
There is just so much to see and do here! Schedule more than one day if you want to see it all.
The grounds of the coal mine include walking tracks, a fairy garden, covered picnic and BBQ areas, a visitor centre with a cafe and souvenir shop, the caretaker's cottage, powder magazine, Jim's hut, a vegetable garden with chooks and plants for sale, the token room, an historic steam train (not running), stables plus so much more. Then of course there is the underground tour of the mine.
This review really doesn't touch the surface of what is on offer at this great place. You can even rent the hall and surrounding space for your private function.
Do yourself a favour and visit the best and most organised mine you are likely to come across. I promise you won't regret it :-)

Really interesting source of some local history. Staff are very friendly and it’s free. Hopefully they can reopen the cafe soon as it would have been great to have lunch there.

We instead brought a picnic and used the great picnic area onsite (including bbqs)

We enjoyed our time learning about the coal mines! Staff were very friendly. Hopefully next time the underground tour is available

Great mine tour. A bit of a tricky walk down the slope into the mine for some. The hand rail helped. The guide allowed for everyone's varying capabilities. Very informative and interesting. A most enjoyable afternoon. All the staff were friendly, helpful and clearly enthusiastic about helping visitors enjoy their experience. Beautifully maintained grounds, buildings and equipment, helped capture a taste of the past.

Staff were very helpful and conveyed some history. Nothing was too much trouble.

Lovely museum! Spent and hour and half in the above ground section. Thank you too all those that preserved and added items to the museum. This bit of history it is well kept.

Will come back to visit the underground section when maintenance jobs are complete.
Well done again!

Great to step back in time and see how it was for the coal miners.
Staff were awesome and knowledgeable.
Educational and well presented establishment.