The Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a Minnesota state park at the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the south shore of Lake Vermilion, in the Vermilion Range. The mine is known as Minnesota's oldest, deepest, and richest iron mine, and now hosts the Soudan Underground Laboratory.
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Excellent and very fun experience! We've been coming to northern MN for family vacations for a long time and had only vaguely heard about the Soudan mine tour. So sorry we didn't check it out sooner! There are two tours, the main tour (in summer it starts on the hour from 10am to 4pm) and a tour/viewing of the on-site physics lab also on the lowest mine level (in summer only two tours a day, at 10am and again at 4pm).
The main mine tour lasts about an hour and a half and is a "real" iron mine tour, complete with ore train ride, setups with mine equipment demonstrations, and even a few bats on the walls! The older/mature kids will love it - for the younger kids YMMV as it is a wild and tight/dark ride down (about 3 mins in an old "man cage" crammed in with 10 of your closest new friends... But just remember that in the days of the working mine they'd fit 18 burly guys in there somehow!), and as part of the tour demonstrations later they will first use a candle and turn off the lights... And then blow out the candle. Pitch black, like you've probably never experienced it before (or again), being 2300+ feet under the sunshine. I could see small kids (and more than a few adults) having difficulty with that!
The second tour is more of a viewing than a tour, and definitely not for most young/immature kids (or adults, for that matter). That being said, it is fantastic for those with any interest at all in science. Would be great for a homeschool or high school field trip. You take the same rattletrap "man cages" down to the lowest mine level, just like on the other tour, but then you go an entirely different direction into a temp-controlled modern lab that has been built down there. Basically, the lab in the mine is the "far detector" for the muon neutrino stream being sent through the earth from the Fermilab in IL. If that means nothing to you, it's OK, just know that these are teeny-tiny particles sent by the trillions from IL which require a 6-ton, ginormous, layered-metal plate as far underground as possible to detect, at most, 6 of them (if it were at a higher elevation they'd detect even less of them due to solar interference, hence why they set up shop as deep down as they can). Talk about needles in haystacks. The leader we had was very engaging and know how to explain admittedly challenging concepts to a mostly neophyte crowd. They take you around to a few different stations and demonstrate what the detector is there for and how it works -a mini physics class really. Great for anyone with an inquisitive mind and highly...
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We have traveled for six months of the year now for ten years. I tell you this to preface what I'm about to say: Hands down the tour of the Soudan Mine by our tour guide, Karl, was the BEST tour we have ever been given.
Karl was amazing in so many ways. He worked in the mining industry for most of his life. He has devoted a lot of time learning about all aspects of mining so that he can give his audience the best. Karl is enthusiastic. He genuinally cares about his guests. Amazingly, he memorized everyone's name in our group, and he frequently addressed them by their name.
Karl went out of his way to give us some 'extra' tours and give us some heartfelt perspectives on how the immigrants came to work in these mines and their voyage to America. How does he know? His parents moved to this country after WWII from Indonesia. Karl was seven years old at the time. They came here with nothing but the clothes on their backs. His family story was incredibly moving. His story put an entirely different perspective on this place. You could almost feel the pain, the sweat, and the tears of these workers as they strove to make a better life for their children than they had.
The underground tour is closed due to flooding, so there are no underground tours this year. Were we disappointed? Heck, no! We left feeling like we had just had the best experience of our trip. Thank you Karl from the bottom of our hearts...
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There are two great stories and experiences to be had here: 1) deep underground iron mining, Minnesota Iron Range history, geology; 2) world-class particle physics
It's a bit out-of-the-way, but the geology of the site is remarkable. You'll need to come early if you wanted to experience all the site has to offer above, in a single visit. If you arrive later, you will likely need two visits to get the full experience in. For those with curious minds, however, you'll probably never tire of re-visiting.
If you have time for just one experience above, I recommend starting with #1. Come back again for the physics (and bring a geeky friend)!
This site, so deep underground that it stays a cool/comfortable 50F year-round, is one of Minnesota's underappreciated natural and human-engineered wonders! Be sure to also visit the cable house on the grounds: the early 20th century electromotive gear inside is still used full-time to operate the mine-shaft cars which...
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