Strataca — Attraction in Hutchinson

Wow!!! I was a little skeptical about enjoying a trip 650 feet below ground to what is basically a man made cave but boy was I wrong! I have taken several cave tours in Missouri and elsewhere but none of them stack up to the salt mine at Strataca. The first thing that stands out as different is the clean, modern appearance of the above ground facility. The staff is all very friendly. Tickets to tour the mine are $19 but they do offer active military and senior discounts. There is an extended tour option for an additional $12. MAKE SURE TO CALL AHEAD. many schools bring their students here on field trips. You'll want to ensure a tour is available when you plan to go. When it's time for your tour you will be shown a short safety video then given a clean hard hat. After the video you will get into an elevator to descend the 650 feet to the mine. If you're concerned about the safety of the elevator, you can relax, the cables are X-rayed every 3 months and hand inspected every 6 months. The ride down is very smooth, the pressure does change so be prepared to pop your ears. When you exit the elevator at the bottom you are greeted with a beautiful room with salt crystal walls, floor and ceiling. The room has a very high ceiling and everywhere a light shines the walls glisten. The air is very pure and isn't musty like many caves. A docent will introduce you to the mine and set you off on a self guided tour. There are many attractions in the museum. Everything from the mines history to the present day storage of Hollywood films and important records. The self guided tour last about an hour unless you rush through it. After the self guided tour, you can ride a train and get a short guided tour of portions of the mine that are not part of the self guided tour. After the train you can take another guided tour called the "Dark Ride." This explores yet another portion of the mine. At the end of the "Dark Ride" you can collect your own salt crystals. Strataca often hosts events like dinner theater and murder mysteries. If that kind of thing interests you, be sure to check their website. Last, if you have an event you would like to have hosted in the mine, like a wedding or a family reunion, the mine has an area specifically for it. Again, just contact Strataca for availability. I was trulely impressed by the beauty of the mine. The museum was actually interesting and often interactive. The staff was knowledgeable and extremely friendly. If you are in the area or planning a trip, Strataca should be on your list of must sees. Do not miss this gem nestled in...

What a terrible experience. We came all the way from Oregon and were so excited to visit, but we never even made it past the front desk.

Days before, I called and spoke with a staff member who told me we could come for the 12:40 PM tour—perfect! As a mom of two under two, that meant one family member kindly offered to watch the kids so my husband and I could enjoy a rare moment of adult time. I spent the whole morning prepping everything and pumping so our babies would be all set while we were gone.

Then, just two hours before our scheduled time, I received a call from a number that showed up as spam on my phone—why would I answer that? We showed up for our 12:40 tour only to find signs saying they were closed for school tours. A staff member finally came out. When I told her we were there for our scheduled visit, she coldly said she had called me once that morning and changed our time to 2:00 PM—no second call. She repeatedly and bluntly said we weren’t allowed in while school groups were there, despite the fact I had spoken with staff beforehand and was explicitly told 12:40 would work.

I was shocked by how unkindly I was treated. Her tone was gruff and unapologetic, and she made me feel like an inconvenience rather than a guest. The rest of the staff stood there silently—no one offered to help, explain, or even show empathy. There wasno apology for the miscommunication, and certainly no attempt to make things right.

I left in tears, absolutely crushed I criedso much that i lost my voice. This was our one adult outing on our trip, and I felt humiliated. My husband, seeing how heartbroken I was, cried too. As a postpartum mom still full of hormones, this experience was more than disappointing—it was dehumanizing.

Hutchinson is full of kind, wonderful people—but unfortunately, the staff we encountered here had no sympathy or warmth. If you're planning a visit, double-check everything, because if there's a mistake, don’t expect them to take...

We went here a while back. We opted to get the full tour which included several different tram ride and train rides. We spent several hours below ground. If you come here I would recommend getting the full package rather than just the simple package. The mine is very interesting. There are several areas which I think are not original. Meaning that I believe that they stayed the majority of the stuff to fit the rides. A few things seem a bit out of place. The gift shop area and the collections area is interesting. Though the props that are there that are intended to show you what the storage looks like are likely not real. The movie props and those things are pretty interesting. When we were there we saw a number of props including one from the movie Twister. There's a pretty decent amount of history that you can read online about this place and how they were able to turn it into a mine. I just feel that the entire thing was set up to be a tourist attraction rather than showcasing what the mine originally was. While this necessarily does not necessarily prevent people from coming here it is still quite interesting. I would have liked to seen something that indicates what the storage areas look like. Well the gift shop prop area intended to show what it looked like it clearly does not. It is very dark down there yet they have ample house lighting when there are no tourists down below. You do have to do a safety video before you can go down below which is quite short. And apparently they tell you there is only one elevator yet I do recall seeing Federal area where there were additional exits. What those exits were I...