Soudan Underground Mine Tours

Surface mine structures at sunset, with the words Surface Tours Offered Daily

 

Underground mine tours are suspended due to shaft maintenance.

   

When the Soudan Mine opened in 1882 it was Minnesota's first iron ore mine. Operations went underground by 1892 since the ore body continued deep into the ground. The mine's value was in the special kind of ore it produced. The ore's high oxygen content was used to make high-quality steel in open-hearth furnaces. When technology changed, the ore from the mine was no longer needed. Low-cost ores of the Mesabi Range took over, and the Soudan Mine closed in 1962.

Guided Soudan Mine surface tour

Join our interpreters as they guide you through the various Soudan Mine surface facilities. Learn about the miners and their jobs, see what happened to the ore once it reached the surface and explore the different equipment that was used in the process.

  • Tours last one hour.
  • $5 per person ages five and up.
  • September schedule: Tours run daily on the hour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through September.
  • October schedule: Tours run Fridays and Saturdays on the hour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through October.
  • Tours run rain or shine. Dress appropriately, and bring water to stay hydrated in the sun.

Reserve online or by calling 866-857-2757.

Self-guided surface audio tour

Free downloads available anytime! Explore the above-ground buildings and features with this audio tour, or follow along with the written transcripts.

Audio tour map and guide

  1. Introduction: Listen (0:59) or read
  2. Dry House: Listen (2:24) or read
  3. Tower Mine Pit: Listen (2:56) or read
  4. Man Cage and Ore Skip: Listen (1:02) or read
  5. Headframe and No. 8: Listen (2:50) or read
  6. Rescue Room: Listen (1:01) or read
  7. Security Shack: Listen (0:39) or read
  8. Underground Implements: Listen (2:13) or read
  9. Drill Shop: Listen (2:13) or read
  10. Crusher House: Listen (2:41) or read
  11. Trestle and Stock Pile: Listen (2:26) or read
  12. Engine House: Listen (5:01) or read

Click for RSS feed of the whole series or paste this URL into your podcast software: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/destinations/state_parks/audio_tours/soudan.xml

How to get to the mine

location mapSoudan Underground Mine is located in northeastern Minnesota (St. Louis County) just off State Highway 169/1 in Soudan. Follow the signs when you get to Soudan.

Summer mine entrance: 1302 McKinley Park Road

Winter mine entrance: 1379 Stuntz Bay Road

Detail map of directions to Soudan Underground Mine.

Contact the mine

Mailing address:

Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park
P.O. Box 335
1379 Stuntz Bay Road
Soudan, MN 55782

Tel. 218-300-7000

[email protected]

 

About the bats

Soudan Mine is home to one of Minnesota's largest bat hibernacula. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 bats use the mine for their winter home. The bats can be found throughout the mine in the winter. In late June and July they leave the mine to roost in the woods, where—like most bats in Minnesota—the females will have one pup. The bats return to the mine in late July and early August, when you can often see them at dusk as they leave the mine in search of food.

White-nose syndrome (WNS)—a disease caused by a fungus dangerous to bats—has been confirmed at the park. WNS is harmful and mostly fatal to hibernating bats, and has decimated bat populations in the eastern portions of the United States and Canada. It is transmitted primarily from bat to bat and is not known to pose a threat to humans, pets, livestock or other wildlife.

Learn more about white-nose syndrome and what you can do to help slow its spread.

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