Soudan Underground Mine

A century slips by when you visit this park. Visitors wear hard hats and journey down 2,341 feet via a "cage." On the 27th level, the transportation shifts to a rail car for a ride back into the mine as you listen to the stories of the mining days. Above ground visitors can explore the dry house, drill shop, crusher house and engine house. Visitors also can walk the boardwalk past one of the deepest open mine pits or hike the trails in the park through a northern hardwood conifer forest, past the famous Soudan Iron Formation.

See Soudan Underground Mine Brochure for Tour Information

Brochure

Historic Tour: The tour leads visitors through the world of underground mining. Visitors don hard hats and enter a "cage" for the descent into the mine. The 1 1/2-hour mine tour will take you half a mile down into the earth. Once underground you will be treated to a 3/4 mile train ride to the last and deepest area mined. The mine is 50°F year-around, so remember to bring a warm jacket or sweater and sturdy shoes. Public tours run from Memorial Day through the end of September. The park offers group tours to schools, colleges, organizations and businesses. There is a charge for the underground mine tour.

Physics Tour: The Soudan Underground Laboratory is the leading deep underground science and engineering laboratory in the United States today. Scientists from around the world have been working at Soudan for 25 years trying to answer basic questions about the Universe in which we live: Is matter completely stable? What is the nature of the fundamental forces? Can we identify the Dark Matter that seems to permeate our Universe? Learn about our first neutrino events using the neutrino beam from Fermilab and see the massive MINOS detector (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search). Learn about CDMS (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) and its continued search for a WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). Soudan Underground Laboratory

Tell me more about this park's wildlife, history, geology and landscape.

Visitor Alert!

A special deer hunt will be conducted in the park November 29 - December 14.

The park will be partially closed to non-hunting visitors during this time period with the exception of the Stuntz Bay Road and Boathouse area, which will remain open to the public and closed to hunting.

Public Tour Season Ends

The 2008 public tour season has officially ended at Soudan. We will re-open for public tours beginning Memorial Weekend 2009.

We are open year round for groups. If you are interested in a group tour, please contact the park office at 218-753-2245. A minimum of 10 paying participants is required to reserve a group tour. This means groups smaller than 10 can still reserve a tour, but they must pay for 10 participants. Please plan your trip accordingly, as we need a 15-day advance notice for groups.

Park Notes

No State Park Vehicle Permit Required at Soudan: The Minnesota State Legislature has eliminated the requirement for vehicle permits at Soudan Underground Mine State Park for all vehicles parking in the main parking lot. Annual permits will still be available for purchase in the gift shop. If you have questions, please call the park office at 218-753-2245.

Soudan Underground Mine State Park also manages one DNR state forest campground - Hinsdale Island - located in Kabetogama State Forest. Camping is first-come, first-served. Hinsdale Island is a remote and rustic campsite area accessible by water only. For more information, contact the park office at 218-753-2245. If you are looking for information on Woodenfrog, Wakemup Bay or Ash River Campgrounds, please call Bear Head Lake State Park at 218-365-7229.

Firewood restrictions information: Minnesota has enacted legislation that restricts firewood being brought to or used on DNR lands. Complete information and lists of vendors and locations where approved firewood is available are posted on the DNR Web site.
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