State Park
The park is in Breitung Township, on the shore of Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota's Vermilion Range. The mine is close to Minnesota State Highway 169, about 20 miles east of Virginia and 20 miles (30 km) west of Ely, or about one mile from Tower. It has become a popular tourist site, often visited on the way to and from Ely and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The state park is operated under the Department of Natural Resources. It is a National Historic Landmark, meaning that it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The surface buildings are open to the public, and during the summer months there are daily tours of the mine. Visitors are lowered in an 80-year-old electric mine hoist to level 27, the mine's lowest level at 2,341 feet (713.5 m) below ground. Two tours are open to the public: one that explores the historic mining facilities, and another that focuses on the currently active underground physics laboratory.
Read more about this topic: Soudan Underground Mine State Park
Famous quotes containing the words state and/or park:
“Resorts advertised for waitresses, specifying that they “must appear in short clothes or no engagement.” Below a Gospel Guide column headed, “Where our Local Divines Will Hang Out Tomorrow,” was an account of spirited gun play at the Bon Ton. In Jeff Winney’s California Concert Hall, patrons “bucked the tiger” under the watchful eye of Kitty Crawhurst, popular “lady” gambler.”
—Administration in the State of Colo, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)