Tower Soudan Underground Mine Takes You Half A Mile Down into the Earth [VIDEO]

The Tower Soudan Underground Mine is located in Northern Minnesota and offers tours of the now closed down underground mine.   This morning during our "Are you smarter than Cathy" trivia game, I asked her how far down the mine shaft went.  The answer was 2,341 feet, which is about 2,160 feet more than she thought.  (She had no idea.)

She asked how you get down there, and I explained it to her.  She didn't quite believe me when I said you all huddled in to a steel cage that is lowered by a cable in the dark.   But yep, that's exactly how it works:

The descent is actually slightly angled, and the hoist car runs on a rail track.   It does feel though like you are going straight down in the most basic elevator you've ever been in.

Once you reach the 27th level, you board a train and it takes you to the last area that was mined before they close it down.   There is still some of the richest iron ore in the world down there, but it just wasn't cost ineffective to go so deep to get it anymore.

It is the best tour in Northern Minnesota, and it's something you need to see to believe.  I've been down several times, and I've brought my family with me once and they loved it too.