Minn. trail runs through recovering forest

Trail connecting Soudan Underground Mine and Lake
Vermilion state parks. Photo courtesy of Minn. DNR.

Lake Vermilion S.P. covers
3000 acres near Soudan

Day hikers can learn about bats and mining on Minnesota’s newest state park in Soudan.

Lake Vermilion State Park opened in 2010 after Minnesota purchased land from U.S. Steel. With limited facilities for now, the park’s only marked and official trail is the 2.4-mile looping Alaska Shaft Trail.

Alaska Shaft
The best way to access that trail actually is through the adjacent Soudan Underground Mine State Park. To reach the trailhead, from U.S. Hwy. 169 in Soudan turn north onto County Road 4594 (aka Jasper Street), then right/northwest onto County Road 4598 (aka First Street), and enter the Soudan Underground Mine park. The street becomes Stuntz Bay Road inside the park. At the first intersection, go left/west. A dirt lot is available for vehicles at the park offices. From there, follow the road east, crossing Stuntz Bay Road just north of the intersection.

The stem trail to the loop heads past a geological feature of iron ore, the likes of which attracted miners here during the 1800s. Beyond that is the Alaska Shaft, which, covered by a metal cage, reaches to the 12th level of the expansive mine beneath your feet.

Bat programs frequently are held at the Alaska Shaft. The underground mine is home to around 12,000 mouse-size brown bats. They usually can be seen exiting the shaft at dusk from April through September with April-May and then August-September sporting the most traffic.

Change in the trees
The trail continues east of the shaft, entering Lake Vermilion State Park, where the loop is located. The new start park covers 3000 acres and boasts five miles of shoreline on its namesake.

You may notice that the trees at the trail’s beginning and around the Alaska Shaft are much taller and wider than those in Lake Vermilion park. The state took control of Soudan Underground Mine park in the early 1960s but during the intervening time U.S. Steel logged off the trees on the section that is now Lake Vermilion park. The trees along the loop are much younger.

As the loop reaches its northeast corner, a spur leads to a rise that offers a pretty overlook of the park’s rolling terrain.

Upon completing the loop, retrace your steps on stem trail to the parking lot.

Learn more about nearby day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of Northeast Minnesota guidebook.

Great day hikes await Tower/Soudan visitors

Soudan Underground Mine State Park.
Photo courtesy Minnesota DNR.

Wild rivers, scenic lake shores, and peaceful conifer forests await day hikers in the Tower/Soudan area of the Minnesota Northwoods.

Several national forests and state parks and forests surround Tower/Soudan. The two small communities can be reached by taking U.S. Hwy. 53 north from the Duluth/Superior metro area than Minn. Hwy. 169 northeast.

Among the many great day hiking trails in Tower/Sound are:
g Arrowhead State Trail segment – Though a snowmobile trail, the 135-mile trail running from near Tower to just shy of International Falls can be walked during the other seasons. Park in the lot off of Minn. Hwy. 1 west of Holter Road and take the trail south about 0.9 miles (1.8-miles round trip) to Lehtinen Creek, which empties into Pike River Flowage. Hike it in autumn when the trail won’t be so wet.
g Bear Island-Lake Trail segment – At one time, mineralogists drilled for diamonds near a lake along this trail. From Minn. Hwys 1/169, southeast of Soudan, take Murray Road south to the trailhead; hike 0.4 miles (0.8-miles round trip) to Skeleton Lake’s northern shores.
g Iron Ore Trail segment – The snowmobile trail in winter and hiking trail in summer runs south of Tower, passing through Wahlsten and Embarrass until connecting with the Taconite Spur Trail. Park at the pullout on Sherman Road east of Minn. Hwy. 135; hike south along the creek that flows into West Two River. It’s just under a mile round trip from the trailhead to the river.
g Mesabi State Trail segment – The unfinished bicycle/walking trail runs from Grand Rapids to Biwabik with a small section completed in Tower. Park at the Civic Center and hike the trail northwest about a mile to Tower Park on Lake Vermilion.
g Putnam Lake Trail segment – The route connects the Iron Ore Trail and the Fishing Lakes Trail in Bear Island State Forest, south of Tower and Soudan. Park at the turnout when Sherman Road curves northeast at the fire break, east of Minn. Hwy. 135; take the jeep trail southeast to trailhead. Hiking the trail west includes a bridge over West Two River and walk alongside the waterway; turn around at the junction with Iron Ore Trail for a 2-mile round trip.
g Open-Pit Mines Loop – The aboveground trail at Soudan Underground Mine State Park heads 2.3 miles through a northern hardwood conifer forest. Park at the picnic area lot; the trailhead leaves from the entrance road west of the lot.
g Soudan Underground Iron Ore Mine Historic Tour – Day hikers can walk tunnels a half-mile underground at Minnesota’s oldest iron ore mine. The unique historic tour at Soudan Underground Iron Ore Mine State Park takes visitors through 2.7 billion years of geological history and includes a short aboveground segment.
g Taconite State Trail segment – Primarily a snowmobiling trail running 165 miles from Grand Rapids to Ely, a segment of it in Tower can be day hiked during the summer. A 1.5-mile round trip route starts between Pine and Birch streets south of South Third Street and heads over the East Two River; turn back at the second crossing of the river.

Read more about day hiking Northeast Minnesota in my Headin’ to the Cabin: Day Hiking Trails of Northeast Minnesota guidebook.

Descend half-a-mile underground for hike

Soudan Underground Iron Ore Mine.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR.

Minnesota's oldest mine
now a tourist attraction

Day hikers can explore tunnels a half-mile underground at Minnesota’s oldest iron ore mine.

The unique historic tour at Soudan Underground Iron Ore Mine State Park takes visitors through 2.7 billion years of geological history. For the claustrophobic, alternative nature trails can be found on the surface.

No state park vehicle permit is needed at Soudan Mine, but there is a fee for the mine tours, which typically run Memorial Day through September.

Ancient processes
To reach the take park, take U.S. Hwy. 169 to Soudan. Once in town, head north onto Main Street. Turn west on McKinley Park Road and take the first right/north into the park (Note that this is the summer entrance.). Park in the lots beyond the Breitung Pit monument and enter the interpretive center for tickets and the mine entrance.

Before entering the mine, visitors must walk across mats designed to remove spores from their shoe bottoms. Spores tramped in by people are a common way of spreading a fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, which is fatal to hibernating bats.

Next hikers are given a hard hat and enter a cage – that’s miner talk for an elevator – to head down 2,341 feet in a 3-minute ride to the 27th level. From there, you load aboard a rail car and descend even deeper for a 90-minute tour. While it’s not a hike in the truest sense of the word, there are plenty of opportunities to walk around and explore.

Hundreds of millions of years ago when this part of Minnesota was covered by a sea, volcanoes deposited low-grade ore onto the sea floor. As the sea floor rose into mountain tops over time, weathering concentrated the ore into rich hematite, which is the mineral form of iron oxide. Glaciers during the last age exposed one of those hematite veins at Soudan.

Mysteries of the universe
After several geological expeditions to the area, the Soudan vein was discovered, and mining began in the early 1880s. Most of the open pit mines at the state park were dug by hand until the underground mine was opened in the 1890s. Eventually, new mining techniques made the Soudan operation too costly to continue operation, so the United States Steel Corporation closed it in 1962 and donated the site to Minnesota for a state park. During the mine’s lifetime, 15.5 million tons of ore were removed for steel production.

The mine today serves as a physics laboratory. Two projects there aim to understand the nature of neutrinos and of dark matter. A tour is offered for the physics lab as well.

Above ground, combine the historic tour with the 0.2-mile West Tower Mine Trail visitors. Among the buildings you can explore are the dry house, the drill shop, the crusher house, and the engine house. A boardwalk takes you past one of the park’s deepest open pit mines.

The mine is 50 degrees no matter the season, so always wear a warm jacket during the historic tour. Shoes with good traction also are recommended.

Read more about day hiking Northeast Minnesota in my Headin’ to the Cabin: Day Hiking Trails of Northeast Minnesota guidebook.

Trail heads past three glacial lakes in Minnesota Northwoods

Norberg Lake. Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR.

Moose, other wildlife can be
seen in Bear Head Lake S.P.

A day hike past three glacial lakes in the heart of the Minnesota Northwoods await visitors to scenic Bear Head Lake State Park.

In 2010, the Bear Head Lake won the title of “America’s Favorite Park” during a nationwide contest sponsored by Coca-Cola and for good reason: 17 miles of hiking trails, one of which connects to the Taconite State Trail, crisscross the 4,000-acre park, which is popular among campers, fishermen and canoeists. The 2.8-mile loop is unnamed on state maps but christened the Tri-Lake Loop here.

To reach the trail, from Ely, Minn., take Minn. Hwys. 1/169 west (From Tower, Minn., take the same road east.). Turn south onto County Road 128, aka as Bear Head State Park Road. Upon entering the park, stay on County Road 128 and turn right/south into the Norberg Lake parking lot. From the lot, take the trail heading east.

The first section of the loop parallels Norberg Lake’s northside. About 5.9 acres in size and reaching a depth of 26 feet, the lake is stocked with rainbow trout. White sucker also is abundant.

Glacial debris
Coming to a park access road, the trail swerves southeast. Most of the trees along the trail are aspen and birch, but stands of red and white pines, as well as fir, tamarack and cedar can, be found. You’ll also likely spot charred pines from fires that swept through this area more than a century ago during 1911-13.

When the trail splits, go right/southwest. This heads around Norberg Lake’s south side. The trail returns to lake’s southwest tip; after doing so, upon reaching the trail intersection, go left/west.

The rolling and rocky hills in the next section of the trail are fairly new at just 10,000 years or so. Called glacial debris, they consist of stones and dirt pushed here during the past ice age and then left as the glaciers retreated. Bear Head Lake itself was created by a melting glacier.

For a good portion of the hike, the trail heads along the northern shore of the lake’s East Bay. The 674-acre Bear Head Lake reaches a depth of 46 feet and is a favorite among fishermen for black crappie, largemouth bass, northern pike, panfish and walleye.

Cub Lake
At the next trail intersection, go right/north. This cuts up the peninsula between the lake’s East and North bays.

Keep an eye out for the park’s diverse array of wildlife on this section of the trail. Chipmunks, bald eagles, hawks, loons, ospreys and red squirrel usually are a guarantee, but don’t be surprised if a red fox or white-tailed deer makes a showing.

During summer, watch the marshes along the trail for moose, which often feed on aquatic plants during that time of year. Much less likely to be seen are gray wolf and black bear, though both live in the park.

At the next trail intersection, go right/east. Cub Lake is to the north, on the other side of the park road. Stocked with brown trout, the 7.44-acre lake reaches a depth of 39 feet.

Past the lake, the trail parallels the park road, heading east back to the lot with your vehicle.

Read more about day hiking Northeast Minnesota in my Headin’ to the Cabin: Day Hiking Trails of Northeast Minnesota guidebook.