Day Trips

Experience the life of a miner as you take an exciting tour of a modern day mining company. Visitors will slip into steel toe boots and put on hard hats adding to the experience. These 1 ½ hour tours will walk you through the mining process of turning iron ore into taconite pellets. Visitors have the opportunity to watch miners and their massive equipment at work up close. Watch 30-yard capacity shovels, so big that a 4X4 truck could fit inside their buckets, load overburden into 3-story 240-ton mining trucks. See 80-car trains pulled by three locomotives filled with taconite pellets cruise near 500-foot deep iron laden canyons. Discover 100-ton maintenance trucks, large drilling rigs and huge bulldozers. A knowledgeable guide will narrate your adventure. Children who love Tonka Toys® will remember the experience all their lives. Group tours and school groups welcome. Tour guide recommended. Available by reservation.

US Steel / Minntac (Mountain Iron)
Tours are available every Friday at 10 am. and 1 p.m. from June 1st through August 31. Tours depart from the Mountain Iron Senior Center and last 1-1/2 hours. For more information call 218-749-7299.

Hibbing Taconite Tours (Hibbing)
Tours are available on selected Wednesdays and Thursdays at 12 noon from June 23rd to August 19th. (no tours will be offered on August 4th and 5th). Tours depart from Ironworld Discovery Center and take approximately 2 hours. Reservations are encouraged and can be made through Ironworld at 800-372-6437. Children must be 10 years of age or older and accompanied by an adult.

Hibbing is recognized as the birthplace of the bus industry in the United States. Here visitors can see and hear the story at Hibbing's newest attraction. To start the tour, visitors pass through a tunnel that comes alive with auto sounds of 1914 and continues on from the Hupmobile that could not be sold. The story continues with the men and machines that created Greyhound Bus Lines told using pictorial displays, hundreds of artifacts and memorabilia, audio-visual presentation plus a VCR show of "The Greyhound Story" from Hibbing to everywhere.   A diorama of WW II illustrates how Greyhound contributed to the war effort. Other exhibits help the visitor understand how, with a Hupmobile car, they could not sell, and a two mile route, Greyhound grew to be the largest bus company in the world.  The museum also houses eleven historical buses.

Open Mid-May Thru September; Monday - Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Open on request for special groups in the off season. Adults $3.00, Students $2.00, Children (6-12) $1.00, Tours $2.00 each. (rates subject to change)

The museum, located off US Highway 53 in Eveleth, is a national shrine of historical significance dedicated to honoring hockey by showcasing all levels of the sport. Entertaining displays and memorabilia give visitors an opportunity to experience the thrilling game action and inspiring achievement of all those involved in the game of hockey. At the Theatre of Hockey Highlights visitors can re-live the 1980 "Miracle on Ice," the US historic and exhilarating Olympic victory over Russia, or watch as the US Women's Gold Medal Winning Hockey Team takes center stage at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. From the Great Wall of Fame of Inductees, the Olympic Display, Gallery of Hockey Art, Mighty Duck Scoreboard, and historic exhibits of famed hockey memorabilia, this is a must visit for anyone interested in hockey.

Founded in 1995, the Vince Shute Wildlife Center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the well-being of the black bear and other wildlife through a better understanding. Thousands of people visit the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary every year, to view and learn about black bears, their behavior, habitat needs and life cycles. Visitors also get the opportunity to view a special group of wild bears - that come to this location every summer - from an elevated platform.

Nestled in the North Woods of Minnesota, the Sanctuary is located approximately two hours northwest of Duluth. The nearest town is Orr, which is about thirty minutes away. Encompassing some 360 acres, the Sanctuary consists of a combination of habitats: aspen forests, cedar swamps, marshes, beaver ponds, a primary stream, open areas and numerous other resources. In addition to being a seasonal home to a special group of bears, this habitat is also used by such wildlife as whitetail deer, bald eagles, beavers, minks, pine martens, fishers, timber wolves, red squirrels, bobcats, lynx, blue jays, owls, ducks, songbirds, ravens, and a variety of other species. While black bears are the primary focus, the various habitats of the Sanctuary are managed in a manner beneficial to the entire ecosystem. The permanent establishment of the refuge has preserved a unique opportunity to view and to photograph the intimate world of the normally reclusive black bear. The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary also provides a most extraordinary setting for a variety of non-obtrusive scientific studies and educational programs relating to the diverse natural resources found within its boundaries.