Your Underground Adventure Awaits!

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Note:

May and early June is school field trip season. Please be aware that if you visit during this time, you may encounter large groups of school children. Underground Mine Tours are not available while school groups are onsite. If we have a school group scheduled, your will not be able to book a Mine Tour through our online booking system. Please feel free to call (608) 348-3301 with any questions.

Duration

One Hour for Guided Mine Tour & Train Ride | Museum Tour is Self-Guided at Your Own Pace

Guided Mine Tours run at four set times:

• 10:30 a.m.
• 12:00 p.m.
• 1:30 p.m.
• 3:00 p.m.

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About

Explore the pioneering spirit of Wisconsin’s rural Driftless Area through Rollo Jamison's cultural heritage collection, a real 1845 underground lead-zinc mine tour, and a mine train ride outdoors across the three-acre museum campus. Exhibits tell the story of how famous local geology in the Upper Mississippi Valley Mining District led to the establishment of Wisconsin as the Badger State, and share the life-on-the-land and culture-building stories of our region from 13,000 years ago to the 20th century through Jamison's remarkable collection.

Museum admission includes: 1) a fully accessible self-guided tour of all interior and exterior exhibition galleries; 2) the option of a video tour or a guided walking tour of the Bevans Mine and Hoist House; and 3) a ride on a 1931 Whitcomb mine train through the three-acre outdoor Museum campus (weather permitting).

Guided Mine Tours begin at set times, while guests may visit exhibit galleries and outdoor green spaces at their leisure before and after the tour. Visitors who decline a Guided Mine Tour may still elect a Train Ride. Should weather or unforeseen circumstances make a Train Ride impossible, a rain check will be issued for a return visit. The Museum experience includes four documentary videos.

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What to Expect and Accessibility

Excluding the Bevans Mine and Hoist House, exhibits in The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums are wheelchair accessible by elevator. A 30-minute video tour of the Bevans Mine and Hoist House is provided as an accessible alternative for those who choose not to take the Guided Mine Tour.

On the Guided Mine Tour, visitors descend a 90-step incline into the earth where Lorenzo Bevans struck it rich more than 150 years ago. The tour also includes a trek to the Hoist House to learn how lead and zinc ore was hoisted to the surface and hand-sorted. The Hoist House is accessed by stairs.

Anyone considering the Guided Mine Tour must be in good physical health, able to negotiate 90 stairs into and out of the mine, and able to walk on uneven terrain. Good walking shoes and a light jacket or fleece are recommended. Open-toed shoes are strongly discouraged. While descending the stairs, visitors feel the humidity rise and temperature change (can be below 60º F in the summer). In the mine, drips of clear water and occasional puddles of water on the irregular stone floor create a natural atmosphere along paths lined with windrows of boulders. Participants may get wet or muddy.

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What to Bring for a Guided Mine Tour

• Closed toe shoes suitable for walking on a stone surface with some shallow occasional puddles
• A fleece or light water-resistant jacket
• A flashlight or phone light to look more closely at rock surfaces or artifacts

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We Will Provide on the Guided Mine Tour

• A hard hat to borrow for your tour (new hard hats are also available for purchase in the Museum Store)
• A flashlight for your tour guide
• Optional disposable boot covers

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Rates

General (Ages 13+) - $12 Seniors (Ages 65+) - $10 Youth (5-12 years old) - $6 Children (Under 5) - $3 UW-Platteville Students (with ID) - $1