Carl & Sandee's Rockhounding Adventures: Michgan Copper Mines

If you know anything about the Keweenaw Peninsula you know it's fame for Copper. Even before the white man showed up in the area Native American's valued it's properties for making tools, and for trading. If you listen closely to the locals they are convinced that there were ancient visitors to the area mining the copper ore long before he Native Americans and Europeans showed up. I will leave this part of the copper story to others, but it is interesting to hear all the talk.

If you like going deep underground to visit mines and like bats, as I know some do, then visiting the mines up and down the Keweenaw Peninsula is the ticket for you. There are four mines you can visit, three of which offer tours into the belly of the lion.

The Adventure Mine is operated near the town of Ontonagon, MI. By the way, there is a copper museum here as well. There is also a rock shop, Gitche Gumee Landing Gift Shop to buy specimens. They also operate a mineral collecting operation for a price you can search the tailings pile at the Caledonia Mine for native copper, silver, datolite, quartz, feldspar, calcite and epidote! Check out their website at : http://www.caledoniamine.com/

Anyway, the Adventure mine is pretty cool, you take a 4 x 4 vehicle to the mine site. Once inside the mine you are surrounded by bats. They fly so close to you at times you feel their wings touch you. If you are really adventurous you can take the repealling tour down a shaft. We did not have time for this but I think we might be going back just for that one.

Two other mines which operate tours are the Delaware and Quincy Mines. Both these have their own special niches with regards to tours. The Delaware is owned and operated by one family and is a self guided tour. The neat thing about this place is the lady (part owner) has a pair of pet skunks behind the counter who will come out and play. There is also a tailings pile where you can go though for copper. The lady showed us a copper coated piece of silver she found in the very same tailings pile. Its free to go though the tailings but you CANNOT use a metal detector.

The lady at the Delaware mine said the county operates a tailings pile and folks are more than welcome to go through this as well. The gate here is always locked so you have to park in front of the gate. You can use metal detectors here. We spent a couple hours over two days going through this tailings and had some luck.

The Central Mine has no tours into a mine. It is a small operation and has a small museum about the mine and the geology of the area. It will take you about an hour to look it over.

The Quincy Mine is by far the largest of all the mine tours and operates a nice museum and gift shop as well. You start your tour on a old small gauge railroad at the top of a large hill to the mine below. At one point no matter where you sit in the rail car you are looking straight down to the bottom of the hill. Once at the bottom of the hill you get off for a guided tour of the mine. Lots of old equipment and plenty of HUGE copper specimens to look over.

The entire Keweenaw Peninsular from the south starting at Ontonagon to Fort Wilkins State Park is covered in mines and places to visit and opportunities to dig. And of course if you like to eat there are any number of places that treat you to the miner's favorite, the pasty. A pastry meat filled wonder that is sure to please anyone.

And if you like museums filled with specimens from the area, the US and the world, you will find them here as well. More on the most famous of these in the area the A. E. Museum in another blog.

Adventure Mine Office