The salt mine is an active mine in Hutchinson, Kansas that can you can tour. Do note that you have to be over four, be okay with the dark, wearing a hard hat, and have about two hours of time. Also handy to have a jacket as it’s always about 68* underground.
When you get there, you will see a train-like car outside, you go inside to buy your ticket, there are bathrooms, and lockers too. You wait for your tour time to be called, you are then ushered inside a room for a short safety video, then you grab your hard hat for the time underground. You will go in about two shifts in the hoist to get underground about 650 feet.
Underground in the Salt Mine
When you get underground, you will start with the permian room to learn where the water, Dinos, and life years ago, then you take a tour through the mining gallery watching short videos of mining life, how they blast, and move the salt.
These short videos are very informational and make the equipment near by make more sense. There is also a car and picture of Mike Rowe from his visit with his crew from Dirty Jobs.
Up next you will see an old mine car, stop and take your picture in. Then, you take a ride on the Salt Mine Express that you can see a collapsed roof. This was fun to ride. It’s unbelievable the amount of trash, the bathrooms from back in the day, and seeing an old mine car on the tracks.
Once you are off the train, you get to see why underground is better compared to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and more. Down here they store movie costumes and memorable, old computer data, movie reels and more. Then you go through the gift shop and end of the dark ride.
Dark Ride
This ride is dark except the light on front of the tram. They give you tons of information still and then you get to stop and pick up a piece of salt to take home with you in a little bag or if you are lucky you can find a larger piece that will fit in the container to take home a larger piece.
After you exit the Dark Ride, you will have another short walk to where you will take the hoist back up to ground level. Your ears will pop like they do on a plane going down and back up the 650 feet. It is almost as big as the St. Louis Arch.
Make sure you check out the Cosmo while you are in Hutchinson or visit Wichita area for many other attractions.
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