Minnesota Hiking Club #32 - Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#32 - Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park

Date Hiked: February 21st, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.08

It's a good thing the name of this place is a result of two parks merging, otherwise that would've been quite the wordy choice. 

I didn't go get Bear Head Lake, which was only 16 minutes away, but this trail was clearly used by snowmobiles, so the W-code was somewhat confusing upon this realization. Turned out to be a blessing though, because the compacted snow made it easy to hike on top of most of this route. Except the very beginning, where I was in thigh deep and regretting life decisions for how long I thought this was going to take me. Ely area in February, it's a choice! 

I missed the turn multiple times, though I don't think I started at the actual trailhead. When it's a near-perfect oval loop though, does it really matter? Maybe if I'd found where I was supposed to start, the initial impression of being in the short side of the pool wouldn't have been necessary, but alas, when did I ever learn anything the easy way? 

Anything with abandoned stuff is gonna get bonus points on the special interest spectrum for me, and this Hiking Club trail actually included some of it along the way, so that was a nice surprise. Old mining stuff was everywhere, so the park's not just a clever name. This was one in the brochure that encouraged coming for the hike but staying for the tour, though I doubted that would be available this time of year. Even if it was, going underground with snow packed on top didn't seem like the greatest idea in the world, so this might be one I circle back to someday.

Even covered in several feet of snow, the views on this Hiking Club trail are immaculate. Mostly in the woods but perched up on a hill, even just fleeting glances offer gorgeous windows into the surrounding nature. 

Walking on top of snow is a strange feeling, but I immensely prefer it over sinking in half the time. I'm glad the snowmobiles can handle my intrusive hiking tracks, whereas my presence would just ruin the day of a skier. Because of where I started, the final stretch was going uphill on considerable grade, and being on top of snow made this exponentially more difficult than it would've been otherwise. That effort made the mere 2.5 miles of credit feel a bit underwhelming, but considering my Franz Jevne and Zippel Bay excursions were soon to come (the next day, actually. Maybe a hotel would've been a good plan, in retrospect), this could've been a lot worse. 

On the way home, I stopped by to get the Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area stamp, and considering I don't even know what an off-highway vehicle is, I didn't feel too bad about driving in, getting the stamp, and turning right back around to never return. Being in the Ely area always has me in a good mood, so I didn't mind the stop.