Soudan Mine State Park
Soudan, Minnesota
Abandoned mines are cool all by themselves, typically boasting rusted metal, aging buildings, and a very real element of danger — after all, falling down a mine shaft would be a pretty rough way to go. You can feel safe at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park. Housed in a former 19th century iron mine, the park is now home to one of the deepest physics experiments in North America, playing host to a neutrino detector that looks for variances in subatomic particles emitted from the Fermilab particle accelerator some 450 miles away. There's also a dark matter experiment, making the three minute ride down — it is half a mile under the earth, after all — well worth it for any science geek.
Photos: Lars Hammar, Cody Hanson
