Adventure Mining Co. Greenland, Michigan

Mined, a long time ago, the Adventure Mine, Greenland MI, is certainly a place you may want to see. Take tours through the mine, and if you want a challenge try rappelling down some of the shafts. Be like a real miner, rappelling down, and having a pasty lunch, down in the mine. See the bats flying around the cave. Turn your headlamps off and light the candle. Walk up slopes, and through puddles. See props from a movie filmed in the mine. The possibilities are endless! The structure was built, when 1.1 billion years ago, lava flows covered this area, and hardened, to create a strong bedrock.

Me, trying out mining in the real world

Each lava flow buried the previous one, and many layers of basalt were formed. The stack of lava flows, basalt, and sandstones were pressured by the moving of the tectonic plates and formed a bowl shape. After the lava eruptions were finished, and the sandstone and basalt hardened, large quantities of copper were deposited, where they filled large voids where water was flowing in. But the copper only filled the top pores of the lava flows, so miners only ever mined there. As said before, it was bent from pressure, and that’s why the lodes were slanted at a 45 degree angle. Some people think that the copper was in the lava flows to start with, and then the copper solidified with the lava. THAT IS WRONG. The copper was deposited after the lava had solidified. The mine opened in 1850, and the miners were off! Some people only made 10 cents a day, and the miners made about a dollar a day. Their only light was from a candle, and the scary thing was when a water droplet fell on your candle and extinguished your flame. You didn’t want your boss to find you like that! There was not a ton of fatalities in the mine, but they sure wanted to watch their step. You can still see the stopes, and drill scars in the mine.

Me and Ella in the Pinzgauer

Overall, the mine is neat, lots of things to do and see. Plus, the mine area has 7 miles of bike trails, and hiking trails. They even have a bike race that goes through the mine! To go to the actual mine, you get to ride in an old military vehicle, called a Pinzgauer! A movie has been filmed, in the mine, and is available in the gift shop. The Adventure Mine is a cool place to go and is fun for the whole family!

8 Comments on “Adventure Mining Co. Greenland, Michigan”

  1. Liam- thank you for the timely post with all the details. We think we will be adding this to our itinerary to the UP- we left on our trip today!!
    Kilyan is excited!!

    • Enjoy your UP vacation, Miedemas! We just passed into Wisconsin today, so we just missed you. Happy Adventures!

    • Yes! We (Liam and Dad) went on Rage Master & Fern Gully (by Adventure Mine). They are pretty technical however, so if Kilyan hasn’t really mountain biked, the trails might be too advanced. There are also ORV trails you can bike on there which are less technical, but can be rocky. The Ice Cave was pretty neat!

  2. Oh wow! What a great website! You guys look like you are having so much fun! I do miss my friend Liam… but I’m glad that he’s having fun