And the State has restored over a mile of it to its former self and safety so the public can view the inside without fear. Its way cool. $6.00 tour cost per person led by State Park employees. The mine was originally started in the 1800′s and one man on our tour said he & his friends used to sneak in there while it was abandoned & before the State took ownership of the property.

Best part: during the summer, the outside temps hover at about 100F. BUT down in the mine, the temp stays a constant 58F. Its COLD. You feel odd packing your jacket with you through the heat. Two brainless guys in their 20′s refused to take the advice of the park staff & went down with only T-shirts. After an hour down there, they had goose bumps on top of goose bumps & were not toooooooo happy by the time they came out.

We have hundreds of abandoned mines (mostly iron) in N.J. Unfortunately, most of these have either been reclaimed, or have “self-sealed” due to erosion. There have been quite a few subsidences in recent years, but nothing major or too unpredictable. 40,000 is quite an impressive number. I hope that the state can find an acceptable balance between public safety and historic preservation. I hate to see a historic mine reclaimed unless it poses a serious threat to public safety.