In 2010 Lake Vermilion State Park was established with five miles of shoreline along the scenic Lake Vermilion in northeastern Minnesota. In 2014 the park was officially joined with Soudan Underground Mine State Park, which lies directly adjacent. This part of the park offers tours of the formerly operational underground mine. The tour involves riding a small elevator/crate half a mile below the surface to the old mines where you then hop into an old mining rail car and travel three-quarters a mile through the tunnels and learn what life was like for the miners.
Lake Vermilion is being designed as a “next generation” park with new technology focusing on energy efficiency and accessibility. It also has a new kind of wayfinding signage, electronic pay stations and improved wi-fi coverage.
In January 2014, Parks & Trails Council saved a critical 2.9-acre island in Lake Vermilion for the state park. This forested island is on the edge of Cable Bay where it is visible from 60 percent of the park shoreland, playing a starring role in the ruggedly majestic viewshed of the park. The urgency to acquire this land stemmed from the transformation underway in Lake Vermilion where nearby islands are quickly being developed with housing. Working with the DNR, we were able to expedite this project so it was incorporated into the State Park the same year we acquired it.