Strataca Salt Mine - Hutchinson, KS

When I was a kid, my family spent a lot of time in Hutchinson, Kansas. Both of my parents grew up near there and we have tons of family from Hutch. Love you guys! Never in a million billion trillion years did I ever imagine there was an enormous salt mine in Hutch that had been discovered in the late 1800s and in full operation since the 1920s. Luckily in 2007, the Strataca Salt Mine was opened to the public for tours.

Every twenty minutes or so, there is a group descent down into the mine so you have to schedule ahead or wait for the next available group. Topside, there are some cool things to look at as you wait for your time to drop. And you get to see a photo of Ben Blanchard, the guy who discovered the vast salt reserve in 1887. I like to think about his reaction when he found salt instead of the oil he was looking for. I'm sure he also never thought there would be groups of people lined up to see it like the family and I were. Since it's still a working mine, and it's 650 below the surface of the earth, and stuff could potentially fall from the ceiling, we had a short safety video and were led to a room with hardhats that had to be worn while on the tour. Gladly!

The descent down into the mine took about a minute and a half. It wasn't bad, but it was pitch black. Once you get to the bottom, it's kind of a self guided tour around the artifacts, the machines, and the storage spaces for movie items and the civil defense. There was definitely more to look at than I had anticipated. I knew they stored props and film reels since it's the perfect temperature and humidity for it. But to see full costumes and props on display was fun. Once you've taken in all there is to look at in the main corridor, there are a couple of train and tram tours you can take to go further into the mine. They're not very long rides, so you can take them all and see some fascinating parts of the mine's history. And on one of the tram rides, you get to grab yourself a chuck of salt to take home. This prevents people from being idiots and trying to chip off a hunk from the walls and causing damage.

Once you're done snooping around, you head back to the elevators and wait for the next group to come down and then you take the minute and a half to ride back up to the daylight. With a little empathy, you can put yourself in the shoes of the people that worked in the mine and rode a much smaller elevator up and out every single day. It's a life I'm glad I haven't had to live and I honor the people that did.

3650 East Avenue G, Hutchinson, Kansas

866-755-3450

Underkansas.org

Entry Fee: Adults-$25, Kids 13 and under-$18, Seniors and Military-$23, Reno County Residents-$19

Jonathan Elmore © 2025