Information
Landmark: Coal Mine TourCity: Wilkes Barre
Country: USA Pennsylvania
Continent: North America
Coal Mine Tour, Wilkes Barre, USA Pennsylvania, North America
Overview
Tucked away in McDade Park on Scranton’s west side, the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour takes you 300 feet down into the cool, dim belly of Bald Mountain, where miners once carved out anthracite from the 1860s until 1966.Every tour is led by retired miners, their voices weaving gritty history with personal tales as you follow them through a lamp-lit maze of black rock, timber bracing, and rails streaked with orange rust.Your visit kicks off above ground, where a replica slope hoist waits with its steel cables and faint scent of oil.Once loaded with coal, the bright-yellow mine car now rattles its way down a 1,900-foot slope, ferrying passengers through the dim tunnel.Even in July, the temperature holds steady around 50 to 53 °F, so pack a jacket-you’ll feel that chill the moment the breeze hits.At the loading platform, you step onto cool, damp rock and start the three-quarter-mile trek along the old gangways.Guides tell how immense pressure crumpled 300-million-year-old peat bogs into anthracite - hard, glossy coal that gleams like wet stone.safeBefore locomotives, sturdy mules pulled two-ton cars, their hooves clopping on the boards; in one surviving stable, the timbers still bear the marks of their teeth.In the dark, a bell code rang out-one clang to stop, two to go, three to hoist the men.You’ll hear the bell clang, sharp and metallic, just like it rang for the miners years ago.Firedamp blasts, roofs caving in, and the 1902 strike that sparked modern labor arbitration-these are the disasters and safety reforms etched into history.The air is damp, and water drips steadily, carving shallow grooves where carts used to rumble past.highAbove you, wooden cribbing presses hard against the drooping shale ceiling, a stark reminder that the rock overhead is still shifting, slow as the creak of an old floorboard.The tour runs about an hour, with just enough challenge to keep you leaning in.The path stays mostly flat, though it’s rough in spots and often slick with rain, so you’ll need closed-toe shoes.You’ll have to duck now and then under the low ceilings, and the two short stairways each have a solid handrail cool to the touch.The hoist car can take a wheelchair, but down in the tunnel the narrow, uneven path doesn’t meet ADA standards.Back in the daylight, wander past the topside exhibits-a 1937 Eimco electric locomotive, a Cutler coal drill, and a cramped miner’s shanty where you can almost smell coal dust clinging to the walls.In the gift shop, you’ll find hardhat magnets, coal chunks polished smooth into sturdy paperweights, and anthracite history books printed right here in town.Here’s the scoop: the season runs from April to November-daily in the warm summer stretch, but just weekends when spring’s air is still crisp or fall’s leaves start to turn.• Hours : First descent 10 a.m.; last around 3 p.m.; tours depart every half hour in peak season.• Tickets : Purchase in the red-roof visitors’ center; adults pay about $10, seniors and kids slightly less; phone reservations recommended for groups.• Gear : Hardhats are provided.Hours: The first descent starts at 10 a.m., the last near 3 p.m., and in peak season, tours head out every half hour-like clockwork.• Location : McDade Park, 1120 Bald Mountain Road, Scranton, PA 18504; five minutes off I-81 Exit 182.Buy your tickets at the red-roofed visitors’ center-about $10 for adults, with seniors and kids paying a bit less-and call ahead if you’re bringing a group.• Gear: You’ll get a hardhat-bright yellow and ready to wear.Bundle up, pull on sturdy boots, and be ready for a fine layer of coal dust clinging to your clothes.– Bring a flashlight for kids-guides encourage shining light into unexplored recesses.– Listen for a sudden hush: guides often extinguish all lamps briefly so you can feel total darkness.– After the tour, hike McDade Park’s short interpretive trail; its overlooks show the patchwork of culm banks and subsidence pits still scarring the valley.McDade Park, 1120 Bald Mountain Road, Scranton, PA 18504-just five minutes from I‑81, Exit 182, where the pines line the road.
