world museum of mining

I realize it was after Labor Day, but it was warm, sunny, and quiet - almost too quiet.What do you fear meeting when you go into a deserted old town? Me, uh, um, nothing (I hope).Actually this is a very good restoration of the town many years ago along with the mine, stores, rusted train, and even the telephone office. Just don't expect to see many others. I did enjoy it and found much more than I expected. It's not really deserted, just unused, but relatively clean. You're not allowed to enter most of the buildings, but peaking in the window, entering those you can, listening to some of the audio guides, and reading displays does make it more interesting.Don't forget to look at the miniature model houses before you go into town. They're amazing in their own right!

I was delighted to find that the museum is built around the site of the Orphan Girl Mine. My father worked in that mine during World War II. My parents lived in Butte and that is where I was born. This was my first real visit to the city and it was fascinating to know that I was standing where my father made his living so many years ago. The displays helped me to understand the workings of these under ground mines. The museum also houses displays of the history of the city as well as mining. I certainly would recommend this experience to anyone who wants to better understand what made this the richest hill on earth.

This museum is behind the University so is a little hard to find. The replica of an old mining town is very interesting. The main building has a doll collection that is very complete--plan to spend a good 30 minutes in this exhibit. Also, there are exhibits of gems and minerals. Worthwhile to visit.

This is a great historical museum about mining. It is a replica of an old mining town complete with a guided tour of an old mine, trains, buildings, and mining exhibits. It is well worth the time in visiting and exploring. We spent a couple hours here looking at mineral rocks, dolls, buildings and exhibits. It is well worth the admission of about $8.

Enjoyed a very interesting trip and tour at the mining museum.would recommend a visit to anyone visiting butte

I love anything that involves history so this was a blast for me! Small replica mining town. The lobby has all kinds of mining exhibits. There is also another tour that actually takes you down into one of the old mines. Hard hats and all!

We visited the museum as my 10 year old son loves Minecraft, and the idea of touring a mine was very exciting. Though the tickets were a little higher priced than I expected, the tour itself was very good. It was about 1 hour and 45 minutes, starting with a talk about the history of mining in the area, and then took us into the mine itself. The tour guide was a good speaker, and was entertaining and easy to listen to as well as being full of information. We all enjoyed the tour very much. It didn't hurt that you had to wear lighted hard hats--:). Before the tour we were able to walk around and look through the model mining town. There was a lot of windows to look in and see how old businesses in a mining town looked around the turn of the century. My son was more interested in the variety of old machinery and gears laying around. There was also an extensive mineral collection and doll & dollhouse collection to view. Overall, a nice day trip from Bozeman.

This was a superb look into American history. Our guide Robert clearly loved telling the history of Butte's mining operations. There is a replica mining town you can walk around in. I feel it would have been a touch better, especially for photography if the exhibits were not behind glass. But regardless if that, there was a lot of information to be had. You could really get a feel of what an old mining camp was like.The underground tour was wonderful! If you suffer at all from claustrophobia, do not do this part of the museum. After being equipped with a hard hat, head lamp and battery pack, you're brought down into the old Orphan Girl mine. Be sure to bring a jacket and shoes you don't mind getting dirty. It's quite chilly, and while the guide does his best to keep you out of it, there is mud. The story is fantastic. After the tour, I wandered around the rest of the grounds. There is lots of old machinery and plaques offering information about the equipment. It could have been a bit more organized, but all in all well done. I highly recommend this!

This is a terrific look into how it felt to live in a mining town and work in a mine. If you enjoy the detail of a traditional museum, take the 1.5 to 2 hour guided tour with the very knowledgeable and interesting guide. If you prefer power-museum experiences, just browse. This is a great place for kids. They can dart around peering into the many buildings on the spacious grounds.If you expect a polished museum with loads of written exhibits, you'll be disappointed. However, if you are open to experiencing a visual step back in time, you'll enjoy it as much as we did. A bonus is the wonderful rock and mineral display and a quirky but fascinating doll exhibit.

If you have the slightest interest in what life and work were like in the height of the mining industry in Montana, do not miss this place. Our party was surprised by the extent of the exhibits. But the best part of our visit was the one and a half hour guided tour, including a trip into an abandoned mine shaft. Our guide was well informed and his explanations were clear and easy to understand. Two warnings: leave your good shoes back in the motel room, and plan on spending at least two and a half hours. Highly recommended.

This is a pretty cool place to spend a few hours. It does need some updates to make the experience more informative, more in line with what one would expect from a World Museum. For instance, though we asked several times we were told by the front desk there is no guide for the museum so you are left drawing your own conclusions as to where to go, what things are and what history they have. Also, most of the exhibits have no signage at all to explain anything about what you are looking at or at least to give a story. I will come back someday as I missed the underground tour.

The mine was closed to tourists that day due to rain (grounds were flooded inside mine). If you are interested in mining or geology or in the oil and gas industry, you might find this tour worthwhile.

I liked walking through the restored minig town feeling I'd been thrust back in time. I do wish the mining part would have been more instructive. I wanted to learn more about the process.

The museum is mainly an outdoors one. Here you can visit a reconstructed mining town, which is wonderful, since one has the feeling of being teletransported over a century in time. There is also an underground mine visit, as well as several indoor mineral and mine-work expositions. This is a must-do to anybody visiting Butte!

museum was reasonably priced. You can take the self tour of the old mining town or the guided tour of the town with a historian and excursion into the mines. Your choice.