What was once an industrial complex operating as a zinc mine has now been opened to the public as the Sterling Hill Mining Museum! Underground mine tours are offered. You will be able to see exhibits of glow-in-the-dark fluorescent minerals, outdoor displays of mining machinery, and exhibit halls with lots of tools and treasures for you to look at.
A public tour is offered daily at 1:00 p.m. for individuals and families to explore the mine. Tours are $10 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. You won’t need reservations but will want to show up a bit early to get your tickets.
Your Museum Tour:
You’ll find the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey, with your NY RV rental. Your underground, guided tour will last approximately two hours and includes one hour in the zinc mine, half an hour in the exhibit hall, and ten minutes in the museum of fluorescence. In the museum of fluorescence, you’ll find the color wall.
This 16-foot wide wall has over 100 oversized, fluorescent minerals including some that weigh more than 100 pounds! You’ll be able to compare how they look under both short and long ultraviolet light. Your kids will love this part of the mining tour.
Your mine tour will show you the lamp room, shaft stations, mine galleries, and exhibits reflecting the entire underground mining process. Visit the Rainbow Room where you can take a piece of fluorescent zinc ore home with you in your New York RV rental as a souvenir from your visit.
New to Sterling Hill is the Fossil Discovery Center. Here young visitors can learn about fossils by digging for them in a large sandbox. An instructor will be on hand to help your kids indentify the fossils they dig up, teach them where the organisms lived, and inform them about the living environment they enjoyed. The cost is $4.50 for participants. And did we mention that your children will get to take home with them all the treasures and fossils they find?
Similar to the Fossil Discovery Center is the Rock Discovery Center. The concept is very similar as you get to take six specimens of rock home with you. You’ll learn about different types of rocks and how to find them.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in but aren’t headed to the New Jersey and New York area, let us know what state you may be visiting. We can do some research and hopefully find something similar!
