Lake Vermilion Resort Association

The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary is located about 25 miles north from Cook.  It is operated by the American Bear Association and has been described as the best place to see wild black bears in their natural habitat. From their expanded viewing deck visitors can learn about black bears by observing their natural behavior.

This year the VSWS has added a new twist.  They are offering several programs which will give people the opportunity to interact with bears in differents ways.  Upcoming programs include:

• Breakfast with the Bears
• In the Shadow of Bears - Yoga and Meditation
• Spend a Night Surrounded by Bears Camping
• Bears in Figure and Form Drawing Class

More information on all of these can be found on our Calendare of Events (under ”Things to See and Do”) or on their website at American Bear Association Website.

Throughout the summer, both Tower and Cook have Farmer’s markets.  Here is some information on both:

The Tower Farmer’s Market is located in the parking lot of the Train Depot/Civic Center at the west entrance to Tower.  It is an easy walk from the public landing on the East Two River channel, so you can access it from the lake.  Each Friday vendors offer fresh produce, locally produced meats, baked goods, jam and jellies, and maple syrup, with a few craft items available as well.  Vendors must come from within a 50 mile radius of Tower, and all produce must be locally grown.  The motto of the Tower Farmer’s Market is “Fresh, local, in-season”.

This year’s Tower Farmer’s Market will begin on Friday, May 21 and run each Friday from 1-4 PM through early fall.

The Cook Area Farmer’s Market is on Saturdays in the City Park in downtown Cook.  Only items grown or produced within a 30 mile radius of Cook may be sold. Produce, baked goods, crafts, jams, jellies and more are available.

The start date for the Cook Area Farmer’s Market has not yet been set.  Once it begins, it will run Saturdays from 8 AM - noon throughout the summer and into early fall.

You can always check the calendar of events on our website for dates and times for each market.

In case you don’t already know - Lake Vermilion has a mail boat which runs all summer delivering mail to over 100 residents with water-access properties.  And you can ride along!  You can find more information and a link on our “List of Attactions” page under “Things to See & Do”.

A little interesting history - the following is a copy of an article titled “Mail Service for Tourists” from the Tower Weekly News, dated July 16, 1920:

“Movement Started to Establish Mail Route on Lake Vermilion

Lake Vermilion is coming to a mail service in the near future.  This idea of a tri-weekly mail service would have been smiled at.  Today it is being demanded.  Get out your scratch book and take down the names of the people living on shoreline and islands from Tower to Isaac Goodwill pleasure resort.  Think of the hundreds of tourists coming for a week or a month who want their mail and newspaper and work from the outside world.  The mail route is coming.  It will be water route rural mail.  It must be covered by boat.  Mail today is being carried free of charge by the boatmen.  But the mail question is the least of their troubles.  They pass by many on their way who have mail and must go after it where the boatmen have left it.  This means a lot of trouble to him, the tourist, and he asks why can’t we have mail at our cabin?

A petition will be circulated erelong among these people of Lake Vermilion and forwarded to Washington looking towards the securing of a mail service.  Vermilion Dam guests have their mail brought to them by carrier.  But the cottager takes his paddle or his outboard motor and goes miles mayhap for his.  This mail service would cover about three months of the year and close with the closing of Lake Vermilion.  Postmaster Helm is interesting himself on behalf of it.  Every Tower citizen should help him in every way they can, as it would add to the usefulness of Tower’s office, and Lake Vermilion as well.  We then would be on the map a little larger than before.  The project is feasible and we should see it to its fulfillment.”

The Soudan Underground Mine State Park is one of many unique and fascinating attractions you will find in the Lake Vermilion area. You can tour 2 sites underground here, as well as above ground exhibits. And as a bonus…you don’t even need a Minnesota State Park sticker to get in!

The first underground site is the historic tour. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the first shipment of iron ore from the Soudan Mine.  When the mine ceased operation in 1962, US Steel donated the property to the State of Minnesota for education purposes. On the tour, after a brief introduction, you will put on your hard hat for a ride in the “cage” to the 27th level.  Once you have descended 2,371 feet, you will board a rail car to be transported to the last and deepest area mined. The 90 minute tour will take you back to the glory days of iron ore mining on the Vermilion Iron Range. Another bonus for a warm day - it remains a steady 50°F  underground.  Don’t forget a jacket or sweater!

The second underground tour is of a high energy physics lab. I can’t explain it very well (physics was never my strong suit) but the tour guides can! Basically, scientists from around the world have been working at the Soudan Mine for 25 years trying to answer questions about the universe, such as: Is matter completely stable? What is the nature of the fundamental forces? Can we identify Dark Matter? Learn about the neutrino beam from Fermilab…see the MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) detector…learn about CDMS (Cyrogenic Dark Matter Search) and its continued search for WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).

For those less adventurous souls, you can still see lots above ground, such as the dry house, drill shop, crusher house, engine house, and an open mine pit, or enjoy nature on the hiking trails and picnic area.

The Soudan Underground Mine State Park will also be hosting several programs this season, including ”Geocaching 101″ and “Batty About Bats”.  For dates, times, and information on these and other programs, see the calendar of events under the “Things to See & Do” section of our website.

And for more information about visiting the mine, see “Attractions”, also under the “Things to See & Do” section.