New Mexico Mining Museum

The museum's signature exhibit is its full-scale replica uranium mine in the basement — the only one of its kind in the country. Visitors enter through a working mine cage operated by museum staff. The cage descends three stories (the equivalent depth of 200 feet underground in a real mine) and opens onto a network of drift tunnels reconstructed using authentic timbers, rails, ore cars, drills, and lighting salvaged from the actual Section 23 Mine when it closed in 1982. Walking the tunnels takes about 30 minutes.

Exhibits along the drift demonstrate every phase of uranium mining: drilling holes for blasting charges, setting and detonating dynamite, mucking out broken ore into mine cars, hauling ore to the surface via the cage, sorting and crushing at the mill, and chemical processing to extract yellow-cake uranium oxide. Audio narration is triggered by motion sensors as you walk past each station. The lighting is deliberately dim and the cave-like atmosphere is convincingly mine-like; visitors prone to claustrophobia may want to skip the basement.

Hard hats are provided at the cage entrance and must be worn throughout the mine. The replica is fully wheelchair-accessible via an elevator that parallels the cage — ask at the front desk. The mine maintains a constant 55-degree Fahrenheit temperature year-round, so bring a light jacket. Children love the experience; it is hands-down the most interactive mining-history exhibit in the Southwest.

The above-ground museum is organized chronologically. The first gallery covers pre-uranium Grants — the railroad town founded in 1882, the carrot-farming era of the 1920s through 1940s (Grants once shipped more carrots than any other U.S. city, hence the nickname 'Carrot Capital'), and the original Route 66 alignment through downtown. Vintage photographs and equipment document this earlier era that the uranium boom erased.

The uranium gallery is the museum's largest. Geological specimens show the carnotite and uraninite ores mined from the Grants Mineral Belt; maps trace the dozens of mines that operated in the surrounding hills; photographs document the boom-era construction of company towns, mills, and processing plants. A particularly moving section displays oral-history recordings from former miners — many of them Navajo and Pueblo workers — discussing the work, the wages, and the long-term health consequences. Hard-hat mining gear, drilling equipment, sample bags, and blast detonators fill the cases.

A smaller gallery addresses the bust and aftermath: the price collapse, the mine closures, the layoffs, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, the ongoing cleanup of contaminated sites, and the current debate over new uranium mining in the region (mining companies have pursued new leases in recent years, often opposed by Navajo Nation groups concerned about water contamination). The museum doesn't take sides but presents the complexity honestly.

Located at 100 North Iron Avenue in downtown Grants, on the historic Route 66 alignment (Santa Fe Avenue / Route 66 runs one block south). From Interstate 40 take exit 81 (Grants / Santa Fe Avenue) and head north; the museum is on the corner of Iron and First Street. Free street parking surrounds the building.

Open Monday through Saturday 9am to 4pm. Closed Sunday and federal holidays. Last cage descent into the replica mine is 30 minutes before closing. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for children 7-18, free for children under 7. Group rates and educational tours available by appointment.

Allow 90 minutes for a full visit including the replica mine and above-ground galleries. Combine with the El Malpais National Monument visitor center (across town), Mount Taylor scenic drives, and lunch at Southwest Grill or a Route 66 diner for a half-day in Grants. The museum gift shop sells geologic specimens, uranium-themed souvenirs (Geiger counters, glow-in-the-dark items, uranium glassware), Route 66 memorabilia, and educational books on Southwestern geology and mining history.