Museum and Underground Tours
Hours
Monday
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Tuesday – Sunday
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Last admission sold one hour prior to closing.
UNDERGROUND TOURS RUN DAILY
Check times of tours by clicking on Underground Tour tab below. Times vary. Advance ticket purchase highly recommended.
As much as the staff loves to see your fur babies, animals are not permitted on the Museum grounds. Service animals are welcome.
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 7 6:00 pm – Finding Your Claim
(A presentation by Logan Dudding, WMM Board President)
September 10 – Big Butte Brewfest
September 17 – Half Way to St. Patrick’s Day
October 14 – “Butte the Bold” at the Motherlode Theater
October 15 – Fall Fest
October 27 & 28 – Haunted Underground
The tour guides lead you 100 feet into the Orphan Girl Mine to see the original shaft station. On this all walking tour, guests will view one of the few exposed veins in North America that can be seen by the public.
With 50 exhibit buildings, countless artifacts, and 66 primary exhibits in the mine yard, you can spend from a couple of hours to an entire day lost in the unfolding story.
The White Glove Tour takes guests into select exhibits not normally accessible by guests.
History, music and brews!
With your membership, you receive free unlimited admission to the museum for one year, a 10% discount on purchases from the gift shop and photo archives, and reduced underground tour prices!
I went on the 100 ft tour and learned so much! First, I toured the ‘town’ and enjoyed looking in the various establishments. Then, I went on the 100 ft. Tour, which was well worth the cost and a lot of fun! I think this would be a great tour for late elementary/middle school kids (although I did not have my kids with me).
– Jenny S. | TripAdvisorWe took a tour of the orphan girl mine 100 ft down. Fabulous! Very safe and so fascinating to see how the miners worked back then. Our guide was Tony, a 7th grade social studies teacher who was so knowledgeable and fun on the tour. We were so impressed and learned so much. After the tour we spent the day on the grounds touring the massive headframe, shops set up like a little mining town and looking at old mining equipment. It is worth seeing. Great gift shop as well.
– Traci N. | TripAdvisorI can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this experience. For the price it was well worth it. I took the 100ft tour so went down the mine to the second level; definitely worth it since you get the 65ft portion as well. The tour guide was very informative and made it interesting. Even without the mine tour I though the recreated town and actual mine site self-guided tour was wonderful. Worth seeing if in Butte.
– Dewayne P. | TripAdvisorWe stopped here to take a tour of the Museum and a tour of the mine. The museum has a lot to see, a replica old mining town, cars, mining equipment and exhibits, and mining tower / shaft that you can actually go inside. We took one of two tours and thoroughly enjoyed it. The guide was very knowledgeable and explained things as we went two stories down on a walking tour. Great tour.
– Michael G. | TripAdvisorThis visit was a highlight of our trip out west. After a week in Yellowstone and Glacier Nat. Park, we were heading to our flight from Bozeman and almost passed Butte by. So glad we didn’t! How many opportunities do you get to go down an actual mine and hear a great narrative about the history of mining in this area? Fascinating stuff! Our wonderful guide is a grandson/great grandson of miners who now teaches school here. You can only envy his students as his enthusiasm and expert knowledge we’re marvelous.
– N H | TripAdvisorThis has been my second time going through this museum and I found so many things that I missed on my last visit. Having more time on this trip I was able to stop and read in detail items that were displayed explaining the hardships the mines endured. What a wonderful museum to share with the young and old. So much history here.
– 63019GBN | TripAdvisorThe mission of the World Museum of Mining is to preserve the rich historical legacy of mining and the related culture of Butte, Montana, and the surrounding region and to promote the significant mining heritage by educating the public with a perspective toward total family interest.
We are funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana’s cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund.
The World Museum of Mining was founded in 1963 when the close of Butte’s mining heyday was less than two decades away. In the end, Butte experienced a century of hard-rock mining and earned the reputation of being home to one of the world’s most productive copper mines of all time. The Museum exists to preserve the enduring history of Butte and the legacy of its rich mining and cultural heritage.
The World Museum of Mining is one of the few museums in the world located on an actual mine yard, the Orphan Girl Mine. With 50 exhibit buildings, countless artifacts, and 66 primary exhibits in the mine yard, visitors can spend a couple of hours to an entire day lost in the unfolding story.
By walking the streets of Hell Roarin’ Gulch and venturing to the depths of the Orphan Girl Mine, you can almost see their blackened faces and hear their exhausted sighs at the conclusion of the workday.
