Day Trip: Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine
Explore a coal mine dug 1,800 feet straight into the side of a mountain at Pioneer Tunnel.
Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train
Address: 2001 Walnut Street, Ashland, Pa.
Admission:
- Coal Mine Tour is $9.50 adults, $6.50 children ages 2-11
- Steam Train Ride is $7.50 adults, $5.50 children ages 2-11
- Combo Ticket is $15.30 adults, $10.80 children ages 2-11
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Memorial Day through Labor Day (see the attraction's website for other times)
About: Pioneer Tunnel is a horizontal drift mine running 1,800 feet straight into the side of Mahanoy Mountain in Schuylkill County. Visitors ride into the mine in open, motor-driven cars and then follow a guide for a 35-minute tour about coal mining.
Bring a jacket or sweater. The temperature in the mine averages 52 degrees.
A 30-minute ride on a narrow gauge steam train shows visitors an example of strip mining, as well as a bootleg coal hole where men defied trespass laws and risked cave-ins to harvest bags of coal to sell or heat their homes.
Pioneer Tunnel includes a snack bar and gift shop.
The attraction, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, hosts a Pioneer Day celebration on the third Sunday in August every year.
Tom Coombe
11:03 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
I was happy to see this make our "Day Trips" list. I grew up just a few blocks from the Pioneer Tunnel; the sound of the "Lokie" (the steam train) could be heard from our backyard.