A low, arid, red-brown ridge scalloped into corrugated hills follows the Garmsar–Qom Hwy south. Look closely and you'll see it's pocked with giant entry holes that occasionally spit out trucks full of rock salt. Although far from tourist-centric, the Kughdasht Mine does sometimes let visitors drive (accompanied) along their 700m of vast tunnels, past some 70 gigantic, artificial, barely lit pillars. Before heading there, consider visiting Garmsar's Aghvam Museum to get nominal 'permission'.
The mine is nearly 20km from Garmsar. To get there take the Qom–Garmsar Hwy to Km145, leaving at the abrupt (non-paved, non-signed) makeshift 'exit' in front of the Namak Azim salt factory. Turn immediately left onto the old asphalt road paralleling the Qom-bound highway for another 7km, forking right around 500m before arrival. A taxi from Garmsar costs around IR250,000 return.
