WoW Iron Mining Guide

Here is The Noob School's Iron Mining Guide. You will find our top picks for mining iron below.
Where to Mine Iron in Arathi Highlands

Arathi Highlands: Levels 30-39



There are 2 circuits you can do and a path that connects the two also has ore on it. The one on the west focuses on the orge cave (Boulderfist Outpost) and mining the north ridge of the mountains, also a few nodes spawn on the path so mine these to allow the cave nodes to respawn. This is definitely a good route to do if you are in your low 30's because you can grind experience in the cave while doing this. If you are doing the western circuit too fast where the nodes aren't respawning when you start over, the eastern circuit is a lot bigger and involves multiple caves that you should go in and clear out on the way. Or you can just use the path between the two circuits and alternate.
Where to Mine Iron in Badlands

Badlands: Levels 35-44



It is recommended you have a mount for mining in this zone. Dustbelch Grotto, the mountain northeast of Dustbelch Grotto, and the path that leads northeast to another mountain range south of Angor Fortress are the key components in this route. The area northeast of Kargath and the south and southeastern mountain ridges are also very good. The paths in between all of these points will also contain iron deposits. Choose to follow whatever path or all of the paths for this route, they all lead you to very good places to mine iron.
Where to Mine Iron in Stranglethorn Vale

Stranglethorn Vale: Levels 30-44



The key areas in this route are The Stockpile (cave in the northeast), the Mosh'Ogg Ogre Mound, and the Crystalvein Mine (cave to the south of the ogre mound). The very northwestern loop has iron deposits all along the ridges. If the southern loop is hard to follow then after reaching the furthest point south in the loop just turn around and head back north the way you came.
Where to Mine Iron in Thousand Needles

Thousand Needles: Levels 24-35



This is the exact same route as the Thousand Needles silver mining route except the loop isn't listed as an optional part of the route. Perform this circuit like a figure 8 or ignore the middle path and just run the entire outside edges of Thousand Needles and Shimmering Flats while making sure to stop by any caves and also go into Highperch.
Where to Mine Iron in Alterac Mountains

Alterac Mountains: Levels 30-40



There are two circuits in Alterac Mountains that can be ran. The northern one involves running in and next to camps of humanoids that are around level 40. The southern circuit involves the same level of enemies except they will be ogres in the Ruins of Alterac. Choose to run whatever circuits you think you can handle; these are the best spots in the zone to mine iron.
Where to Mine Iron in Hillsbrad Foothills

Hillsbrad Foothills: Levels 20-32



If you're looking to mine iron this might not be the place for you unless you just want to grab a few iron ores. The only key components in all of Hillsbrad are the Yeti Caves in the north and surrounding ridges, the area of where the path leads to Hinterlands, and the area of Dun Garok. There isn't really a circuit or good path I can make but you can draw lines in between or run from one spot to the next just to get to the iron ore but this is definitely not a recommended way to level your mining or gather a sufficient supply of iron ore.
Where to Mine Iron in Instances

Uldaman (35-45), Razorfen Kraul (24-33), and Maraudon (40-49) are instances with iron.