Address: 484 Emerald Hollow Mine Dr, Hiddenite, NC 28636, USA
Phone: +18286323394
Sunday: 8:30AM–8PM
Monday: 8:30AM–8PM
Tuesday: 8:30AM–8PM
Wednesday: 8:30AM–8PM
Thursday: 8:30AM–8PM
Friday: 8:30AM–8PM
Saturday: 8:30AM–8PM
Calli Lawson
One of my favorite vacation spots! This mine is so pretty and it gives you a great workout! Crystals are super easy to find in the creek. The most expensive bucket you can get is $1000 while the cheapest is around $5-10 I can't remember. We got an amethyst in the 1k bucket worth roughly 800 dollars alone!
John Gibson
This place is definately worth a visit. They have gem slucing available with seeded buckets and you can mine the creeks as well. The reason for 3 vs 4 stars is it is pricey for what you get. To start off with you have to pay per person a permit fee this includes if you only want to pay for and do seeded buckets. The seeded buckets themselves while they do have a good variety of stones are no where near what the quality and quantity should be for the premium price you pay for thier top tier buckets. You can on occasion find the rare 'gem' where you get a really nice stone. All in all like I said it is worth a visit but expect to pay a lot and don't have high expectations for what you get.
miles brney
Workers like "Mr D" and Jordan really made this place special. My 5year old son loved it just because of them. Overall experience was good. Definitely brush up on your geology before going
Tim Heatley
Looking for good family fun this is your place. The perfect place to find some great emeralds. We started with the digging and it was exhausting and we didn’t find a thing. In fairness we were told it was hard to find things. My recommendation would be to look for gems in the creek. We were told it was was easier to do that. Be prepared as the water is cold, but it does feel great. We also purchased some pre made buckets and sifted through that and had a blast. I’d also recommend to bring a picnic. They have plenty of benches to use. There isn’t any places nearby to get food, but you can come and go on the property for the day as you wish. Parking is no issue at all. There is plenty of it. The restrooms were clean, but that is about the only clean place. Everything else is muddy, but it makes the place. So, be prepared to get dirty. Go have some fun whether with friends or family! Pre made buckets range in price from $5 to $1000.
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Rental is inexpensive. I'd recommend water shoes and lots of baggies for your treasures. Creek is shady so its refreshing on s hot day.
I was there recently. Buckets start at 15.00, bigger gems are in larger priced buckets. You can dig for your own. I suggest a large bucket and share with who your with that day. Nice gems in the larger buckets.
Yep they have a small shop of gems and crystals they have found there
Our hours of operation are 8:30am to sunset (ranging from 5:00pm in mid-winter to 8:00pm in mid-summer). We are open every day of the year, except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
If you want to save money bring your own shovels. Small and larger to dig with. Flat screwdriver would help also. Gloves. Make sure you bring your own bug repellent. You can't take metal tools into the creek. Bring water shoes. They have snacks for sale and tools for rent, but no small shovels which is what I needed at times. Have fun!!!
hiddenite is the original area of mines. emerald hollow is a specific mine area with paid public access.
Creeking pass by itself is only $10 (adult), $5 (child 4-11) and free (3 and under). All prices are for the whole day :)
Yes you can buy the dirt and do it at home as well we did last year when the covid hit and we use our own water an stuff
Is it a skatepark also?
Yes. You can purchase a prepared bucket. You can relax under the shelter and pan right out of your bucket. They also have disabled parking available right beside of shelter.
Hiddenite Family Campground.
Good luck with that...the cabooses are normally rented and no power hook ups or showers at the campgrounds near
Seems like it was about $10 but they charge you an extra $3 for the tools. You can being your own to save a few bucks. A spaghetti strainer and garden Spade is all you need. Please Be kind to nature! Don't dig up the banks.
Hickory or statesville are about the same distance to the mine
No power equipment. Requires too much oversite for our mining permit
We went to dig at the mine area. It was $30.00 for two of us for an all day pass.
We find them every time
It all depends on weather. Their website says open all year except christmas and thanksgiving
There's a lapidary there in a little shop. It's pretty cool to check out.
All depends on how you want to mine. There are several options and all of the costs are listed on their well maintained website.
The creek is only seeded for the dedicated field trip area. The kids from field trips only have 20 minutes in the creek to show them how to look for things. That material does make it down to other areas of the creek after flooding and is unavoidable. Consider it a gift. The best area for the creek is at the intersection of the larger creek where they meet. The dig sight is up on top of the hill on the right so after heavy rains there is always something washed into the creek. Its your job to find it. You can find obsidian in NC. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is built on top of an extinct volcano. Its more green than black but can be found in NC, Virginia and Pennsylvania on the east coast.
You keep what you find. All the rules and boundaries for creeking mining, and sluicing are posted. There some tools available, one can bring one's own tools, but some types of tools are not allowed.
we went a month ago and i wouldnt recommend it hands n feet were numb when i left, we wished we had went sluicing instead
Everything sounds good, however you can not dig in the creek banks. And take a little something for the friendly squirrel I had him eating cheeseits and M&Ms right out of my hand.
You can buy buckets of dirt to sluice seeded or unseeded with unpolished gemstones. You can also find them in the mine or in the creek. The lapidary has some polished for sale and you can have what you find cut or polished.
As you see above,price varies.Just depends on what you want.You will enjoy if you don't mind getting dirty.Have fun and kids will too.
Definitely clothes that can get dirty, boots or old sneakers, and maybe shoes that can get wet in the creek. Sunscreen and repellent recommended!
I used the $15 buckets and found a .85 carat (after cutting) emerald and a flawless, 3.65 carat (after cutting) citrene. About $500 worth of cut stones and a couple of freezer bags of crystals to wire wrap. Not a bad return, even with the price of having the stones cut added in!!
They offer chaperone tickets to the parents of school field trips, so that you are with the kiddos.
Took 24 weeks to get our jewelry we enjoyed the mining nd found realy nice gems
No campgrounds dogs are cool
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