North Carolina Mining Museum

Buy the combo ticket & I would recommend even adults buy the gem bag. $10 for 2 handfuls of gems you can sift yourself. Mine is smallish, mill is smallish, videos are forgettable… Limited information provided in signage throughout. The highlight was banging the instruments at the mill.

If you are around the area and interested in mining and minerals, this could be a good stop.

It was great fun for our 4&7 year olds! Who am I kidding, I also loved panning for stones! There was also a neat gift shop, snack counter and museum (the museum we sadly didn't have time to walk through). The staff were all very kind and helpful! We will come back to explore more out next visit for sure!

Best place to buy mica at the gem and mineral show in Tucson Arizona for only $5 per bag!

Really neat place. SO MUCH STUFF! I mean that in a good way. It is obvious that some one knew that historical pieces needed to be saved. There is so much stuff you just have to look for a few minutes at each area to see it all. Liked being able to walk a little ways into the mine. Wish it wasn't flooded and you could go deeper. Definitely worth the price!

Much to see,more still to do,there is gem-mining,museum displays,restaurant and pleasant scenery with plenty of room to relax as well!I got a big bucket and split it with three kids,took over an hour to sort through!The paid tour took more than an hour and left us desirous of more!The selection of mineral specimens and ready made jewelry rivals the best anywhere around and the open tours were casual strolls through some very educational displays! A must see to truly believe! Highly recommended!

Our families traveled here from FL, such a great experience! We loved every single minute from the museums to the mines. Kids especially loved the gem mining! Every single staff member was friendly, helpful & knowledgeable. We will definitely visit again!

Typical gem mining experience, Designed to scoop every penny they can out of you. Two gift shops mostly overpriced. The gems in the mining experience aren't local, they are added to the buckets.

Emerald Village is located in Spruce Pine, NC. It is a hidden gem that I highly recommend visiting. The campus is large so you can visit some attractions or all. I opted to tour the mine, visit the country store, visit the museum, and mine gems. Besides the mine, there were extra exhibits in the building. One was about the mine and the other on tobacco. At one point there were 12 mines. The tour is of the Bon Ami Mine. Some of this is accessible but to get down to the mine there are railroad ties used for stairs. The portion of the mine with the tour has everything labeled so you can read about it as you go. You just go to the top portion of the mine so it isn't claustrophobic. I was worried about that. Just watch your step as the railroad tracks are still there. They are easy enough to step over or go around but if you aren't paying attention could trip. You can enjoy the views and waterfall while learning about the mine and seeing the equipment. I liked that they had some storyboards and the small building to see the rocks with the black light. It was a unique museum to learn about mining. The country store was nice with the history of the medical office, post office and store replicas. The mill building had exhibits on twelve levels. A model railway exhibit, music room, black light room to see minerals. The only way to see this building was by stairs. This was the only part I didn't really care for but did enjoy parts of it. I did the gem bucket from McKinney Mine. It was a large bucket so after I got a feel for it, I gave the rest of the bucket to some kids nearby. A nice perk is they offer wifi to guests as I lost service in the remote location. So that helped me get to my next destination. I also liked ow well the attraction was marked and labeled so you knew where everything was.

This mine was an actual working mine. It felt to me like the rock that you sorted was less seeded with gemstone. On the other hand, that gave it a more realistic feel. We purchased in Emerald bucket which had plenty of emerald pieces. We also purchased a native bucket. The native bucket had a lot of mica and, of course, quartz. There were a few other stones but that was the majority of it. Their native bucket was very reasonable price but also had a lot less finds. We had arrived close to closing time and although they didn't rush us, it would have been nice to arrive early enough to see some of their historical offerings. Getting down to the panning area was more difficult than expected as there was a set of steep stairs or a long, and steep, gravel ramp going to that area. That made a difference to my wife who has trouble with her knees and we almost didn't go because of it.

Great customer service! We were in the gift shop with our two dogs and someone came in and essentially starting bullying the two women at the desk about wearing a mask. He was flippantly and passive aggressively telling them no, and when his wife asked about a medical exception, I made a comment (because it was clear they wouldn't even take a mask for the small indoor time!!) and he then threatened to 'come over here' and 'shove my dog up my a$$' The women at the front handled the whole thing with grace even when it was clear this man was abusive and demeaning towards other-he left (whatever). Every single person we came in contact with were some of the nicest. Also c'mon. No one WANTS to be wearing a mask. Just wear it so we can get out of this crap! Also dude: I'm sorry you have manly problems that make you threaten people you don't even know. Bless your heart.

We booked back a few months ago for the black light tour, we had the idea that we would be going into a mining cave and seeing all these different glowing lights. Sadly it wasn't anything like that. It was fun for the most part, aside from it being so windy and cold. What little bit of the show we got wasn't particularly worth the amount of money we all spent as a family. It is an experience though. I definitely wouldn't recommend for children under the age of 5 due to how cold it can get in the mountains, since it is an outside activity. I do highly recommend the store side of things. They have some beautiful crystals you can purchase as well as mining kits for the children! I spent quite a bit of money buying so many crystals to take home with me. I would love to come back and visit the museums they had on site!

My husband and I had the BEST TIME!!! Not only is the area itself just stunning, the staff at Emerald Village were awesome as well! We had great chats with the woman in the Mine gift shop and with Walter down at the gem panning area! Both were so full of knowledge and willing to share fun facts and information that we just ate up! The gem panning experience was really cool as well. We split the 3lb bucket and I highly recommend that for 2 people, we found some great pieces! Can't wait to bring family back one day!

Was a fun day visiting the local mine and loved the sites! Great for a bigger group and Groupon was a great deal! Staff was very helpful and shared education about the sites!

This "mining museum" is the weirdest shit this side of Route 66. A mysterious must-see. The property is very large. On one side, a set of 50 picnic tables sit empty, as if the progenitors of this madness had anticipated entire schools' worth of visitors would soon arrive by the busload. It bills itself as a "mining museum", but the scare quotes are very real. No cell reception (something I thought only happened in low-budget horror movies). The sights in the makeshift "exhibits" would give ample inspiration to Jordan Peele's next movie about the scary things white people do when they think nobody's looking. Creepy model railroad with automaton? Check. Creepy two-story collection of unsorted iron scraps? Check! Creepy "hidden stairways" with bizarrely repurposed christmas kitsch? CHECK! Creepy "miner's daughter" wax museum diorama with period accoutrements? CHECK!!!! Creepy taxidermy exhibit decomposing even as you look upon it? CHECK!!!!!!!! Creepy gaping hole leading to the bowels of the earth? BONUS CHECK!!! GO there. Go there immediately. Put down everything and see this museum. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is truly a testament to American....something. A must-see.

Interesting history, interesting pictures, neat cave-like area. Nice opportunity for pictures, but can be expensive for large family at $7 each for the tour. Gem mining is for entertainment value and cool looking rocks ONLY! Think about it. If there were still precious minerals, do you think they would open mine to public? They try and hook you into the expense of cutting and setting of stones but it's not worth the value of stones, so be entertained and don't expect the big windfall. The bucket sizes start at $10 and go up to $1000.00, the bigger the bucket the bigger the stones, which tells me they place the stones in the bucket.

Ordered a set of earings and pendent from stones we mined. Waited the 8 weeks they stated on order. Now no one can give me any information on where my jewelry is. Called 5 times with no return call. Poor business practices. Poor customer service. Order was paid for when it was submitted. NO JEWELRY and no one can give me answers.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Toured the mines, museums and mined for gems. Tons of 'gems' in our $20 bucket. I know they're not worth millions, but I'm surprised that so many people thought it would be! The history layout is phenomenal. Can't be the price point either!

NOT worth that ridiculous drive. This is in the middle of no where and no cell service so you better know where you're going. It was basically deserted when we got there. That probably added to how weird it was. If you're big into gem mining like we kinda are, you're bucket is filled with gravel (looks exactly like the gravel from the parking lot) with a few stones mixed in the bucket. Stick to the gem mines in Banner Elk, Foscoe and Boone. I was embarrassed that I asked my family to drive there.

We had fun here; it is a novel experience. In addition I ordered two of found rock to be cut. One was cut into a round 14 mm and the other into 18 x 13 oval. They arrived today and were so beautiful! Plus they came to us in record time. Thank you, AMANDA!

Out of no where a staff member approached my older boys saying "What are you, 2?! Act your age" while jerking the trays out of their hands and reprimanding them. No tactful conversation, no real explanation and no attempt to 1st discuss his issue with a parent (I was standing right beside them and my husband was down the bench from them). My boys were playing, not being destructive, certainly nothing that warranted this guys words or actions. My husband tried to talk to him, but he maintained an arrogant attitude, no apology no effort at all for customer service. When I realized he didn't care, I let him know we would be contacting the owner and sharing our experience. His words to me, "Oh well... they won't listen". Lesson learned, we won't be spending money for that kind of service.

Ok, maybe I was expecting more but I thought we would be going underground like Howes cavern. It was cute and they had a nice gift shop but there was not much of a tour for the 2 hours we drove in each direction. Then we went to where you look for gems and that is extra. Since the mine is closed where do they get the dirt to give you to sift through? I think it might be more fun for kids . I love the whoel idea but all you get to do is look at some old equipment.

Stopped in to see the museum and the mine. That was really cool. Good photo ops. I really, really enjoyed the store the best, though. Beautiful gems, jewelry, ginormous amethyst geodes and agates, interesting ore of all types. There are a wide array of fossils. There are geode bookends and a lot of polished stone decor. I purchase a large wind chime that was made of bright blue slices of agate. They are beautiful, especially when the sun shines through them and they make the most beautiful sound. Prices are very reasonable, like most items in the store are. And the two gals that run the place are delightful to talk to, very friendly and knowledgeable. I highly suggest you visit.

We got there about an hour before they closed, so we only got to look around the gift shop & do some gem mining from a large bucket. The gem bucket was great and we found lots of keepers! ! The outside set up was perfect on the beautiful day we had. Nice, helpful staff

I suggest pulling in the driveway and taking some pictures of the opening to the mine and leaving. If you want to know about the history of mining in NC, read it on line or in books and save your precious money. Here is something they don't tell you until AFTER you bought and wasted your time sifting through a bucket of dirt.......all the mines have been PLAYED OUT and there are virtually no valuable gems left in NC and certainly not at this mine site. Yea, if you have never panned or sloused for gems or gold it may be an experience you want to try, but don't buy more than the $10 bucket. I would have given this place more stars if it was marketed for the entertainment value stated above, BUT. The staff, though friendly, show you an ala cart list of buckets that range from the $10 above, but also up to $1,000! Yea, I didn't misspell. So at the higher prices, there is an unspoken representation that the higher the dollar value, the higher the value of the dirt. Once you pay, the worker mysteriously enters the back room and Hokis pokis you get your bucket. I began to suspect the fix was in when I took the emerald bucket and found all the "emeralds" in the raw, in the middle of the bucket.......just as it had been placed there moments ago. Then you go to the office, where you think helpful staff will tell you what you have. A that point, it was when I found out that the mine was played out, I didn't sift through local dirt, and the emerald rocks I found where from brazil! Then there's the pitch to grind and shine your rock and even set it in a setting.......for another price......all of which far exceeds its actual value. Thus I can honestly say that in my opinion the place misrepresents the value of your potential finds and is not worth more than the $10. I have actually done this before and river panned in NC, but had no problem with the other place as they didn't have the offer of such exorbitant bucket prices. Yea, I know there are no guarantees, but to charge people these type prices and virtually know the result is disingenuous. So I end where I started, take some pictures and move on. The truth is there is no worthwhile gem mining in NC..period. Yu will have a better chance winning the pick 5 and the dollar more satisfyingly spent.

Go to the actual emerald village emerald mine and dig for emeralds with the gear they provide. It was about a 100 for the permit, but our family loved it. We also found emeralds...pretty cool time....staff was great