Emerald Hollow Mine

If you’re looking for something new to try, visit Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite, North Carolina. We recently spent a day there not only mining, but also enjoying the beautiful area. It’s an activity anyone can enjoy and we highly recommend it.

The drive there from any direction provides views of mountains, trees, old farm houses and churches. Neither of us have spent much time in North Carolina, which is a shame because it’s such a beautiful state. The mine itself is in a wooded area with a stream running through it. The scenery combined with nice weather was a good start for our mining adventure.

We went on a Tuesday and arrived about 10am. It wasn’t crowded and there was plenty of parking. We walked down a short hill to check in. If you or a family member can’t walk down the hill, it’s possible to be dropped off in front of the check in area. Daniel was behind the counter, and he gave us several options – digging for gems, panning for gems in the stream, or just buying a “bucket of happiness.” The third option doesn’t require much manual labor but it guarantees you’ll be able to find stones and gems from all over the world. If you decide to dig or pan, you can hope to find local emeralds, hiddenite, tourmaline, and quartz.

Experience

We wanted to experience everything we could, so we payed to rent buckets and shovels. Daniel gave us a lesson in what to look for if we wanted to find local gemstones. We walked about an eighth of a mile down to the dig site and tried to stay away from the other visitors. We walked as far to the end of the mining site as possible to start digging. The downside of digging far away, is anything you dig, you have to carry all the way back.

We dug and looked for rocks that seemed to have any color other than just brown or black. We spent at least two hours digging through dirt, mud and tree roots. The time went very quickly and we finally decided to take back what we’d found. We loaded our buckets with a lot of rocks and hauled them all the way back to the sluice station. If we had filled the buckets more than half full, it would have been a lot harder to get back.

Sluicing

After what seemed like a really long walk carrying our shovels and heavy buckets of rocks, we finally got back to the check in area. This is the same area where the sluicing takes place. Sluicing is basically washing dirt off rocks with running water. We got seats along the sluice run and washed all the rocks we brought back. Because we spent at least 30 to 45 minutes washing our rocks, we were glad the water wasn’t much colder. Unfortunately we didn’t find anything valuable. Our mentor, Daniel, told us that all of our rocks were “leverite,” which we hadn’t heard of. If you go to the mine, ask Daniel about that particular mineral. No matter what, Kathy is bringing her rocks home for her garden.

Bucket of Happiness

We decided to go ahead and buy material put together with native soil and a variety of minerals and gemstones from all over the world. To be honest, sluicing the material in the bucket was a lot of fun. We enjoyed finding gemstones in their native form. It is also a lot of fun discovering what each stone you find is. They have posted charts around the sluicing area to help you determine what the stones are. Ryan, who also works at the mine, was very helpful in identifying the stones. Ryan told us while laughing “I know only 78% of everything.” He actually knows quite a bit. Daniel has worked at the mine for years and was able to identify anything you showed him. All the people who work there were helpful. We went home very happy with our “finds” and our experience at Emerald Hollow Mine.

Benefits for Anyone

One of the best things about the experience at Emerald Hollow Mine is your ability to forget everything in the outside world. While you are there you don’t worry about problems at home. While you sit and sluice, your only focus is on what you are finding. It is a great stress reliever.

The sensory stimulation of digging through dirt and feeling the stones could be appealing for autistic visitors, or others with different disabilities. In fact, we were told there is a regular visitor with cerebral palsy who greatly enjoys the water in the sluice, and feeling the rocks and dirt.

Special Considerations

Mobility Challenges: For anyone with walking or mobility issues, visiting the digging areas and creek could be challenging.  However, you can easily visit the sluicing area and enjoy finding gems in the preloaded buckets.

Entry: Anyone actually conducting mining activities at the site is required to purchase a license for the day. However, it’s not expensive and well worth it.

Overall Recommendation

The mine is a great to place to go no matter your age or physical abilities. You can sit and sluice if you don’t want to walk to the stream or dig site. If you are up for the physical challenge, digging or panning in the stream really is a fun option. The time went by so quickly, we spent longer than we had planned at the mine. Overall, Emerald Hollow Mine is one of the best places we have been.