Gem hunting in NC, just got back.

[limblips]

Not really hunting, but you buy the bucket of gravel and search away. Found a bunch, obviously not immensly valuable but nice. Did get one huge star ruby. Stayed at Bear Den Campground and Cabins. FC-3 was the cabin. Clean, big and nice! $175.00/nite. Split 3 ways. If you want pics of the stones, PM me. Great time.

[belvak (Premo)]

Originally Posted by limblips

Not really hunting, but you buy the bucket of gravel and search away. Found a bunch, obviously not immensly valuable but nice. Did get one huge star ruby. Stayed at Bear Den Campground and Cabins. FC-3 was the cabin. Clean, big and nice! $175.00/nite. Split 3 ways. If you want pics of the stones, PM me. Great time.

Hubby and I did the gem thing last summer when we stayed in Maggie Valley. We hit the "mine" in Cherokee. We got a few nice rubys and a couple of sapphires. Even had a couple of them mounted (yeah, I'm a sucker). It was fun and definitely easier than actually going into a mine!!! The person who "checked" the stones said they dealt with someone who lived in Mechanicsville and bought stones from them, then sold them to a local jeweler. Turns out the dealer the person sold to was G & H Jewelers.

[CobbWeb]

Can you provide websites or names of campgrounds and names of mines? Are they kid friendly? We are planning trip in June, just trying to find mine and campground fairly close together. I'll be pulling a 28' travel trailer. Thanks for your help.

[belvak (Premo)]

Originally Posted by CobbWeb

Can you provide websites or names of campgrounds and names of mines? Are they kid friendly? We are planning trip in June, just trying to find mine and campground fairly close together. I'll be pulling a 28' travel trailer. Thanks for your help.

Just did a quick Yahoo search. Maybe one of these will be near where you are heading...

North Carolina campgrounds gem mines - Yahoo! Search Results

[limblips]

Originally Posted by CobbWeb

Can you provide websites or names of campgrounds and names of mines? Are they kid friendly? We are planning trip in June, just trying to find mine and campground fairly close together. I'll be pulling a 28' travel trailer. Thanks for your help.

Wow, pulling a 28 foot up there will be interesting! Very hilly and some switchbacks but lots of people do it and are OK. Good trailer brakes and the right truck will be fine. I would recommend the Emerald Mine for kids. We found more and better stone there than the Gem Mountain mine. All the mines are kid friendly. The campground we stayed at was Bear Den. We rented a cabin but they have full hook up RV sites. It is a bit of a trip down a gravel road (maybe 3/4 mile) with some hills and turns but very kid friendly (rec hall, game room) and quiet and beautiful. I hate to make this too long so you can PM me and I will give you my phone # and we can chat. It is a definate do trip! We are going again!

[jwwb2000]

There was a show the Travel Channel did on this and the host found an awesome tri-colored emerald.

[Gwydion]

Originally Posted by jwwb2000

There was a show the Travel Channel did on this and the host found an awesome tri-colored emerald.

How convenient.

[CobbWeb]

Originally Posted by limblips

Wow, pulling a 28 foot up there will be interesting! Very hilly and some switchbacks but lots of people do it and are OK. Good trailer brakes and the right truck will be fine. I would recommend the Emerald Mine for kids. We found more and better stone there than the Gem Mountain mine. All the mines are kid friendly. The campground we stayed at was Bear Den. We rented a cabin but they have full hook up RV sites. It is a bit of a trip down a gravel road (maybe 3/4 mile) with some hills and turns but very kid friendly (rec hall, game room) and quiet and beautiful. I hate to make this too long so you can PM me and I will give you my phone # and we can chat. It is a definate do trip! We are going again!

Thanks for the info thats the one I was looking at.