Gold’n Gem Grubbin

Was a super great experience. It would be advisable to read up on panning for gold techniques as the flippant one minute demo was so vague and easy to miss the key points, and then you would loose the gold you should have found. I was so fortunate to be next to a seasoned gold veteran from Indiana. A super great old timer who comes to GA to gold pan. He said this place, even with the cost is better than free panning the rivers. Its a bit pricey but i found gold and my kids found amazing gems!!! They loved it and its such a quaint idyllic place. Tons of nature and an experience i wont forget. Dont go to Dukes or the other tourist traps… I dug the grubbin’

This review is for the gem panning only. For $ 30, we got a «superbucket» that provided about an hours worth of entertainment plus a nice haul of raw gems for the kids. You pay for whatever size bucket you want at the shop, then walk down to the covered panning area. You dump some of the rocks into a panning tray that have holes on the bottom, then lower the tray into the stream of water to filter out some dirt and small rocks and begin your search for gems. They have a gem chart outside, but if you’re not sure, just put it aside and the employees will check it for you afterwards. We found plenty of colorful raw gems including quartz, amethyst, tiger’s eye, soda rock, plus two ruby’s and a sapphire! You can walk away with your find or ask about their gem cutting and jewelry services.
My only complaint is the place was busy on this occasion with only one employee present. Normally when you bring your rocks to be sorted, the employee will take their time to point out each valuable stone and provide some interesting fact like how blue topaz is created. This time, the valuable rocks were just pulled out the regular rocks tossed aside very quickly.
There are plenty of dogs around, but they’re all friendly. Clean restrooms. Nice place for a family friendly activity.

after visiting Consolidated gold mine several times for the gold panning experience, I found a brochure for another place, we got there an hour before closing, bought $ 20 bucket and shared it with my friend, I found more gold than Consolidated, I was very happy with this experience, on the other hand my friend didn’t care much about the gold, he loved the repeated motion of panning, he was panning until they came over and told us that they are leaving… hahah
Next time, I suggested my friend about the 4 hour river panning experience, but he said he will get bored if he does it for 4 hours, we bought a bucket on a cold day, we had to crack an ice to get to the water to pan, we panned and panned, found a lot more gold than last time, when I checked the time it was close to 2 hours but didn’t tell him, he just kept on panning, I got hungry so I told him if he is ready to leave yet? and he said he wants to do it a little longer, at this point it has been 4.5 hours… he ended up panning the same bucket for 5 hours…
This coming Sunday I’m planning on going back there but doing the 4 hour river experience for $ 15 per person. I think he will enjoy it.
If you want to strike it rich, this may not be the right place, although they are mining for gold on the property, if you like to have fun socializing and have fun panning this is an awesome place to come. If you have a child or a friend who is autistic, I’m sure they will have a great time panning.

Following the horrific visit to Babyland General and not one to let a visit to Cleveland, GA go to waste, Kathleen urged us to visit a nearby gem «mine» to engage in gem grubbing. As appetizing as this initially sounded, we needed some convincing.
«It’s FUN! You get a bucket of rocks and wash away the sand and mud to find precious stones!»
So this activity combines two of my favorite activities: being outdoors and digging in the mud. Wait, I HATE those activities. But after the nightmarish surrealism of watching a fiberglass tree give birth to a doll whose facial characteristics indicate severe fetal alcohol syndrome then I possibly could have benefited from spending some time sorting stones. Besides, Kathleen was driving.
She was practically giddy as we drove up the makeshift dirt road. «You’ll LOVE this!» she Griswolded the entire 3 mile trip to the gemarium. Though I had been singing «Cleveland Rocks» early in the day, I hadn’t realized she’d take me so literally.
We arrived to a series of troughs through which cold water ran and a series of buckets filled with stones. We checked in at the «Gem Shack» for instructions. I was disappointed to find no tin roofs, rusted or no, atop said gem shack.
To our disappointment, we discovered a charge per bucket of rocks. I say «disappointed» as our group thought perhaps this might be a free activity since in most instances, sorting through rocks would be. The brochure also remained suspiciously silent on any exchange of currency, despite my queries of «So, how does this place make any money anyway?» Question answered.
We sprang for the $ 30 Superbucket and split its contents. We poured the rocks into sieves which we then placed into the cold, running water to remove any excess sand and dirt. We got to sorting. And surprisingly, it was enjoyable, almost zen-​like. Rock. Toss. Rock. Toss. Shiny object. Keep. Rock. Toss. What is this? Fossilized dinosaur poop? Keep. Rock. Toss. We kept at this for some 15 – 20 minutes. Kathleen relived her childhood. James feared being kidnapped in the course of gem grubbing and being forced to build a transcontinental railroad like his Chinese forefathers. I thought it more likely, in keeping with the times, that he’d be kidnapped and forced to develop low-​end computer applications on dubious mobile platforms. Wait; he does that now.
In all, even after the complaining, we turned out to have a nice time. Seeing the kids around us go absolutely apeshit when finding something, well, I can see the draw for families. Oh and James and I scored some sweet gems which was outrageous. Truly, truly, TRULY outrageous. Even I, as an intown hipster douchebag, can’t argue against the allure of gem grubbing. Four stars.

After finishing up an enjoyable and somewhat freaky tour of Babyland General, we found ourselves checking out various brochures of local «attractions.» When I saw the Gold n Gem pamphlet, I knew that’s where we needed to head. It was a gorgeous day and we’re in a recession, what could possibly be better than searching through river rocks in hopes of finding a gigantic gem? As my cohorts waringly boarded back in to the car, I was thrilled at the thought of recreating a typical weekend from my childhood. Between «adventure weekends» with my Dad and school trips to Dahlonega I had done my fair share of gem grubbin’ and gold panning, and I was very much looking forward to recreating the memories.
As we made our way down Gold Nugget Lane, the passengers became increasingly nervous. While the busted out shacks, kitschy signs, and unpaved road made them think «Deliverance» I was thrilled at the thought of truly letting my inner redneck shine. I live for these kinds of experiences.
We parked, surveyed the pricing on the porch, and took in the country air. A gallon bucket of gems is $ 10, while a «super bucket» of 2.5 gallons is $ 30. Oh yeah, we Supersized. A friendly staff member gave us a VERY brief lesson on the art of grubbing and we set to work. For those you not in the know, this means a lot of time sifting through rocks dunked in seriously cold water. It takes patience and you’ve really got to appreciate the beauty in this quiet activity. Well, it would have been quiet if not for the seriously obnoxious goose in the pond behind us, but I digress. After about 20 minutes we all felt confident that we had picked all of the goodies out of our bucket and made our way back to the cabin for a full appraisal. While Ivan S. and James H. managed a few choice stones like emeralds, tigers eye, and a serious hunk of garnet, I was stuck with some smoky quartz and a few tiny flecks of what could maybe be a ruby. Sweet.
The 4 stars may be nostalgia talking, but I had a truly great time here. It’s unlike any experience you can get in the rest of the country (Georgia saw a bigger gold/​gem rush than California) and it’s a great way to spend a bit of time outdoors in a truly idyllic setting. Plus, you never know if you just might strike it rich.