Dukes Creek Mines

My kids were kept enthralled for at least an hour. The owner spent a huge amount of time with them identifying the different rocks. They had so much fun they talked me into a fossil bucket. It’s was a geology lesson for us all.

The kids loved this place! The man running the shop was very helpful with identifying the stones and even taught my daughter the stones and how to tell the difference. Great experience.

After reading the Unilocal reviews we stopped here for our gem paning and were richly rewarded. There are 4 of us so we paid $ 50 for the big family bucket and got A LOT of big crystals! One of my boys had 2 zip lock bags full. We loved the wandering cats and the gentleman who worked there was quiet but friendly. We kinda rushed it and probably spend only about 30 minutes but could have easily stretched it longer if we took time to see what each crystal or gem was.

I agree with the other reviews. Yes, it’s a tourist trap but your kids will love it! We paid $ 20 for a large bucket and my kids thought it was the best thing ever sifting through the dirt and finding little treasures. We also bought a small keeper bag inside so they’ll always have those rocks/​memories of the trip.

When you go to a place like this, you should know that it is a tourist trap. So you go with the idea that you are getting to experience a piece of history. You are getting to experience a small part of old world culture. You are there to have fun.
So if you spend $ 10 to $ 20 on a bucket, so be it. Enjoy yourself and have a little fun. You aren’t going to strike it rich. But you get to enjoy people that are spending some time with people that are extremely friendly and throwbacks to a time gone by.
Again, it is a tourist trap. But who cares if you had fun. It is a fun distraction for kids and they really feel like they have struck it rich with all the gems the get.
So, if this sounds like your thing, go for it. As for me and my family, we had a blast.

We bought a large bucket for $ 18 and got more fun surprises than I would have expected. The buckets are prefilled and contain many large «gems.» 2 happy kids and a good amount of entertainment for $ 20