Y’all know about my gem hunting hobby and how the gemstones are such an integral part of my fantasy adventure series The Gemstone Chronicles. You also know about my favorite gemstone hunting spot in the North Georgia Mountains. You might have even read about my trip to the Hogg Mountain Mine near LaGrange, GA or the trip to Hiddenite, NC. I hope the posts inspired you to go out on your own gem hunting excursions (or at least read and review my books)! Living in the Southeast, I decided to find new places fairly close to home and consider them for a visit, or share them with y’all in case you want to make a trip! To be fair, I didn’t look at other Southeast US states likes Florida, and Mississippi and Arkansas are a bit far for me (at least for a day trip).
Today, though, I want to give you an overview of places that I have researched on the Internet and where I might have to go for a visit over the next few months. Let’s start right here in Georgia, where I found this emerald and my brother John found the peridot that I had cut and set for a birthday present for the lovely and adorable Lana!
North Georgia Mountains:
The North Georgia Mountains have many places to hunt for gemstones (and gold, if you are so inclined).
- Graves Mountain (Lincoln County, Georgia): According to GeorgiaEnclcyopedia.org, Graves Mountain is a unique geological area filled with some of the finest specimens of kyanite, pyrite, pyrophyllite, rutile, and lazulite. They occasionally open the site to rockhounds, and I intend to be at the next dig!
- Consolidated Gold Mine (Dahlonega, Georgia): A great place to visit to get an idea of what it was like to dig for gold underground. You can tour the mine and will end up about 140 feet underground. At the end of the tour, you can pan for gold and screen for gems.
- Crisson Gold Mine (Dahlonega, Georgia): Another gold mine in Dahlonega, you can pan for gold here, too. If you want to, you can sign up to be a member of the Weekend Gold Miners at Crisson Gold Mine and gain access to the leased lands operated by the Weekend Gold Miners and prospect to your heart’s content!
South Carolina:
- Diamond Hill Mine (Antreville, SC): The website for the Diamond Hill Mine says you can find quartz, amethyst (though rare), and other gemstones. For me, it would be about a 2 hour drive. Hours are 9-5 and no digging after dark. The website has some pictures of finds at the site and they look pretty good. I think I can foresee a road trip!
North Carolina:
I have to say that North Carolina offers many opportunities for gemstone exploration. I will only list a few, but do your own research and find many more!
- Mason’s Ruby and Sapphire Mine (Franklin, NC): This mine sounds like my kind of place. While they do offer salted buckets, they also offer the opportunity to dig your own dirt and keep what you find. I think this is a place for me! They are open from March 1 – December 1 and a day of digging will cost $30. This is about a 2 hour drive for me, so easily doable for a day trip.
- Cherokee Ruby Mine (Franklin, NC): Another mine that is now offering dig your own dirt option. This one comes with a little bit of a limitation: for the dig your own option, you can fill 6 buckets for $30 and you can fill 4 additional for $10 more. They do offer a flume to wash off the stones, but the fee seems a bit high for my tastes. The hours are 9 am – 4 pm Monday through Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. The mine is open May 1 – October 31. The mine is also cash only.
Tennessee:
Other than copper mines around Ducktown and barite mines in other areas, I couldn’t find much about gem mines in Tennessee. Any of you Tennessee readers who want to give us some ideas, it would be greatly appreciated!
Alabama:
Similar to Tennessee, I couldn’t find a lot about gem mines in Alabama, though I did find some references to gold prospecting. As with the Tennessee folks, any hints you Alabama readers could give us would be appreciated!
For states outside the Southeast, please feel free to give us ideas about gem hunting opportunities near you. I can always try to plan a trip!
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Hey! Love what your doing,!! I’ll be a newbie but love of rock s and gems has always been in my soul!! I’m actually from Alabama… and I was just searching the web for gold and gem hunting in my area. I think I read the prospecting source as well ..it appears there is 140 or so places just close enough to travel on the weekends and check it out!! I couldn’t name anyone I know of that goes gold hunting though! I’ll be happy to update you! But I do know im taking my whole family I think having 8 hands hunting together We will come out with many treasures !!
If you are in Northern Alabama, there are probably some interesting places. Not so sure about S. Alabama (I grew up in southeast GA and there weren’t all that many rocks). There is a gold belt that runs to Alabama around Columbus/Phenix City, so you might be able to prospect there. But, please let me know how things work out. I would love to see your finds!
Getting ready to go to Alabama Camping does anybody know of any mines where you can dig your own that has a campground on the site? Your help is greatly appreciated
Hi Tamara,
Cathedral Caverns near Huntsville might be OK, but it isn’t a dig your own site. Yellow Wolf in north Alabama offers dig your own or buckets. I hope y’all find all kinds of good stuff!
Good info. Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi. I read one of your comments above where you stated that there is a portion of the alabama gold belt that touches down into Phenix city/Columbus? Do you know where you found that info? I have done alot of research and have been travelling to Nothern Georgia/Alabama to do my prospecting, but I live I Phenix city. If I could find a reference to what you claimed, it could make a huge difference. The closest I have been able to find was 3 historic gold mines near auburn.
Hi Rodney,
Here is a link to a USGS website that might help!
https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/find-mrds.php
Hi Rodney,
Here is a link to the USGS that might help. I think you can enter the state and commodity you want and it should tell you if the commodity (gold) was found there.
https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/find-mrds.php
Let me know how it works out!
Hey I sent you an email about a bunch of rough gemstones I discovered. Im in Snellville. You can call me or email me if you are interested in helping me identify and sell? (404)492-1528 andersonprecisionmachine@gmail.com
We are going to be in Lake Burton, GA next week and are interested in place to go gem hunting near there. Staurolites etc. Any ideas?
A newbie. Will be in Lake Burton in a couple of weeks. Where are good places to gem hunt near there?
Hi Kathy! Lake Burton is near a number of places you can go searching. If you want to do salted buckets (buckets with gemstones added so you will find something), there are a ton of options in Franklin NC (about an hour drive). You can also get salted buckets in Helen (if you’ve a mind to go Alpine Village) and of course, my favorite Gold N’ Gems Grubbin’ just outside of Cleveland GA. BTW, Cleveland is also home to the Cabbage Patch Kids Hospital so if you have one with an eye on a Cabbage Patch Kid, it is a great place to visit. Helen is about 45 minutes from Lake Burton and Cleveland is about the same. If you go to Gold N’ Gem Grubbin’, you also have the chance to dig at the creek and take home whatever you find. You might not get as much as you would from a salted bucket, but it is still fun! For staurolits, try Blue Ridge (Fannin County), about an hour away from Lake Burton. I hope y’all enjoy the trip and find lots of cool stones. Let me know how it goes!
I live in Fairhope Alabama, I am finding opal in the clay pits around about .
Hi David,
i didn’t know Alabama (especially South Alabama) had opals. If it is like South Georgia where I grew up, there should be lots of clay!
Hi David,
Are you saying that there are opals here in South Alabama? My husband and I have moved to Foley, and are bored with the sterility of the soil here. We are still looking for places to rock hunt that aren’t a half a day away. Any thoughts? Are you a part of a group that goes rock-hunting together?