gold n gem grubbin'

We had lots of fun and learned so much about the "raw" gems. The staff was VERY friendly, and the four legged greeters (dogs), were super sweet. Nice laid back attraction.

My wife and I took a weekend get away to Helen and came here to do our panning. It was so cold we didn't do the river, we bought a gem bucket. We came home with alot of Gems. Desiree was the lady working, she was so helpful and friendly that this cannot be the same person earlier reviews were about. She helped us to identify what we were missing and then laid it all out and explained it. We ordered a 2 carat pendant that we should have in a few weeks and I will update this review. You could not ask for a better place to go. As for the dogs be careful they might lick you to death.

Was a great experience purchased a 60 dollar gem bucket pulled several rubies, emeralds and 1 sapphire. And a bunch of other semi precious stones. Worth the value for the return. As for the gold panning pulled .70 grams of gold from the medium size bucket not a bad haul. Will be back

We randomly picked this place for the kids to do some mining. We have a 9-yr-old and 13-yr-old who both enjoyed it. We got them both a bucket for $30 each and they spent about 30-45 minutes sifting through their bucket coming up with some amazing finds in their bucket of all kinds of gem stones of all sizes. It was fun watching them doing something and enjoying it that didn't require a video game or the internet to keep their interests. Little pricey but it was worth it watching the fun they had.

We visited the mine yesterday. This was our 2nd trip to this mine as we visited 2 years ago. We chose to do the river grubbing for half a day. Keep in mind everyone has to pay even if they aren't going to participate. We had 4 adults, 2 teenagers and a 9 year old in our party. We panned for four hours and only found small gems. When we were here two years ago we found much larger gems. We were fine with what we found and went to turn in our equipment and see if the employees could help identify some of our stones. When we walked into the building an older man asked what we wanted rather rudely. When we told him he said he didn't want to go through out s*** from the river. Another nicer employee stepped in to help. Because of this experience I am afraid we won't be returning. Last time we had gems made, not this time. I guess we need to find a new mine.

Ok...I have to admit my husband and I were a bit skeptical at 1st when we called to make reservations for the campground and they said there were only 8 RV hookup sites. We have never camped at a campground that small and were not really sure what to expect, but we're pretty laid back people so we knew if nothing else we could add it to our list of the most comical adventures. But...to our surprise...The small campground is EXACTLY what we realized we needed when we got there! Nestled away in the middle of nowhere and we absolutely LOVED IT! We also had to try our hand at the mining. We were astonished at the gems we found! The $60 or $100 bucket is definetly the way to go. It was so much fun and our daughter can't wait to show all the things we found off at school! She is 8 and had an absolute blast! My husband of course then wanted to strike it rich with trying to find gold. Well...While we can't quit our jobs with the little tiny bit of gold we found, we still had an amazing time! The weather was also PERFECT all weekend! We couldn't have been any more blessed and can't wait to return for another fun filled weekend and to soak up the peace and serenity of being outdoors. Thank you Gold n Gem Grubbin for memories that will last forever!

Take it for what it is, we had a really good time. Our older children loved finding the gems even if the experience was a little pricey. Family time in the outdoors with no electronics or distractions was well worth it. We found the lady in the shop very sincere and informative when chatting with us and our chatty children. Excellent time had by all.

Second time to visit here.staff friendly this time easy to find looks like they put out some more signage had our own gear pan went to river few other people there all friendly and all have stories on how they pan which is nice. Did not find any good gold from the pile found some gems. Hard work sifting but make u appreciate gold mining u can buy a bucket of fine dirt but that's to fun and adventure and experience. Look on u tube if u are not sure on panning not rocket science and don't be disappointed if u find no gold from the pile if it was easier everyone would do it. People who are dissatisfied look in the mirror

Sometimes the owner is here and he will walk you thru everything, but his employees are lackluster. Here's the deal: you buy a bucket of dirt and sift thru it to find the gems/gold. If you don't know what to look for, you WONT FIND IT. Before you take your kids to any gem dig - KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR. The owner makes sure there are good finds in every bucket. If you are smart you will find a greater value in your pail than the cost of trying. If he's there, he'll help you find it too!

The staff was very helpful on arrival and showed us how to pan for gold. We chose to go to the river, even though we were told our chances were much better buying a bucket. We were looking for the experience in the river since we can really buy a bucket of rocks or gold and pan in the wells at so many other tourist stops. We found some garnet, amythist, fools gold, rose quartz and a blue topaz. If you want a sure thing, buy the bucket, but if your up for sitting in the river and having a nice day regardless....its a fun time!

We come hear year after year when kids are visiting from Michigan.Great, friendly and fun place for all.

The gems are mixed in with plain rocks so it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between most of the gems from rocks to an untrained eye. Some of the gems are shiny like peridot so that is easy to spot but rubies are not what they look like in the jewelry store so that can be easily passed over.

When we first got there, nobody really showed us what to do. They asked if we wanted to find gold or gems. We didn't know how to do either. We said we would do the gold. Then we did the gems. They asked us which bucket we wanted w /o telling us anything about them . We bought a bucket and talked and watched the other people. When we got done, the girl told us to bring our bags in and she will tell us what we got. We did find some nice and big gems and she told us what they were. Later that night when we got our gems to look at them we both had several missing. We were called liars when we went the next day to ask about it. We had a horrible experience. The owner even called my husband scatter brains. As

We saw the brochures around town and really thought it would be fun to pan in a river. So, we signed up and then found out that it really wasn't panning in a river. They dumped a mound of dirt beside the river and that was the only place we were allowed to dig from. Yes, we took the dirt to the river but it wasn't the same. Disappointed and would not do it again.

I had 2 rings made and they are beautiful if you ever cone to helen ga go here you won't be sorry.its right off highway 115