broken boot gold mine

A lovely visit to an ex-gold mine although it was never a great success and was more known for producing Iron pyrites or Fools Gold - used in the industry to make sulphuric acid which dissolved the gold out of the ore. We panned for gold and found some (unfortunately not enough to retire on) and them went on a tour through the mine. Great fun with or without kids!

Do not spend your money for this. It was just a short tunnel into the side of a hill. Sure, they have good stories but it just was a waste of my time. So much more to do in the Black Hills!

I was interested in doing a "tourist-style" (not a do-it-yourself) gold panning. There are several places that have gold panning in the Black Hills. We happened to drive by Broken Boot (right along the highway between Lead and Deadwood) and decided to give it a try. They also offer mine tours, but I just did the gold panning. They provide you with a small bag with fine gravel and a "guaranteed" amount of gold, and the use of a gold pan. A guide then gives you step-by-step instructions on using the water (trough, not river) and the pan to separate the gold from the gravel. After you have finished panning your gold, you will get a small souvenir container to put your gold in.

Our family of three stopped here on our way out of Deadwood (Deadwood was a waste of our time unfortunately). We took a short tour of the mine and had a chance to pan for "gold" afterward, which our five year old really got a kick out of. The tour guides are pretty knowledgeable and the price didn't break the bank, so if you are in the area, it might be worth a stop.

So much fun. Inexpensive admission fee. Pay a extra $1.00 and get a bag of rocks and sediment that will guarantee you find gold. They teach you how to pan for gold. And we found some that we got take home! Go early in the morning to avoid crowds. The guide was young and very knowledgeable. We went into mine and saw lots of different types of rocks and took lots of pictures. Excellent experience.

We loved this little mine. Our guide was very knowledgable and could answer all our questions (we asked loads). It was interesting to discover how the men mined in difficult conditions and how much gold is still in there. Panning for gold was a highlight. I found it very therapeutic and the excitement at picking out my little bits of gold to bring home was great. Go on - release the inner child in yourself and enjoy this attraction.

We brought our boys here (10 & 5) for the tour and the panning for gold. The tour was short but fun and informative. Skylar was our guide and he was darling. They both had fun panning for gold. Skylar helped them both out to make sure they didn't lose any of their treasure. For the price (with AAA discount even!) this was well worth the time and money.

Liked that tour guide was knowledgeable and funny. Everyone was very polite, and they were the ones who offered us the "pass" for visiting. Did the gold panning, and it was ok for $7, but seemed a bit overpriced. The tour is not very long, but it is worth doing. We enjoyed it. It is the only spot we visited that the trolley did not pull up in front of--you have to walk about 100 yards on unpaved trail next to the road.

Definitely worth the time and fee, especially if you have kids with you. Our grandkids (9 and 11) really loved it. Educational and fun, they loved the tour and the gold panning.

Drove by on our way out of town and decided to stop and check it out. So glad we did. The price was cheap, even more of a discount if you are a AAA member, and you have the option of paying a little extra to pan for gold afterwards. The tour started within 5 minutes of our arrival, lasted about 1/2 hour, and was fun & informative. Robert, our guide, was young but extremely knowledgeable about the history of the mine. Our 2 children, ages 10 & 13, really enjoyed when Robert turned off the lights for a few seconds. They also liked the story about the blind donkeys! The panning for gold afterwards was also a big hit with our kids. All and all, it was an inexpensive, memorable hour of fun for our whole family. So glad we went!

We toured this mine 4 years ago and our son wanted to go through it again. Our guide was a high-school kid who did a good job with the tour. However, I find it a wee bit terrifying that one of the stopes we saw last visit had collapsed a few winters ago. After finding that out and a lights out experience, I was anxious to get the heck out of there.Though they use gold from California for the panning experience, it was super cool to see it done! My son loved the experience and we were happy to make it out of the mine alive. Not for the claustrophobic.

We went at the right time... were the only ones on the tour and our guide was fantastic. All the staff were friendly and fun. Lots of knowledge and interesting. And you got to wear a really fashionable hat.Fairly inexpensive too. Pay the extra and pan for gold... even with that it was less than $10 per person, and you were guaranteed to strike it.Would recommend for anyone.

Really neat! Enjoyed the tour and our tour guide, Kerry was awesome! Even our 3 year old had a great time. Pay the extra and pan for gold, it's a fun experience. And you will find real gold.

The Broken Boot Mine is not very big, but the tour guide did a good job and for the low cost, it was a worthwhile stop.

Kids liked the tour and was interesting. The gold panning at the end was fun for the kids as they all get a little gold.