sterling hill mining museum

Visit the mines and feel what it was like to work below ground. Many treasures in the gift shop as well. Learn about minerals and gems and the history of zinc mining in Ogdensburg and Franklin, NJ

I wasn't expecting much from the mine tour and was really impressed with the experience. The two hour tour goes through the mineral museum, mine and fluorescent rock room. I would have liked more time in the fluorescent rock room. Other than that, my only other complaint is that our tour group had close to 150 people. We split up into smaller groups to enter the mine, but even with the small group it was hard at times to hear the tour guide, see the sites, etc.

Went on the tour, it was about 2 hours long including a trip through the museum and gem/rock displays. The museum was small but impressive. The gem/rock collection was first rate. The tour was fun and our tour guide, Ray, was entertaining as well as informative. Ray shared a good amount of history including the mines impact on the local economy. Our group was ages 6 to 65 and everyone enjoyed the day.We had intended to "mine" as a family but did not find out that the minimum age to do so was 7 until we got there. That would have been good for them to tell us when we called and said we had kids. Fortunately they had a "rock hunt" area for 6 and under which was age appropriate and engaging.If hungry, try a pastie. This is definitely not a pastry, it is what the miners used to eat. Not a culinary delight but not bad and it will give a feel for the life they lead.

This place is really awesome. It was an active mine and you can actually go in the mine on a tour. The tours are only at 10 am and 1 pm when we went in Oct. 2014, so check the time. Our group was also quite large. I wish they had more time slots available. The exciting thing for our group is the incredible phosphorescent rocks that glow stunning colors in black light. It is pretty chilly in the mine, so definitely bring a sweatshirt. The first part of our tour included a scavenger hunt in the mine's exhibition hall. This was very fun for children and adults alike. We had to find the real gold and fake gold for example. We all had a lot of fun with this section and the collection of actual mine equipment and things that belonged to the miners is impressive and interesting.Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, my only frustration was that the tour was over 2 hours long. It is not a long walk, so it felt like we were being delayed by groups ahead of us and that our guide was filling in to take up time. I love museums, but after 2 hours, everyone in my group wanted out. I think it would be much more fun and that everything could be covered thoroughly in 1 hour.My son was very excited about breaking up rocks with a hammer to discover gem. They told us in advance we needed a hammer and safety glasses, so we brought both. When we got there they informed us we could not use a claw hammer so we had to use theirs and put a deposit down. My son was so tired after the tour we decided to skip this altogether although I think he would have really enjoyed breaking things up!

Nice to see an old working mine re- purposed for education. My 8 year old is really into rocks these days so we made a weekend trip out of visiting this mine and the Franklin museum too. The tour guide was great, and we were lucky to have an actual former miner in our tour group who was visiting after being retired for many years. There are great displays, and the storytelling and information presented made it interesting for the adults and kids. The fluorescent cave is really the highlight and being able to take home a keepsake with the cost of admission was a nice touch!

Toured the mine and museum. Great tour. Very informative. Definitely worth the admission. It's a piece of American history and I was happy to walk through the mine. The tour guide did a wonderful job giving me the full scope of what a working mine would have been like.

This is a terrific attraction. Worth every penny of the $11. Tour guide Ray really brought to life the mining industry of the area over the centuries. Your tour starts where the miners started and ended their day in the locker room. Kids and adults are captivated. You will learn the history of this unique zinc mine and how the process of mining devloped since 1640 when the dutch first found the land. Ray mixes in science, economics, comedy, and history. Well worth 2+ hours of the day. An extra bonus is the beautiful drive. After you leave route 80 you wind through the hills of NW NJ.

It's the largest florescent cave in the world. Went with my niece and nephew and my parents on my day off. Had a great time. Kids loved the florescent cave and having pick out their own rock to take home.It was quite nice to have the kids find things in the museum. It was a game which made it fun and they learned from it. Note: there isn't any real food except a small 3.5" pizza. its good if you bring your own sandwich, like my sister, it was good idea.

I have lived in the area my whole life and never did this tour before. Very neat experience. It's a 2 hour tour with demonstrations. The fluorescence rooms are amazingly brilliant and the museum is full of authentic artifacts. No worries about claustrophobia or being taken down in a caged-in man slip like some other mines. Not for families who have children that can't stand still or can't be quiet at appropriate times. The mine echo's so the experience is ruined for everyone by one child who is whining or crying the whole time. You will need to be able to walk and take stairs, but there are frequent stops where you are standing still and there are some benches to sit during the short demonstrations.

Just a great day with the family. I went with wife and nearly 5 year old. We all had a blast. The tour was informative and very fun. I recommend going on weekend because a miner-Doug- from the mine (circa 1980's) helps with the tour on weekends. Amazing to hear from someone who was there. Recommend spending the 5 for a bag of gems for the kids to pan. Made my daughters day

I brought three boys age 7 and one girl age 10 - and they were in awe from the moment we got out of the car! We took the tour and did the sluicing... Sharing two buckets between 4 kids for the sluicing and everyone STILL had a ton of gems to add their already full bags of rocks they bought from the gift store! It took us 2 1/2 hours to get home in traffic. They didn't even notice as they were holding up the rocks they found, comparing, and trading for the entire trip! Awesome experience. Thank you Sterling Hill for a great time!!

Just got back from visiting this museum today. A very nice day out. On a hot and humid day, the chilly air underground was a welcome relief! Our guide's name was Liz and she was extremely informative, friendly and clearly loves her job. This place is excellent for all ages.....some of the fluorescence displays drew loud ooooohs and aaaaahs from the many children present!In short, highly recommended for the whole family.

This is great for adults but please do yourself a favor and don't bring kids under probably 10 here. We could not find any information for the tour and it was going to be a real hot day so we figured we would give it a go. My kids are 3, 5 and 7 and I thought bringing them to a "cave" would be a great idea. Unfortunately I had no idea what I was walking into. The tour is 2 hours. I was figuring maybe an hour so I was not ready for that. They allow food and drink on the tour which I was not aware of and it would have made the tour so much easier to manage with the boys if I had brought water and snacks. I saw the sign allowing food about 5min before the tour started so I thought to myself, great, I will go to the snack bar and grab a couple things. Unfortunately it was closed prior to the tour. The first 45 minutes or so of the tour is in the museum which houses lots of mineral/stone/mining gear/ etc. The room itself is pretty kid friendly but they start it off immediately with someone talking about everything which is great for adults but my kids immediately started to get fidgety. They were let into this big room and were told to immediately stand still and be quiet. Not such an easy thing for a 3 and 5 yr old. When I saw my boys were starting to distract the adults I moved them not even 10ft away from the group to distract them with some "cool rocks" and was promptly corrected by the tour guide and asked to come back. I was trying to keep the tour pleasant for others and was in view of everyone and in a space we were allowed to walk freely later. I just felt the tour guide was not very young child friendly. After the speech we did a "scavenger hunt" in the museum which distracted my boys for about 2 seconds. Then we walked around looking at everything. The kids liked to be able to touch the rocks but that lost its magic after 5min. The glow room was a big hit but again maybe kept their attention for 3 minutes. There was about 10 minutes at the end where my boys were ready to move on but nothing was happening yet so I just tried to keep them interested in the displays. Then the tour guide spoke for another 10 min or so in which I could not pay attention because again I was trying to keep my kids from distracting others. I saw other parents doing the same, some even breaking out the snacks already to keep the kids quiet. In this room there is nowhere to sit when the guides are talking. So the first 40-45min is walking/standing. Next we went into the mine...well actually we stood outside the mine for another 5 minutes in the 90 degree sun while the guide spoke at which point my kids dug in the dirt and I happily let them because it kept them from complaining. Next we moved into the mine. The kids were pretty excited. That excitement lasted about 2 minutes and then I realized a lot of this tour was not going to work for my kids. Walk along the shaft, stop and listen for 10min, walk a couple feet more then stop again and listen for 10min. They had some interactive displays but the talking far outweighed the interesting stuff for a kid. They did have a period where they let you sit in a room while the guide talks and it would have been a great time for a snack but alas, I had no food or drinks with me (still kicking myself for not finding out that bit of info before leaving home). Then on to more walking, standing and talking. My kids each asked me about 10 times when it was going to end. It had some highlights and hopefully my kids will remember those (the dynamite display, the glowing rocks we got to keep, the glow room) but in all there is just too much talking that the kids won’t understand to make this a truly fun activity for them. I saw kids ranging in all ages and I would say that every child under 10 was complaining at times and the poor parents were working really hard to keep them quiet and still while the guide was talking. At one point the guide had to stop and ask if the kids could quiet down. Thankfully my kids were very good but I know they were seriously restraining themselves. I think they should consider adult only tours as those without kids were probably getting annoyed. In all I think the tour is amazing for adults but for children under 10 I would seriously reconsider unless you don't mind missing half of the info while trying to manage your children.

A really good and educational tour. There were a lot of people the day we went but they handled the number well, by having three tour guides each with their own group.There is a sluicing activity which was a great value since you end up with a lot of gems and fossils.

My wife, 2 girls, and a friend visited the Sterling Mine after my daughter gushed about it on a field trip. We had a 1 o'clock tour scheduled and while we waited ate lunch in the small cafeteria. I love that we were able to bring in our own food. The staff here are so nice and accommodating. One worker noticed my height, 6'4",and went in a search of a helmet to save me a nice headache. Luckily I had it on as I whacked my head twice. :) For a family of "5"it was less than $50. The tour started by taking us to the museum for 20 minutes. This was very cool and the staff answered all questions happily. The only bad thing was the museum got very warm. It was almost 80 degrees and our tour had 83 people. Lots to see and do. Then we broke into 3 groups. We had Kat, a wonderful and very knowledgeable young lady. All the history is just amazing. The mine is chilly, 56 degrees, but not too bad. I brought a sweatshirt but didn't put it on. I learned so many things and the most important is that I never want to be a miner. :) The glowing rocks are awesome. I may even go and buy a new blacklight. Haven't had one of those since college. The gift shop was very reasonably priced. We also did the water sluice which was very cool and they give you lots of treasures. I can't say enough good things about this place. We will be back next summer. Keep up the great work. I wish all places were as family friendly, economical, and fun as the Sterling Mine.