I took my kids to Big Thunder for the mine tour and to pan for gold. I wish I knew the name of our mine tour guide so I could tell you to avoid him - he was a big loudmouth who had no interesting or useful information and who was mean and snarky to my kids. I can't believe I paid $22 for the privilege of being tortured by this guy for an hour. His final trick was to refuse to let us back in the building until he was done bloviating. There's only one way in. I was ready to bolt through the creek to get away. The gold panning is eh. The kids found a few tiny flakes of gold. There's no time limit, so they panned through the tailings for a while. That was a win, basically because rocks plus water plus kids on a hot day is pretty great. Rattlesnake Randy was the guy who taught them to pan, only he was way more interested in showing off for the adults and was also snarky to my kids. read more

I was skeptical, but it was totally worth the price of admission. Trenton was a great guide and had a lot of knowledge about gold mining and local history. It was a very authentic experience and was fun finding gold. You can work at your own pace and that was really nice. I highly recommend the mine tour too, very interesting insight into how hard mining life really was. Big Thunder experience was one of the highlights of our trip to the Black Hills. read more

We were told at the visitors center there there was "real" panning for gold on site. We went in and asked. The lady began telling because I didn't know that if we wanted real panning it's an all day trip that had to be scheduled a week or more in advance. She showed me the one line in the bottom of her flier that mentioned it. She then kept yelling at me and walked me out to yell at me In front of the man who designed the website. In the meantime she told me that out front was real panning for gold. I hadn't looked on the way in. I paid for what was supposed to be real panning and was given four pans that had one or two flakes of gold it in. We got a quick lesson and the went to the troughs to start fake panning- which I specifically said we didn't want to do. Then one of the staff began making my daughter for her technique. It was a very unpleasant experience. read more

This was a nice place to visit. We took a tour of the gold mine and learned about the history of the area. The staff here have a sense of humor and make the tour entertaining and educational. read more

We had a lot of fun! We started by paying for our mine tour and gold panning and the man at the check out was helpful and went out of his way to save us some money. We had 15 minutes to kill before our tour and shopped in their cute, decently price gift shop. The mine tour could have been really good and interesting, but our guide was really bad (the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars). I would have rather read signs than listen to her voice any longer. But she meant well and was friendly. After we went to the water tables to pan. They give you a preloaded pan. I'm assume by it has a few flakes in it already. They give a lesson in how to pan and then go to the water tables and try to get them out. At the end of your first attempt almost all of the dirt, and probably most of the gold has washed out of your pan to the bottom of the water table. Then you can scoop more dirt/gold from the bottom of the water table and keep trying for your dumped gold and the gold of all those before you. The guide comes around to help and offer advice. We loved this part! Our kids, age 8-12, had a blast and were successful enough to want to do it for over an hour. They give you tiny glass vials to take your gold flakes home in - they make a nice little souvenir. They also let you keep any of the rocks in the water table and there were some nice ones. If it's your first time I would do the mine tour and hope for a better guide. If we come back again I would just do the gold panning. read more

Great mine tour! You actually get to go into the mine shaft (you don't everywhere around here) and it goes back pretty far. Interesting and informative tour of the mine and then there is a huge room with large mining eqpt. which is explaned and it concludes with a gold panning demonstration. The tour is more interactive than some. Visit their website for some discount cupons, you can just show your phone screen to get it. read more

I really didn't know what to expect but this was a great surprise. First, we had Alana as our tour guide. She was a walking, talking history book! Such great info!! So impressed with her knowledge (we tipped her $20). The mine was cool but I was really surprised to learn about all the equipment in the building outside of the mine especially the locked crapper!!! LOL! Eye opening and fascinating. Panning in the troughs for gold flakes was fun. I got bored but my husband and 8 yr old daughter went at it for over an hour! read more

If you are looking for a real gold panning experience then this is your stop. We did the half day mining experience. Next time we are in town we will do it again. I only offer reviews when very bad and very good, I am happy to say this one is very good. Big Thunder Gold Mine and Rattlesnake Randy offer an excellent mining opportunity for the whole family. If you are close by, its worth the drive. read more

Our tour guide was really laid back and funny, the tour was about an hour. She was full of fun facts and the tour was surprisingly educational and fun. Hugely touristy, but still great tour. We didn't pan for gold. read more

Great and funny tour followed by and an hour of panning. An hour was just enough to keep the kids entertained. They each found a half dozen little pieces plus some ruby garnets. You get one pan of dirt but there is plenty in the troughs to keep going. read more

We didn't get to do they tour but we did pan for gold and rocks while we were there. That was so much fun! My husband and I stood in the rain for over an hour searching for gold! we did bring home a few flakes!! One of the girls showed us what to do the first round and then they let you go on your own, unless you need them. I would definitely return! read more

We visited the mine today for a new experience. Our guide Jennifer took us down into the mine and gave us an extremely informative and fun tour. It gave you a good idea of how miners felt way back when. She also took extra effort to get the children along on the tour actively involved. You can pay a little extra to pan some gold if you would like. There is a variety of souvenirs in a couple of different shops, and also a country store where you can stop for a meal. I can't speak for the food, but the overall experience was a fun one, and definitely great for families with kids 6 years and up. read more

We had a great time touring the mine and panning for gold. Our tour guide Elena was very knowledgeable about the mine and made it fun. She got our 7 year old daughter really involved with the tour. Afterwards we were taught how to pan for gold and although we didn't find any, fun was had by all. Recommend for sure if visiting Mt Rushmore! read more

We visited late June 2013 and had amazing time. The gift shop is filled with some very cool mining memorabilia (look for the case of dynamite) and of course, lots of necessary tchotchkes for tourist. We had a tour with Chris, a middle school science teacher. A total of eight people on our tour - two middle school kids each with grandparents and us making it a nice intimate tour. Chris, of course gave the kids a hard time but was very much into teaching. He was amazing to ask questions and talk with. In fact, he caught on to our novice geology bugs and gave us a tip (with warnings) where to go exploring. Highly recommended. read more

Max was our tour guide was really good very informative the whole exhibit is very handicapped friendly the panning for gold is really cool once-in-a-lifetime thing yes you'll be fine if you flexible come on people it's gold after all if you find something significant everybody would be doing it get real had a ball doing the whole time here read more

Great tour for a great price. The tour guide Jerret was absolutely amazing especially with our three year old daughter. It was very kid friendly and the tour was informative and engaging. I would recommend to any family looking for a unique experience. read more

Great tour, friendly staff and they were so helpful when we were panning for gold. Super happy with our experience.

We had a great time exploring the mineshaft and panning for gold today. It was nice to see original equipment that aided in understanding the history of Big Thunder. Our tour guide went above & beyond to help us find gold. My kids (7 & 8) had a lot of fun! I highly recommend doing this if you're in the area. :) read more

Absolutely the best tour ever! I bought the half day claim tour for my family, two elementary age girls and my wife and I. We met early at the mine for a quick orientation and to meet our guide, Rattlesnake Randy. Than it was off to the claim, outside of town and well away from everything. We hiked a good half mile to the claim from our parking spot, what a beautiful hike. Along the way, Randy dazzled us with his depth and breadth of knowledge of local mining, it's history and the techniques. Naturally we had to carry our gear, which is easily handled, even by our girls. On the claim, we learned exactly what goes into getting that beautiful metal. I did most of the digging and classifying, the girls scrubbed the bigger rocks and helped my wife with slucing. It was work, but so beautiful and fun. In the end, we walked away with some gold, valued at....priceless, only because we made much more than money, we made a new friend in Randy, and great family memories. I would recommend the claim tour to anyone, panning is great, but the claim tour is unbelievable! It's a once in a lifetime excursion. When you go, ask for Randy, he's the best! I'm definitely coming back, I can say for sure that my family and I have the fever now....Gold Fever that is. read more

This is a must for all ages. Not the most thrilling part of the trip to Mount Rushmore, but still fun. All ages can pan for gold, at a cost of course, however there were more adults doing it then children. For a extra cost you can have the gold you find put into a necklace, which I now wish I had done since I have a vial of water with gold fragments on the bottom of it just sitting on display. The time was fun and I could have done it for hours as some adults were doing since they were there when we pulled up and were still there after we were done. The tour guide was good, involved the children which was nice but the tour was not terribly interesting, although I have a feeling mining isn't all that interesting to me. I say if you have a hour or too to kill go for it, never know you may just find a some gold! read more

I loved this place and I would recommend it for something to do, and if your going to do it, I definetly recommend TRENTON... He's the best tour guide you could have and he's really good with children. read more

Jessie was a very knowledgeable guide. Plus, Rattlesnake was very helpful when panning for gold. I would recommend this place to everyone.

we went here on April 29th 2012 and when we walked in there was one guy who was busy putting together a display. he looks up i say hi and he looks back down at his work... mmm ok. so we look around in the typical tourist trap store that has your typical made in china tourist crap and another guy employee comes in. He starts helping guy number 1 put together the floor display while stuffing his face with his sandwich. Neither showed any interest in us and the next tour was to start in 5 min and we were the only ones there. One would think you would be greeted with "hi folks are you here for the mine tour?" Since they displayed so little interest in us or our money we just left and went to jewel cave instead. read more

Lots of fun for kids. Interesting for adults. Make sure to do the tour. Panning for gold novel, but tour is the highlight.

We came here from Wisconsin for the gold mining experience to slues some gold on the half day adventure and we were told they needed 24 hour notice... It is not in the brochure saying that...they would not accommodate us for any other tour...I recommend NOT wasting your time and money here... Huge disappointment and they were rude about it to boot!!! read more

We bought the groupon for the claim panning, and we both did not realize what this fully entailed. We met at the mine in Keystone, and then followed him in our own vehicle about 5 miles away to a trailhead. We then hiked half a mile to the claim site. (The hike included going over boulders etc.) Once we got to the claim site, we filled buckets with dirt we shoveled ourselves. We then filled another bucket with water, and put a sifter on top of this bucket. We dumped the dirt onto the sifter, ran water over it, and then sifted the rocks etc. out. Then we ran the sediment through a device in the creek. (Yup, one of us sat in the creek to do this) It was a lot more physically demanding then we had thought. The guide was very nice and a lot of fun. However, after 4 hours of digging and sifting and sweating, we only found 5 small flecks of gold. It was an interesting experience, but one I do not need to repeat. read more

This was probably the biggest let down of our vacation. The prices were crazy for what you actually got. After we paid we were waiting with our tour to start I asked the tour guide how much gold was mined here. She said 10 ounces over 35 years. The tour was short and the "gold mine" wasn't much to write home about. The kids panned for gold, but they were just packing in as many people as they could. It was hard to find help and was a big let down. Save your money and drive to Deadwood for a mine that was worth going to. read more