Do NOT waste your time or money! I ordered a bag of their so called "Picker Gold Nugget Bag" and was immediately disappointed. I was charged $18 for "Priority Mail" shipping. I live 50 miles away and it took over a week to arrive! When it did, The box was crushed and the insides has started to spill out. When I finally got to panning this 'concentrate', I doubt I got more than $10 worth of gold from it. Next time I want to throw my money away I will just play the lottery. read more

I love gem grubbin. I LOVE it. If there's a grubbin spot, I will find it and visit for a big old bucket of gems. As far as grubbin spots go, this one is pretty good. I got myself the $60 bucket of gems, which was the five gallon size. Some places will make the bucket with sand, so finding the pretties is super easy. Not here! They mix them with regular old rocks from the property, which can make finding some of the stones a challenge, especially those ugly old sapphires. The water is so cold, and on a cold day, I had frozen fingers, but I really didn't mind. I did find some lovely stones, a really great variety actually, and the gal sorted them for me on a mat. I got a blue tiger's eye, lots of quartz, garnets, sapphires, emeralds and so much more. While we were there, a group came to do gold panning, and did end up finding some flakes. You could tell which person LOVED it, he wanted to get another bucket and everybody was like, NO, BRAD. Clearly, this kind of attraction really appeals to some people, myself included. read more

I was not sure what to expect from this place but it was a great experience We tried the consolidated mine in Dahlonega and we wanted to try another place. My boys were only interested to get gems so we decided to go there, the place is really cute, everything is outside which I like a lot. We purchased the 2.5 gallons bucket for 30$ which was a lot cheaper than the consolidated mine, the boys got 2 small bags full of gems. I would love to go back this summer to back finding gems in the creek, I think my boys will love it :-) read more

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Following the horrific visit to Babyland General and not one to let a visit to Cleveland, GA go to waste, Kathleen urged us to visit a nearby gem "mine" to engage in gem grubbing. As appetizing as this initially sounded, we needed some convincing. "It's FUN! You get a bucket of rocks and wash away the sand and mud to find precious stones!" So this activity combines two of my favorite activities: being outdoors and digging in the mud. Wait, I HATE those activities. But after the nightmarish surrealism of watching a fiberglass tree give birth to a doll whose facial characteristics indicate severe fetal alcohol syndrome then I possibly could have benefited from spending some time sorting stones. Besides, Kathleen was driving. She was practically giddy as we drove up the makeshift dirt road. "You'll LOVE this!" she Griswolded the entire 3 mile trip to the gemarium. Though I had been singing "Cleveland Rocks" early in the day, I hadn't realized she'd take me so literally. We arrived to a series of troughs through which cold water ran and a series of buckets filled with stones. We checked in at the "Gem Shack" for instructions. I was disappointed to find no tin roofs, rusted or no, atop said gem shack. To our disappointment, we discovered a charge per bucket of rocks. I say "disappointed" as our group thought perhaps this might be a free activity since in most instances, sorting through rocks would be. The brochure also remained suspiciously silent on any exchange of currency, despite my queries of "So, how does this place make any money anyway?" Question answered. We sprang for the $30 Superbucket and split its contents. We poured the rocks into sieves which we then placed into the cold, running water to remove any excess sand and dirt. We got to sorting. And surprisingly, it was enjoyable, almost zen-like. Rock. Toss. Rock. Toss. Shiny object. Keep. Rock. Toss. What is this? Fossilized dinosaur poop? Keep. Rock. Toss. We kept at this for some 15-20 minutes. Kathleen relived her childhood. James feared being kidnapped in the course of gem grubbing and being forced to build a transcontinental railroad like his Chinese forefathers. I thought it more likely, in keeping with the times, that he'd be kidnapped and forced to develop low-end computer applications on dubious mobile platforms. Wait; he does that now. In all, even after the complaining, we turned out to have a nice time. Seeing the kids around us go absolutely apeshit when finding something, well, I can see the draw for families. Oh and James and I scored some sweet gems which was outrageous. Truly, truly, TRULY outrageous. Even I, as an intown hipster douchebag, can't argue against the allure of gem grubbing. Four stars. read more

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Really neat experience panning for gold/gems. The staff is really helpful and they really know their stuff. They have some pretty impressive stories of stones people have found, some with values into the tens of thousands of dollars, and you only pay the price of the bucket you pan. They also have places to camp either in a tent or an RV, places to fish, or places to do your own panning at the creek rather than use their pre-scooped buckets. We did the buckets and had an awesome time. We found tons of emeralds, a couple of sapphires, a huge garnet, and a crazy amount of quartz crystals. It was a great time, and really worth it. We paid about $60 for the bucket but ended up with earrings and a ring worth several hundred dollars, so it was pretty cool. read more

We love this place, Joey and the staff are wonderful. Fell in love with Leisure a beautiful greeter dog. Staff was helpful, RV site was perfect and close. We grubbed at site 2 and it yielded the most awesome garnets, topaz, sapphires, yellow citrine, and omg the most beautiful clear crystals! Oh and i forgot the amethysts! We definitely got several hauls in the 2 days!. I love that it has something for everyone young and old (we are in the middle lol). We met some experienced locals who come for half days all the time and some 1 st timers like ourselves. We met no one with any complaint only compliments. GGG is now on our return list! I think we will be back in October. Hope our photos inspire you give GGG a try. And just so you know we are from Panama City Florida and are in ages 57 and 60 martin and Jennifer. Our friends also came in their RV, they are the reason we tried it. They go grubbin at GGG several times a year and sometimes bring their Grandbaby! read more

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I went up last summer and had a great time, found gold and handfuls of minerals. However, this year we came back and was disappointed in the trip. We camped overnight and took one of the last spots because it was closest to the restrooms. As soon as the sun went down, 2 or 3 dogs started barking. They did not stop until about 7am. Literally, nonstop barking. At first I thought someone left their dogs outside at the RV parking but when I went to investigate, found rundown kennels in unkept conditions next to a house. These dogs did not look healthy and it all pissed me off. How could someone that keeps a campground have dogs locked in cages and allow them to bark like they do every night? All I can say, if you want to camp. Pick spot 1-4 or else you will not get any sleep. read more

Was over an hour drive to this place and then found it overpriced and not worth the money. Got a $60 bucket for 2 kids and they were bored before halfway through and did not find much of anything other than quartz. Tons of things we could have done and had a lot more fun than blowing $60 on this. read more

The only thing that is good at this place is the setting we did the river experience, and you don't even get to use dirt out of the river. You have to use dirt from a pile they got somewhere else. We found no gold, but they did tell us that it is a possibility that you won't find any gold. They have dirt in bags also, they have gold in them but you have to pan for it in troughs. read more

after visiting Consolidated gold mine several times for the gold panning experience, I found a brochure for another place, we got there an hour before closing, bought $20 bucket and shared it with my friend, I found more gold than Consolidated, I was very happy with this experience, on the other hand my friend didn't care much about the gold, he loved the repeated motion of panning, he was panning until they came over and told us that they are leaving... hahah Next time, I suggested my friend about the 4 hour river panning experience, but he said he will get bored if he does it for 4 hours, we bought a bucket on a cold day, we had to crack an ice to get to the water to pan, we panned and panned, found a lot more gold than last time, when I checked the time it was close to 2 hours but didn't tell him, he just kept on panning, I got hungry so I told him if he is ready to leave yet? and he said he wants to do it a little longer, at this point it has been 4.5 hours... he ended up panning the same bucket for 5 hours... This coming Sunday I'm planning on going back there but doing the 4 hour river experience for $15 per person. I think he will enjoy it. If you want to strike it rich, this may not be the right place, although they are mining for gold on the property, if you like to have fun socializing and have fun panning this is an awesome place to come. If you have a child or a friend who is autistic, I'm sure they will have a great time panning. read more

I picked the $100 bucket and the $30 Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire bag. I had a blast. I came home with so many stones (and my back ached). It was so peaceful to sit by the lake area and gem grub. The staff helped me identify the stones. The only downside was the cost to make jewelry. It was about around $400 ish for a ring. My haul included: Rose Quartz, Garnet, Amethyst, Tigers Eye, Smokey Quartz, Quartz, Carnelian, Topaz, Adventurine, Obsidian, Flourite, Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire. I got a 1 huge chunk each of the following that I use now as displays in stores they cost like $25+ Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Adventurine, and Flourite. I will be making another trip. read more

Family friendly quiet campground with spacious sites. Easy check in process. Friendly and helpful staff. Shortly after arriving we discovered our travel trailer air conditioner was not working properly. The owner came out to check the site breaker box and every was working. He climbed up on the trailer roof in the July heat worked about 30-45 minutes and checked out the a/c unit. He discovered multiple wasp nest and proceed to remove them. When he finished, he refused payment. I was reminded that there are still good and kind people in this world. Thank you so much. We look forward to staying with you again. read more

First visit and it was a described. We decided on the creek experience and were not disappointed. Found lots of stones and had a great time. Will be taking the kids back. read more

This review is for the gem panning only. For $30, we got a "superbucket" that provided about an hours worth of entertainment plus a nice haul of raw gems for the kids. You pay for whatever size bucket you want at the shop, then walk down to the covered panning area. You dump some of the rocks into a panning tray that have holes on the bottom, then lower the tray into the stream of water to filter out some dirt and small rocks and begin your search for gems. They have a gem chart outside, but if you're not sure, just put it aside and the employees will check it for you afterwards. We found plenty of colorful raw gems including quartz, amethyst, tiger's eye, soda rock, plus two ruby's and a sapphire! You can walk away with your find or ask about their gem cutting and jewelry services. My only complaint is the place was busy on this occasion with only one employee present. Normally when you bring your rocks to be sorted, the employee will take their time to point out each valuable stone and provide some interesting fact like how blue topaz is created. This time, the valuable rocks were just pulled out the regular rocks tossed aside very quickly. There are plenty of dogs around, but they're all friendly. Clean restrooms. Nice place for a family friendly activity. read more

Beautiful area, clean, well kept. The staff are friendly and helpful. I go almost once a week for my unplug day and do the mining adventure at the creek. My kids love going. I have not camped there yet so I can't speak to the bathhouse, but I'll review again when I try those facilities. read more

Our first time here wasn't really too impressed was greeted by a teenage girl who thought my last name was my first name after we purchased our mining stuff we proceeded down to the creek there is no staff to give you tips or advice. Spent the first hour listening to someone firing off a rifle non stop. We have been to other mining operations, this one gives you the feel that your pretty much on your own. They hold your driver's license to ensure you return their equipment. I think this place would be perfect for first timers and new people. I expect that as we gain more experience as panners, that our expectations will go up more for each mining operation. read more

We had a wonderful time at this establishment. We paid for the full day at the creek and it was the best deal! We came home with an entire bag of Amethysts, citrine, quartz and garnet! The people were so nice and helpful. We will definitely return for more fun! read more

I am a"fluffy" lady and i spent all day there sitting and panning for gold and gems in the shaded areas near the shop.They put Dawn in the water to break the surface tension to pan for gold. I would have liked it if the gem water flowed a little but it was great fun. It was hot even the second week of June so bring a cooler with water and snacks. They have drinks and snacks in the shop but it was a short, long distance for fluffs like me. I plan to go back when it cools off and pan at the creek all day. The gems were in rocks unlike other places where they are in sand so you have to work hard for them in the lower priced buckets. But it was fun. Get the staff to tell you what some of your hoard is while you are sifting so you do not throw out the wrong rocks. Go to Cleveland and Dahlonega, Georgia and be a kid again! read more

After finishing up an enjoyable and somewhat freaky tour of Babyland General, we found ourselves checking out various brochures of local "attractions." When I saw the Gold n Gem pamphlet, I knew that's where we needed to head. It was a gorgeous day and we're in a recession, what could possibly be better than searching through river rocks in hopes of finding a gigantic gem? As my cohorts waringly boarded back in to the car, I was thrilled at the thought of recreating a typical weekend from my childhood. Between "adventure weekends" with my Dad and school trips to Dahlonega I had done my fair share of gem grubbin' and gold panning, and I was very much looking forward to recreating the memories. As we made our way down Gold Nugget Lane, the passengers became increasingly nervous. While the busted out shacks, kitschy signs, and unpaved road made them think "Deliverance" I was thrilled at the thought of truly letting my inner redneck shine. I live for these kinds of experiences. We parked, surveyed the pricing on the porch, and took in the country air. A gallon bucket of gems is $10, while a "super bucket" of 2.5 gallons is $30. Oh yeah, we Supersized. A friendly staff member gave us a VERY brief lesson on the art of grubbing and we set to work. For those you not in the know, this means a lot of time sifting through rocks dunked in seriously cold water. It takes patience and you've really got to appreciate the beauty in this quiet activity. Well, it would have been quiet if not for the seriously obnoxious goose in the pond behind us, but I digress. After about 20 minutes we all felt confident that we had picked all of the goodies out of our bucket and made our way back to the cabin for a full appraisal. While Ivan S. and James H. managed a few choice stones like emeralds, tigers eye, and a serious hunk of garnet, I was stuck with some smoky quartz and a few tiny flecks of what could maybe be a ruby. Sweet. The 4 stars may be nostalgia talking, but I had a truly great time here. It's unlike any experience you can get in the rest of the country (Georgia saw a bigger gold/gem rush than California) and it's a great way to spend a bit of time outdoors in a truly idyllic setting. Plus, you never know if you just might strike it rich. read more

I brought the dirt back to Hawaii for my kids to sort the $20 gold dirt gallon paint bucket. It was a rip off and way to upsell the $75 bucket. $20 didn't yield $20 back and was a waste of money. Apparently, the $20 isn't for beginners since the "gold" is hard to see. To me, there was none in it so that's why it was hard to see. The google directions were wrong. read more

This is the ONLY place to pan for gold or gems. Don't be fooled by the other knock off places. THIS is the place to go. They are so friendly and helpful. We found so many gems(rubies, emeralds, sapphires, moonstones...) So much fun too. beautiful scenery surrounding you while you pan. And it's only a short drive from the historic Helen, Ga :) read more

Let me preface this by saying that Gold'n Gem Grubbin' advertises as a tourist attraction first, and a campground second. This review is for the campground only, as we didn't participate in the gold mining activities. My fiance and I wanted to camp after a fun day at Oktoberfest in Helen, and this was the closest place with low-ish prices. The campground was a good size, there were nice bathrooms with running water (one of my requirements!), and we found the perfect little quaint spot to set up camp. ... And that's about it for the pro's. I am very disappointed that the lady my fiance talked to at first did not let us know that there is also an animal shelter with an outdoor dog kennel on the grounds... literally walking (and hearing!) distance from the camp sites. The part that did not bother me so much was that we occasionally had a canine visitor come hang out with us around the campfire. If you don't like dogs I imagine this could be extremely annoying, but it didn't bother me. HOWEVER... the unforgivable part was the constant (and I mean CONSTANT) barking and howling from the adoptable dogs in the outdoor kennel. Oh my gosh. By the time 4 a.m. rolled around, I was almost brought to tears by the frustration of not being able to sleep because of the relentless barking. We were trying to go technology-free for the night, but I buckled and whipped out my iPhone, turned on my Sleep Machine app, and turned it up as loud as it would possibly go. It helped enough for me to get a 3 hour bout of unsatisfying, tossing and turning, restless sleep. Needless to say I couldn't help but take a 4-hour-long coma nap in the comfort of my bed when I got home the next day. If you're expecting a nice peaceful night in the great outdoors, this is not the place for you. I just REALLY wish the lady would have told my fiance about the dogs barking before we arrived, especially since we were first-time customers. We even asked the lady if they often had repeat business due to the dogs barking, and she just kind of looked at us unapologetically and said, "Yeah well, we are a tourist attraction first and a campground second..." Another thing that ticked me off was that when it came time to pay, our bill for the night was $5 more than their website listed. When we asked about this, the lady looked at us with that same unapologetic glare and said, "Well the prices on the website are really, really old." Hello!? Update your website! We definitely will not be going back to the campgrounds at Gold'n Gem Grubbin'. I don't think I ever want to hear a dog bark again for the rest of my life. You've been warned! read more

I have been visiting this shop over the last decade with my folks and now I am bringing my own kids too! I have always loved the atmosphere, the people-- until today. We walked in to the shop and the shop girl (skinny girl with blonde hair) was just sitting at the counter with her headphones in listening to music. She had absolutely no regard for us as we stood there hoping to spend some money on gold buckets. Let's just say, when she finally noticed we had entered she plainly and nonchalantly greeted us. Wow! Talk about customer service! Not! I was extremely disappointed and did not spend anywhere near the amount of money I was planning on! Oh well. THEIR LOSS!! I am not the type that normally leaves reviews but I feel as though gold n gem grubbing definitely deserves this negative review and ultimately my loss of business. read more

I first visited this mine back in 2008 and you could go home with a mother load of gems unless the girl behind the counter stole your best stones like she did my dad. She snatched his best from his find pile he took into the office and put it down on the floor (watch her through the mirrors) if you are dumb enough to take your finds into the office. Emeralds, rubies, garnets, amethysts, paridot, sapphire, etc. In 2008 the pay off was lugging 5 gallon buckets to the river and sifting LARGES. We just got back 4/2015 and there is SLIM PICKENS in that mine now. Citrine is plentiful if that's what you're after. In 2008 my Dad and I both had Walmart sized finds bags but this year they fit into my pocket. While it is fun for the family and the excitement of and good find is always a good thing this mine appears to have panned out now. I miss both Becky from the show that made them famous and the finds that used to be here. This trip was all smalls (except for the boulders in the river piles). 3 washed out sapphires, a dozen garnets and a couple of golden rutiles. All-in-all it is cheaper than most family attractions ($50 for 2 all day 9-5 on the creek bank). read more

We are planning a trip to this area in the fall so, to see what quality the gold and gems were in the area, we ordered a bag of gold concentrate and a bag of gem concentrate from Gold 'N Gem Grubbin. According to the information we received both concentrates were sent on the same day but in different packages. We received the gold concentrate but did not receive the gem concentrate. We contacted the company and we were told they would look into it. In the meantime we panned out the gold concentrate and were severely disappointed by the quantity of the gold that was found. After a week of not hearing from them, we called the company to see what they found out and we were told that they were unable to track the shipment because it was sent under the same tracking number as the gold concentrate. However, they would look into it some more and call us back. That never happened. After another week we sent them an email to ask about our shipment and they responded that they would send us another bag of gem concentrate and if we received the original bag we could send it back. We told them that if we did receive the original shipment we would call them and pay for the second shipment. The second bag gem concentrate they sent was received about 5 days after it was shipped. Two days later we received the original shipment. We contacted the company to tell them we had received it and we were willing to pay for the shipment but we wanted them to pay half of the shipping cost, since it was costing us more than we had originally planned on spending. We then received a phone call telling us that they would not be splitting the cost of the shipping and if we wanted we could return the original bag. We feel that, since we were willing to pay for a bag of concentrate we did not order, the least they could have done was share the cost of shipping. Because of this Gold 'N Gem Grubbin has been taken off of our list of stops while in the area. read more

This place was amazing! We had such a blast thank you so much to Mr. Joey and his whole staff! The girls in the office were such a help and very informative on any question that we had. Thank you so much to Savannah and Alexis, they were able to help us classify all of our gems! YOU GIRLS "ROCK"!!!!!! thanks again to everyone for a great weekend! -Daniel read more

Was a super great experience. It would be advisable to read up on panning for gold techniques as the flippant one minute demo was so vague and easy to miss the key points, and then you would loose the gold you should have found. I was so fortunate to be next to a seasoned gold veteran from Indiana. A super great old timer who comes to GA to gold pan. He said this place, even with the cost is better than free panning the rivers. Its a bit pricey but i found gold and my kids found amazing gems!!! They loved it and its such a quaint idyllic place. Tons of nature and an experience i wont forget. Dont go to Dukes or the other tourist traps... I dug the grubbin' read more

This was the worst service my husband & I have ever had...we ordered the motherload which they advertise that you will receive a reasonable amount off gold from that choice of a bucket! Well we got less then n end of a pencil eraser (which is nothing,if u are truely a gold panner) for $215...they refuses to make it right in any manner! The immaturity from the owner Brian Devan himself,hung up on me & said he didn't believe me! Poor customer service..It took them 4wks just to even get back to me&then I was denied the common curtousy that any customer should have.They don't even deserve to have or own a buisness.You would think that customer service would be there top priority..But in my case there was not! So to all you panners&gold hunters..DO NOT order from this company they are very,very terriable...& screw you completly over..Its not worth your money!!! read more