Daughter had loads of fun and the cheapest bucket produced a lot of gems. Would have cost $100 elsewhere to buy them all individually. As a previous review stated, the young male with stringy blonde hair was a piece of work. He was sweeping when we came in to an empty area. He never acknowledged us. He finally stopped sweeping and angrily (almost stomping his feet) walked past me with a scowl on his face never acknowledging our presence. He slammed open the door, walked outside and in through another door after slamming it open, and then stood at the register staring at me with a scowl. He barked how much the buckets cost and that was all he said. When my daughter chose a bucket he grabbed one and slammed it on the counter. If my daughter wasn't with me I'd have brought this kid down back down to earth real quick. No reason to treat customers like they're impeding on your day. Management needs to get this little weasel in check. All in all it was fun and worth the money, minus the poopy pants employee. read more

Went here with my family. My 6 year old niece loved it. They offer several sizes of buckets. The price range is between $25 to $1000. You take your bucket to a water troth & shovel the dirt into a pan then wash away the dirt & find the gems. Once your bucket is empty you take your gems inside the shop & they use a chart to sort your gems and tell you what each stone is. They can make a piece of jewelry with your stones, starting price is $50. read more

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Such a fun experience especially for children! Our daughter had the best time here. All staff were friendly and went over everything. Sandy went above and beyond explaining all the gems we had. Overall wonderful experience! read more

I took my two year old and I will say that is too young to do this and enjoy it. She just wanted to run around. My husband and I had fun though. It's a little overpriced, but that is expected for anywhere in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg. read more

Pigeon Forge Gem Mine - Jewelry Near Me - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

This place was such a joke. U could tell they die the Crystal's here and the prices were absolutely rediculous!

Such a great time, staff super friendly. Made you feel family! Found lots of neat gem stones read more

Pigeon Forge Gem Mine - Such a fun time mining! - Jewelry Near Me - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

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The guy who greeted us was very friendly and helpful. We got a $35 bucket which was the cheapest option available at the time. We chose the Ruby/Sapphire bucket and it was packed with gems/minerals. They had options that included fossils and larger crystals for more $. Our daughter had a great time digging them out and honestly we did as well. Afterward we got to go next door where they tell you what all you found and give you an option to have them crafted into jewelry. The shop is pretty cool with so many fossils, rocks, gems, crystals and even meteorites. While sifting for gems we got a token where you take it upstairs to the arcade and got like 5 or 6 tokens to play games at the arcade which was VERY small and honestly kind of scary/grungy but none the less we played a few games. The general store right there under the arcade literally has so much stuff in it. You could tell a lot of stuff was out dated and old. They did have some pretty cool stuff but there was just entirely too much random stuff to go through so we just left. But back to the main point, the gem digging experience was fun and interesting, we honestly can't wait to come back and get a bigger bucket. read more

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We are in East TN and try to make a stop by at least once a year to get our rock nerd on. Today's visit Kim told us what stones we found, made suggestions for the perfect stone to get cut for my perfect future 15th anniversary present because I want us to get new rings. She was helpful, silly with us, professional and everything amazing we wish ALL people in every customer service position we come across daily would be. Our bucket was fun to do and full of treasures to us. Highly recommend the treasure buckets. Fossils, gemstones, a huge geode! Thanks for my early birthday presents! read more

I have bought the big size gem buckets here and every time I am going through my bucket, there are people there that act like they are mining but come over to harass/inquire/milk/beg/request/stalk/con my gem items. It is to the point where I am willing to bet that people that work there frame you if you buy a high dollar bucket and call people to come over to see if they can con you out of your most expensive good quality stuff in the buckets because they prey on your Rubies, Emeralds and even some of the Megalodon shark teeth, this people are hoping that you don't know anything about mining so they can con you out of your gem stones. The workers that sort the stones out are also quick to rip you off; when you have jewelry made they like to pick the best quality stone and then they keep it and make your jewelry out of poor quality stones and since they don't send you the left over pieces of the gem that they didn't use, you will never know the truth. The place is a rip off. read more

Paulette was extremely rude and yelled at our entire party for wanting to check out with the associate who helped us. She threatened to get the general manager when we didn't respond to "missy". John, the manager wasn't much better and just stood there without saying much. Paulette stared at us the remainder of the time we were in the shop and kept trying to speak over us when we were talking to the manager. I'm not sure why she was so bothered by our party in particular, as there were other customers in the store checking out with other cashiers. This was a terrible experience. Please do not give this establishment your business. read more

Super fun super cool setup for the kids. Generally good prices. Disappointed with jewelry everything else was awesome though

This place stunk. Definitely no gem mine. Paid $65 for a bucket of sand with some stones thrown in. The kids (6 of them) went through the bucket in 10 minutes. Then you go inside to see the "assayer". This is where the scam really begins. They tell you what stones you found and try to convince you make it some jewelry. Don't do this!!! Way too expensive for what you get. The employees were nice and didn't pressure us. After 30 minutes we were walking out with kids asking, "That's it?" Unfortunately, yep. read more

Pros: - The activity is simple yet enjoyable. Yes, it's just scooping treasure-laden sand from a bucket and cleaning the dirt off to reveal said treasure. It's definitely fun for a young kid (4-7 years old). Digging, discovering, and collecting stuff - what's not good about that? - You might think that a bucket of dirt with some rocks and fossils should not cost a minimum of $25, but for the fun of "discovery" and getting to keep the loot, it's actually not a bad deal. I wouldn't suggest getting the more expensive buckets. I mean, how many rocks and fossils does one need? Cons: - Watch out for the up-selling when you get your gems assayed. I get that they have to do that to make more profit, but still... - The assayer who looked at our stones and fossils didn't seem to enjoy doing it. It seemed as though it was a bother to do it. Some better customer service would be more appreciated. - The activity itself doesn't take up a lot of time, unfortunately. Give about 30-45 minutes for this stop. Overall: A novel, but quick, activity for the young ones. read more

We had a really great time mining for gems. We purchased the sapphire/emerald/ruby bucket. Don't remember the price but we found that we had at least 15 carats of emeralds alone when we took our 'loot' to the store next door. We also had several carats of sapphires, rubies, garnets, and several other interesting stones. It was a good use of roughly an hour. We would definitely go back next visit. Tip: bring a couple paper towels to help keep the stones from getting any other purchases wet. read more

It's a fun activity for kids, but it's really just a clever jewelry store. All the buckets are predetermined, so there's not much mystery to it. It's not so much of "what will I find" as "what did they give me?". As for the jewelry up sell... It's a very expensive souvenir. Getting jewelry made at a tourist destination is the equivalent of paying $25 for an airbrushed T-shirt. But, at least (hopefully) you'll still have the necklace 20 years later. I paid $100 for a pendant necklace that I could have gotten for $30 on Overstock.com, but not surprising. My only annoyance was I didn't get the pleasure of watching them make it. They take your stone and tell you when your order will be ready for pick up. I wouldn't have as much buyer remorse if I could have actually SEEN the process. If I had a "do over", I would have just had gems cut and not have them actually set into jewelry. For my $100, I could have had maybe 3-4 gems cut. read more

Our son loved it and loved "digging in the dirt". The cheapest option is $30.00 which I found overpriced- however it's vacation and you're in the middle of a tourist trap. In the long run it was the same price we would've paid for anything else in the area. read more

Awesome place! Both my sons loved it and the staff were extremely nice. It was my oldest sons birthday and they gave a complimentary bucket to mine and four free tickets to see the bears next door. We will definitely return in the future. Awesome place for kids. read more

Pigeon Forge Gem Mine - Jewelry Near Me - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

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Nope. So. Much. Nope. The main lady hustling around the store was barking at people more or less to get out of her way. The crystal specimens were terrible and way overpriced. The mining/panning activity was overpriced for the stones received. The longer I'm here the more I think Pigeon Forge is a rip off all together. read more

This place had always been my have to go do thing while we went to pigeon forge. I absolutely loved this place even though it was a running joke in our family about the price you paid for a bucket of dirt. This recent trip was an especially difficult time for me as my mother had passed suddenly the week before and my husband was taking me to get away for a couple of days. long story short we purchased our "bucket of dirt" and took our gems to be assessed. I carefully picked out pieces to have cut and made into jewelry For obvious reasons. They lady who assessed our goods was very nice and had told me that it would take six to eight weeks before I would receive them. We no sooner had gotten home and the next day here comes my delivery. Low and behold were my "chosen" items. Mind you it had been three days since order was placed. I was of course upset because I knew then that my careful choices were just tossed out the window. Not only did they not cut my choices from my hand picked gems but had even sent only half of the order right. I was heart broken that my little favorite place had just juked me. Never ever again will I go there and spend another dime on a "bucket of dirt". ELR read more

Our whole family (kids are 2 & 4) really enjoyed "mining" for gems. In fact we went twice in 2 days! After collecting our rocks and fossils they tell you about each rock for free which was equally interesting. Super fun and we will definitely go again next visit! Plus it's a lot larger and looks more fun than the mine in the strip Gatlinburg. read more

Pigeon Forge Gem Mine - Jewelry Near Me - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Wayyyyyyyyy to expensive! I think it might have been the owner but he was so rude!!!!!! I wish I would've gotten his name! I do not recommend!!! read more

This is a fun trip for the whole family, sure it's not the cheapest thing around, but you can easily spend a good hour or two here with the family and usually walk away with a good ring or a nice pair of earrings in the process. You might luck up and get a really good quality gem too, the most important thing though is that you're spending a lot of time with your family looking for treasures. It's fun and not expensive and more importantly, your whole family can enjoy it, even the little ones. read more

This is a great experience. I've wanted to do this since I was a little kid. I would spend the extra dollars to get a big bucket and find some really rare items. We bought a kit to take home and do some gem hunting in our local rivers in Michigan. Good for kids and adults alike. read more

Kids had a great time! We did the baby bear bucket, it was more then enough to get their fill of "mining". No pressure and we didn't do the assyers. read more

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Very disappointed in the service. The kids and I were excited to go gem mining today and we spent 40 min waiting to have some questions answered about the cutting process. The first person was vague about how it worked and the second lady was rude and acted like she didn't have time and in the middle of talking she just walked away. The kids and I wanted to do this activity but I am leaving a very disappointed lost customer due to the lack of service. read more

We did this and enjoyed it. Yes the buckets are seeded. No, it doesn't take a ton of time to mine the dirt. But, we opted for the $100 treasure hunter bucket and got some gorgeous pieces. Since our kids collect rocks it was well worth it. read more

If you get a chance to see this place it is awesome!!! Buy a bucket of sand and mine it to get beautiful gem stones and the people are very friendly and nice!!! read more

Listen... gem mining is essentially for kids... ESPECIALLY when u are doing it on the main drag In a "touristy area"... with that being said, I HIGHLY recommend this place. Terry was amazing and so kind... he even gave us a little bit of extra sand to cover a stone my husband forgot to bury the n the bucket we bought. YES THE BUCKETS ARE SEEDED... GET OVER IT! If you spent money and got no stones you would complain too... so be happy and go in with appropriate expectations. The place is clean and the staff is courteous and helpful. We bought the 35$ crystal Bucket and couldn't be happier. We bought some gems inside the store (our choice) to make it an extra special first time experience for our 4 year old... and it was an amazing time! He was so excited and we seeded our own bucket on top of what was already process fed in the 35$ crystal bucket. It took us a little over an hour doing 2-3 scoops at a time... and WE LOVED IT!!! Will be back for sure and thank you Terry!!!! Plus the place is under shelter and a PERFECT choice for a rainy day! GO GO GO! read more

The gem shop was fun. My kids loved it. We got the $25 bucket - it was a pretty generous portion- and "found" a lot of pretty ones. I would imagine that the larger buckets would have more nice ones. Glad we stopped by. read more

This was more fun than expected. My 8 year old had a ball. She loves rocks, gems and fossils, so this was perfect! Typical, that it cost too much, but that's what you expect of the area read more

Best thing we did in the Smokies! My son is 7 and has been collecting rocks, minerals and fossils for the past few years. He was soooo into this! His 2 year old sister was able to participate as well which was awesome as there are not that many things geared towards the younger ones in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. An employee named Terry went above and beyond any expectations I could have imagined. He was so knowledgeable and interactive with my kids. My son was most excited finding an arrowhead, buffalo tooth and sharks tooth. This was with the $30 bucket including fossils. We were able to score an absolutely wonderful experience and souvenirs to take as well. It was their first time in the Smokies and I will make a point to visit here any time we come back. Thank you to Terry for such a memorable experience :) read more

What are some ways they could improve the experience? Customer service for one. We have been bringing our kids to this gem mine when we come down in the fall for the past 8+ years. They absolutely love sifting, finding and learning about the gems and fossils. That was until this year and using Covid-19 as an excuse. We spent the money on a bucket and both our boys got a bag full of treasures a piece. We then went inside so they could find out what they uncovered but was literally thrown a flyer and was told to basically figure it out ourselves. We were told this because we were not planning on having any of the gems found cut and made into jewelry. Only if we were going to spend money in their store, obviously disregarding the money spent on the buckets bought outside, would they explain to our children what they had received. My oldest took one individual rock up to see if they could tell him what it was and was turned away. Three windows/desks open with employees just standing there and no one could answer one simple question. It's a Covid issue. No, that is a you issue. read more

Our visit to the gem mine was really fun, the man running the buckets up front was extremely polite and very helpful. However, the lady(short woman with short blonde hair) that divided our rocks into "just for pretties" and "to be made into jewelry" bags was very rushed, even though there wasn't a line. I also told her I saw an ad on the local channel on TV that said they would give us a 3lb bag of gem with our purchase of a bucket. She looked at me like I was stupid and told me I must have been thinking of North Carolina, and I told her it was on the LOCAL channel for pigeon forge, and it showed a picture of the front of the building, and she then proceeded to get very smart with me and said she doesn't give anything away for free. I told her "tell your manager to take it off TV, then, because that's false advertisement!" There was no reason for her to be so rude, which is why I had to rate this only 3 stars. read more

For $15, this was a great value. You scoop sand out of a bucket and strain it through water, to find the gems. Plenty of neat rocks. Then an assayer can tell you what you got, and they can cut the stones for jewelry. It didn't seem that overpriced, and it wasn't remotely a hard-sell. Definitely take the kids. Adults liked it, too. read more

Yes, the items are placed in the sand. But no, your kids don't need to know that. My son was beaming with pride at what he had "discovered". He loved every second of it. Then we went inside to have all the items identified. Can't say enough wonderful things about Shasta, our assayer! She very patiently and calmly identified each item and answered all my son's questions (and there were LOTS). It was like a one-on-one science class. And I learned a lot too! If you don't want the jewelry, skip it! Shasta didn't pressure us at all. Overall, my son's favorite activity from our weekend! read more

Took the kids here on our family vacation. Thought it was really neat. I liked that there was no "admission" fee - you could spend anywhere from $15 up on buckets. The adults even had fun too! read more

This is a super fun experience for the kids. We had them ranging from 8-15. Buckets are stocked beforehand but who cares. Let them get their hands dirty, uncover some interesting items then go inside and have the ladies sort them out for you. No pressure to make anything into jewelry and lots of cool artifact type items to look through in the shop. Overall, money well spent to make kids happy. read more