Sterling Mine is a fun, informative, educational museum. Great for adults and children alike. The grounds outside the mine have many parts and pieces of technology and engineering to investigate. A sluice is also there for children to enjoy. We went there during the rainy Memorial weekend, but I bet the cool mine feels even better during a hot summer day. read more

714/24 (Visit): Sterling Hill Mining Museum had been a working zinc mine up until '86. On the outside of the museum, there's several impressive statues of miners and of the brothers Richard and Robert Hauck who opened the museum. The tour is approx. 2 hours. Gerrard was our guide. He was extremely knowledgeable about the entire science behind the minerals. In the mine, you'll see a shaft and how it operates. -Just keep in mind, the mine gets slightly misty and the floor is wet. One large area was filled with different minerals. Gerrard spoke about how the minerals reflect different colors under fluorescent light. Zobel Exhibit Hall displayed beautiful colored minerals from all over the world and incredible fossils from NJ. The museum is probably best for children at least age 5 and up. I noticed some people with strollers having some minor difficulties maneuvering in the mine. Many thanks to the brothers Richard and Robert Hauck. They purchased the property at auction. The brothers opened the museum in 1990. In 1991, it was designated a National Historic Site and continues to house the most extensive collection of fluorescent minerals globally. Prices for Tours: -Adults: 13 years and older $15.00 -Seniors: 65 years and older $14.00 -Children: 4 to 12 years $13.00 read more

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Stopped in hearing it looked pretty cool they have a great display of rocks for sale and plus there's plenty of history on the actual site and outside in the surrounding area. I was going to go on the 2-hour guided tour into the mine itself. But the first tour started at 1:00 And by the time I went to get tickets there was already a large group of senior citizens and parents with small children,toddlers and babies. I don't know why you would take such small children on a 2-hour tour but to each their own. So I might come back on a weekday to do the tour hopefully less people will be there and it will be a more adult crowd. But it is worth stopping in if you're in the area read more

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We visited the Sterling Hill Mining Museum and left with one of best memories that we have all shared. We had the distinct privilege of taking the tour with the best tour guide that we've experienced. "Adam" was absolutely delightful. His tenacity, loud and articulate voice, and unlimited knowledge left us in awe. Oh, he's funny, too!  Thanks to Adam, we learned the history of this region, what it took to run the mine, and how important the mine was during our world wars. Adam is a valuable asset to the museum and we will never forget his impactful enthusiasm. Aside from the impressive tour, the museum has an eatery, a gift shop, and activities for children to enjoy, both indoors and outdoors. Please, make time to visit this museum.  You will enjoy an historic site and.... if you're lucky.... will be blessed with Adam as your tour guide. read more

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Great for collectors and young minds ! Plenty to see and know the history of Sterling Hill Mining Museum. Get to see glowing rocks and minerals in different colours. Know names of rocks and fossils back millions of years ago, how they excavate it. read more

Tours are usually just on weekends, so I was lucky to be able to catch a special Friday Veterans Day tour. When over 130 people showed up, I was sure I had made a mistake. Though I had driven over an hour from the city, I considered bailing. I'm glad I didn't! I couldn't get a straight answer on how big most your groups are, but I got the impression, this group was huge. Secondary to size, two tour guides broke us up into separate groups. Though there was some crowding, the mine actually allowed us to space out in most places. The tour, which is about two hours long, was super interesting! We got to see the mineshaft and how it worked. We learned how the mines were created with a dynamite demonstration. We got to see the rainbow area, which has hundreds of fluorescent rocks. New Jersey is home to millions of minerals found nowhere else in the world. And they hold the world record in the number of minerals that fluoresce. We also saw a cool underground lake and the natural water table. And then there are two large museums at the end. The tour guide (I can't remember her name) was knowledgeable, organized, and explained the mining process clearly and with a fun dry humor. As the for the male tour guide, I get that there are a lot of people and you have to practice crowd control, but it's not necessary to scream so loud it feels like I'm in the military, and I can see all the veins in your neck. This is definitely worth a day trip. I also stopped by the Franklin mineral museum, which was neat, and has its own fluorescing minerals, but not sure you need much time there after sterling hill. My ticket was around 15 dollars. Plenty of parking. Snacks and restrooms on site. It can get wet underground. Consider boots. read more

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A great tour and really interesting museum. Would have liked more time in the museum - it is included in the tour time and not "free flow." read more

Rented an AIRBNB in the area for a few days on Spring Break. We found this cool museum online and when we called to learn more, we booked a slot for 6 people for the following Saturday. Boy were there lots of people waiting on that Saturday at 1pm! Apparently this is the only time they are hosting reservations for now and well, it was packed! 2.5 hours of educational, entertaining and pleasant company! Loads of history, many visuals and very thought out process! The tour was better than we had expected! We had 2 seniors with us who enjoyed it the most! The 9 year olds we were with, would have preferred the tour to be an hour shorter. Very cool experience! Nice scavenger hunt for the kids and more! Highly recommend! read more

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Excellent mine tour! Lots to see and learn! My kids are 5, 7 and 11 - they loved it. Glow rocks were cool. (I think it's best for ages 5 and up.) Our guide Breanna made the mine come "alive". Will return in a year or two. Tip - we visited in Feb 2025 and everyone enjoyed having a sweatshirt AND jacket. Also boots or shoes you don't mind getting muddy/wet are a good idea. read more

I went here on seeing rave reviews online. My expectations may have been a tad too high. Tours are at 1pm on weekends, no presale. They break the 1:00 tour into smaller groups to be more manageable, which is great. The website doesn't really make it clear, but this is not an activity aimed at children. If a child cannot be rather quiet and attentive for a hour-long lesson on mining operations, this might not be for that child. Our guide did his darndest to speak above the whines and boredom of children, but in a mine everything echoes and it was really hard to compete. I'd say definitely not for children under 8, and 8-11 ymmv depending on the kid. As for our guide, he was pleasant, but toward the beginning of the tour he gave some misinformation about stalactites and stalagmites (no, stalactites are not on the floor, and "stalaglights" do not point down). Minor misinformation, but it made me wonder if other information we were being given wasn't quite right. After an hour in the mine you are taken into a mineral museum and then a mine museum. Both are fine, but it's unclear why those have to be guided, when some people would like to spend a lot of time there and others couldn't care less. No big problem, just a strange programming choice. The gift shop and cafe are a little run down, and the restrooms needed some attention. The property (parking lot) has additional relics, statues, etc. on site that you can explore at your leisure before or after the tour. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum was on my bucket list of places to visit in NJ. And boy, oh boy, am I glad I finally made it there. $36 for two adults, one child. And surprisingly, my 6 year old minimally complained during the two hour tour duration!! So, you know, success! I called a month in advance to make our reservation once they reopened. I advise getting there early. We arrived 20 minutes early and parking was still tough. We chose to park in the overflow lot. Our tour guide, Hal, was funny and knowledgeable. We thoroughly enjoyed learning the history of this fascinating NJ landmark. We spent 2 hours there in total, and honestly, I could have done with one more hour to properly explore. Just as an FYI - the mine is 56 degrees year round. My daughter and I were glad to have our hoodies. Also, there are some puddles, so sneakers or boots are a good choice of footwear. That being said, my poorly chosen Toms were fine and I was able to avoid soaked feet. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Fluorescent rocks! - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

Interesting tour. Great tour guide Mike who is a student at Rutgers. Clearly he was interested in the material and knowledgeable - he did a great job! The fluorescent minerals were cool to see and the museum with the samples at the end was impressive- be sure to see the collection in the shower area. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum has changed their visiting procedures. You must now now call 973-209-7212 to make a reservation for one of their mine tours. Tours are conducted on Sat/Sun at 10am or 1pm. The cost of admission is Adult $13, 65+ $12, 4-12 $10. The tour begins outsie the visitor's center and procedes to the Zobel Hall Museum which houses 12,000 items. Fossils, Minerals, meteorites, etc.. Your viewing time here is about 30 minutes. Then you procede to the former richest zinc mine in New Jersey followed by the Warren Museum of Flourescents which is spectacular. Franklinite, a flourescent mineral can only be found here in the Sterling Mine. read more

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It's a mine tour, pretty self explanatory good amount of walking thro the mine. The glowy rocks were pretty sick

A gem. Rock Solid experience, not to miss. Hidden surprises - bring the kids... or not! read more

I took the tour again (January 18, 2025) after 12 years and was disappointed. It was $15 for adults which is the absolute max one should pay. The tour was a bit over two hours, split between the mine and a museum. I strongly do not recommend this tour for kids under 10. They will be bored silly. The tour guide Gerard was pleasant but he could easily have condensed the talking points and the attempts at humor to shave 30 minutes off the tour, which would have made it a bearable 90 ninutes instead. There were 40 people on our tour and that was far too many people, especially in the mine, as we all crowded around each other to see. On this tour, there was an insolent six year old who felt the urge to ask stupid question after stupid question, while her parents egged her on. There is always one of these kids on every museum tour. It was painful for all and the tour guide should have left her in the mine at the end. Also, as one reviewer also wrote, the bathrooms were in need of some love. read more

Great, fun, secret place to go to for a daytrip in NJ only about 1-1.5 hours from NYC. The museum is only $10 for a guided tour, and it's actually quite entertaining. My friend and I are in our mid twenties and we had several young children in our tour group, but it was still entertaining for all of us. The guide is REALLY good, we were laughing at his jokes more than half the time. It was also a very educational experience. You go into the mine, touch a lot of rocks, and even leave with a rock to take home that fluoresces under UV light. Bring a light jacket because it is chilly inside the mine! I believe all tours are at 1PM and you cannot go inside the mine without being in a tour. Overall, great place and a very enjoyable experience (even on a rainy day) read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

A cool experience! Worth the trek and time spent On the mountains of New Jersey sits a nice little mine offering a nice tour. It is a very educational experience and the tour guides were super knowledgeable. For a few dollars a person (gotta arrive by 1pm to make the tour) you get a tour of their museum (which, according to the tour guide, holds over a million dollars worth of minerals). This tour was very short- around 20 min. The museum also served as a locker room for the miners when the mine was still operational. Now onto the mine- it's a really cool experience. It was icy and cold (around 5 degrees the day I went but in the mine it's a nice 50 degrees. It's very fascinating how the miners lived and how hard their lives were. FULL DISCLOSURE: the rocks do not actually glow, it illuminates as a result of the blue fluorescent light that the tour guide turns on. It reacts differently to certain minerals and as a result causes the rocks to glow different colors. It's a nice experience. Is this mine for thrill seekers? Absolutely not Is this a family friendly educational experience- yes! A nice few hours for the family to spend time together and learn about mining history- with some "glowing" rocks to boot! Love it or dump it? I like it- and would recommend read more

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Definitely check-in with Yelp because you can get 50% off a child ticket with a purchase of an adult ticket. My best friend treated me and her family to a 10AM Mine Tour yesterday morning. Our your guide Ray L was very friendly, funny, and informational. Make sure you wear jeans, a jacket, and sneakers when you are entering the mine because its wet, muddy, and chilly!! The dummy props brings the mine to life like we are miners as well =) The fluorescentrocks are sooooo cool and you can take one home. Definitely fun and interesting for all ages!! read more

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This place was great! It was different than anything I've ever done before. Our tour guide, Tony, was extremely informative and kept be interested. I was never once bored. I will say that it's pretty chilly down there so bring a jacket no matter how hot it may be outside as well as sneakers! It was wet and muddy down there. It's great for kids, grandparents, adults and also wheelchair and stroller accessible. My favorite part of the trip was the UV light room... it was awesome! It was $12 per adult for a 2 hour mine tour which was great deal, plus free parking. read more

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Museum, mine, and tour were so much fun! Awesome tour guides! Kids 8 & 11 had an awesome time. Staff in the shops could be a little friendlier. read more

Wear boots or shoes you don't care about for the mine tour. Expect to get wet. The tour is roughly two hours. You start in a one museum. There are a number of great minerals and things to examine. Unfortunately even though it was a beautiful day - the room's visible thermostat was 80 degrees. The actual mine tour is about one hour. It is cooler in the mine but it was damp. The tour guide was knowledgeable but talked a lot. In addition - some group members asked a lot of questions which prolonged the tour. I wish there was a basic tour or one you could walk through without a guide. I could have easily seen everything in less than half the time for the same effect. There are some cool features inside such as the rainbow tunnel of glowing rocks and the pond/lake, but I would not recommend the tour if you suffer from any sort of anxiety/claustrophobia. Once you start the tour you are basically trapped. The mine was wet and I am glad I was wearing sneakers. I really honestly should have worn boots. In addition- water is often dripping on you from above. The price is very reasonable for what you get. read more

We wanted to spend the last day of our vacation with something not so time-consuming and came with little expectations. We were positively surprised on how much is offered! The Museum is a great place to discover and to walk around before taking a guided tour. The guide was a nice and well informed woman, british origin. Group was around 20 persons, one family with stroller, which was no problem. Overall, the tour took around 2 hours, kids were animated to help and be active. The day at the Mining Museum exceeded our expectations! read more

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This place is amazing! The tour is absolutely outstanding and mesmerizing. The staff are kind friendly helpful and knowledgeable. My kids love this place and what they do for the local community and schools is more than anyone can put into words. I highly recommend the SHMM to anyone and everyone as there is something for everyone here. It's said that Disney is the greatest place on earth. It's not. This place is literally the greatest place on earth! This is a MUST SEE!!!!!! read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I was enamored with this place. There is a rich history of mining in NJ and it revolves primarily around this specific mine. The tour was superb, the museum collection expansive, but the best part was going into the top floor of the mine and getting a real feel for how the miners worked and lived. A wonderful experience that is extremely unique. Note to parents: Children under 6 will likely be bored enough to ruin the trip for everyone in their group who is trying to pay attention. read more

Good place to visit with kids and family. Nice tour inside the mine to learn historic relevance. Staff were friendly and helpful. Make sure to get a sweatshirt or light sweater before entering the mine since it's usually an hour tour and it does pretty cold inside. read more

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Sterling Hill Mining Museum is the perfect pairing for an interaction and learning experience. You can pay under $20 for a guided museum tour and a 2 hour mining tour. Feel like just going to the museum? Thats $5 to get in and allows you about 30 mins give or take. The hosts here know many facts about any topic connected to gems, mining and the earth in general it seems. Theres a small cafeteria in case youre hungry, and a museum store with very reasonably priced items to buy. If you wanna go digging for your own rocks and cyrtsals, theres an area outside to do so. for about $1 a lb, you can pick up as much items as you want. You might even get lucky and find a stone or rock that "glows in the dark". Overall, it was a nice way to spend my sunday and took about 2 hours between checkign out the museum, mining dig outside and the musuem. Ill deff be back in the spring to do the mining tour. have kids? have their birthday party here! read more

Took a large crowd with us. Nana and her very own 7 dwarfs. Aka grandchildren. You can mine for your own gems. $5 for safety glasses. They are required. There is a reason for that! I have a pretty nasty cut from a rock that flew up. I'm grateful for those glasses. They will provide you with a hammer. They even have a UV light/shed to see which gems glow. It was a lot of fun. The tour was very informative. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Nana and the 7 dwarfs. - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

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They say knowledge is the key! Who knew a trip to the Sterling Hill mine would provide many keys to understanding of our world. After only one visit I got to see and learn things I had no knowledge about. I have been a collector of rocks for a long time and enjoyed geology in college but did not know we lived in such a mineral rich area. New Jersey and New York. This may not be for kids under 5 but the rest of us will get a big kick out of seeing the luminescent rocks. Even a PS3, Xbox, Ipad, Android addicted person will find something of interest during a visit to the mine museum. I have not done the tour of the mine yet but will be returning for a visit. Take a look at the website and plan a family visit. When the weather warms up I will also plan a night trip to view some of the big rocks up in the sky! They have a good sized telescope too! They have free WiFi !! (This should get em to visit!) Look this place up on facebook! read more

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The mine itself was great and the tour was informative (for that, I would give 5 stars). However, the staff (tour guides aside) was pretty terrible. On the day of our visit, the ladies at the counter were yelling at the kids for playing with the sieving station (which is understandable but it could've been done in a more companionate manner and with more explanation ). When it was my turn at the ticket counter, the clerk asked me to hold on because she has lost count since "the previous customer was a pain in the ass." The previous customer was a mother of two or three kids, trying to keep it together... an extra question or two shouldn't constitute as a "pain". This aside, the visit was good. Unfortunately for us, we left our stroller and jacket when we left (my wife thought I put it in the car and I thought she did). The staff left it outside over night and it rained (but I'm grateful it was still there). My wife called in the next morning and asked if it was still there and if they would please put it aside. They said it was there and they would put it aside. However by the time she got there in the afternoon... it was left in the same place! How can staff care so little about other people and their experience? It's unfortunate and I hope the management does something with this feedback. read more

Our family went with the Boy Scouts (girls), and it was a blast. A few kids went with their school before, and still enjoyed it. The tour is really well done, the kids get rocks to take home, and learn a ton about mining culture. It is incredible how much their lives were influenced by new technology. The tour guide was young but well trained, and it was fun. It went smooth even though we had about 30 people in our group. Highly recommended! read more

Absolutely loved the Mines!!! I came here with my students and we had such a great time. The tour is incredibly informing and filled with action and things to see so that the students are engaged. Our hosts were great! They were helpful and gave the students chances to interact. The tour has a lot to offer also. The students get to go into the mines and actually see what the working conditions used to be like. I love the museum part where they had actual crystals and minerals. At the end of the tour students are able to find and keep their own rocks and minerals. The snack cafe can get a bit overwhelming and chaotic when you have hoards of middle schoolers mobbing the people behind the counter for frozen pizzas. My favorite part of the mines was the guest shop! They have so many minerals and crystals that you can purchase and the prices are excellent. I walked away with some rose quartz, amethyst, and citrine. They have an awesome selection. If you are learning about rocks and minerals in your classroom this is definitely a great trip! read more

Really great tour experience! Tony, our guide, was entertaining and a wealth of knowledge. My kids ages 4 & 7 had a blast and wanted to return the next day. It was a great treat to actually walk through a mine hundreds of years old. read more

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We got here later than planned so we only had time for the mine tour . We will definently be going back for the mine run dump , rock discovery , fossil discovery and passaic pit . We had a amazing tour guide named Amy , she was very knowledgeable about the mine and surrounding area . She took the time to answer any and all questions . The tour we went on had ALOT of kids , she was very patient with them and answered any questions they had . You could easily make it a whole day trip here . The mine tour is good for kids and adults of all ages . They also offer a tour path that is wheelchair/stroller/stair free accessibility . The mine has special events also . A special event that we wana go to is a haunted mine tour . We Can't wait to go back and explore more . read more

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Looking to get out on a Saturday and do something different. Found Sterling mine and thought it would be a nice diversionary trip from South Jersey. I was kind of expecting some sort of tourist trap. IT IS NOT. It is well worth the money for the mine tour which I'm going to guess was about an hour and a half long. Gentleman leading group gave very interesting facts about the mine and miners who worked it. Very long history and only closed to mining in the not so distant past. If you or your children are interested in minerals or mining I would recommend the trip. You might also look up other mines in the area for a day out. Hey, how many times does a Jersey boy get to go into a mine. read more

Absolute gem! I bought my boyfriend here as a surprise for his birthday party and we could not believe the size of this place as well as all the different types of activities offered here! We bought tickets for the 3 hour tour in the 35 miles cave and looked at so many different geological formations stemming from 1.65 billions of years ago. Although the tour guide ran over the tour time and stammered a LOT during her tour (it was her first tour), a more experienced guide was able to take over midway and continue till the end of the tour. We learned so much about different types of rocks and the origin of the mine. The mine was huge and a constant 56°F so a jacket is recommend. I also recommend sneakers. There are a lot of kids when we went and some parents can be quite annoying, but that's expected for a museum tour. In the museum, we also learned about the lives of the miners and different types of minerals found throughout the world. We also saw fossils and rocks that glows under a black light. We didn't come in early enough for the discovery rock digging activity, but I will definitely be back to visit this hidden gem again! read more

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Cool tour ! My 2 year old & fiancé loved it. Wear shoes that can get wet! Lots of puddles on the tour & definitely wear a light jacket. Also if you're an AAA member it's $1 off each ticket which was nice. The tour guide Carissa was awesome. There was so much to learn & so much I never knew. Great indoor winter activity. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

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Great place to visit. Awesome tour guide and rock collecting activities for the kids. Yelp coupon was presented and not honored. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

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The place is nice and the tour mines. A lot of pretty rocks to look at . The tours guides are very friendly and tell a few good jokes. The woman who work inside are rude and not polite . Not children friendly at all. Should have staff children friendly. The mines are nice and cool. You might need a sweater . Place overall is nice . As I said before not the woman who work inside. read more

Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Museums Near Me - Ogdensburg, New Jersey

This place is awesome. I took my family here, and we had a great time. The tours are informative and entertaining. This is fun for the whole family read more