Date: July 21, 2008 Reviewer: Navarre, Navarre, FL Great activity for the entire family. Found an emerald and other birth stones. My wife had the emerald cut and polished. It'll take 8 weeks though. We purchased the $85.00 bucket that came with $45.00 coupon you can use when you pick a stone you want cut and polish. There were less... more

We recently visited Gem Mountain and booked the four-hour Mining Tour. We have never done anything like this so we were extreme amateurs. The tour leaves each day at 10am with about 20-25 people. They load you in an air conditioned van and drive you to their mining site. You have to walk up a steep hill that can leave... more

i was disappointed by the lack of veg options though actually but my dad really likes this place more

This was our last stop for gem hunting. We were in Hiddenite,Rose Creek Mine, Franklin, NC. This is the deal your bucket right off the bat is unbelievably filled with good stuff !!! Rocks and gems. It seems pricer compared to the other two mines we were at but , it makes up for time spent. We bought the the... more

My grandfather and I took a trip to NC to go to gem mountain. I found more in the $25 bucket than i expected, including topaz and emeralds. We also reserved the mine trip, and filled up a whole gallon sized bag with aquamarine, and found dozens of garnets. I also split open a rock which containd 66 garnets inlaid... more

We drove here after seeing this place on the Travel Channel. They have buckets for sale of the local variety and "salted" buckets (gems added but not necessarily local). We only had under 2 hours so we got a bucket and went to work. We were very happy with the assortment of gems we found and the employees outside seemed... more

What a great house in the middle of the residental district of Spruce Pine. The room was very comfortable and the bathroom was huge. The common areas were very pleasant. The B&B has a very homey feel and Maggie goes out of her way to help you with everything. The breakfast is amazing. I would go out of my way... more

My wife and I (empty nesters) stayed here a few nights ago after the old guy at the Exxon station on the edge of town recommended it to us. The lady at the desk was very nice and allowed us to look at the room before we paid for it. We stayed in the non-smoking section and found the room... more

I stumbled upon The Richmond Inn B&B online during a late-night internet search for a place to stay following a trip to western North Carolina. We did Saturday & Sunday rafting trips and our weekend accomodations were booked for Sunday night, so I looked for a B&B or country inn that was somewhat on our path home. I called The... more

We made reservations and got there near midnight. If it would not have been so late and we would not have been so tired, we would have gone somewhere else. I don’t have mold and mildew in my house at home and don’t expect it when I pay to stay somewhere, either. The grout in the shower was black, the... more

Gem Mountain is a little attraction in Spruce Pine NC we saw on the Travel Channel. We made it a point to go by this on our way to my convention in Philadelphia, and since it is along the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is a very scenic area. There is not much to the place, but everyone there was having... more

Ran into Spruce Pine on our recent tour of Eastern US, needed somewhere for the night, and were directed to this Hotel by the people who were renovating the Spruce Pine Motel, said 'We always stay there' Turned out to be the old school house, huge ceilings, drawings on the walls, etc, etc, quite quaint. Clean, comfortable, breakfast included, bizarre... more

This is a great Bed and Breakfast. My mother, sister and I spent three nights here and we had a wonderful time. It had a very homey atmosphere, we felt like we were guests in the home of a friend. The hostess made us feel very welcome. Would definitely stay here again. more

Gem Mountain is a place in Spruce Pine, NC ("Mineral City") where you can "mine" for semi-precious gems in comfort. The operation works like this: The owners of Gem Mountain buy truckloads of "scrap" from all the local mines in the area, and when you visit Gem Mountain, you buy a large bucketful. You can choose between buckets that are... more

Annually the Grassy Creek Fire Dept sponsors a Mineral & Gem Show on their grounds. More than 80 Mineral Dealers from throughout the world display and sell mineral samples. A highlight of the show features one of the finest displays of fluorescent minerals. Available for sale are many rare minerals and also UV lights. The show lasts for one full... more