GPS: 35.91372, -81.08285
Land type:
Private
Digging fee:
Adults: $30/day

Kids: $10/day

While the focus of this website is on digging for native materials, this mine also offers “salted” buckets to dig through. These are buckets where things have been added to them. It offers something lighter to do for those visiting with families. The fees listed above are for digging in the native material.

Description:
Emerald Hollow is one of two emerald mines in the world open to the public for hobby prospecting. (The other is the tailings of the Crabtree Emerald Mine) Located in the Brushy Mountains, Emerald Hollow/Hiddenite is always one of the first places mentioned when talking about rockhounding in North Carolina.

This location has two main styles of digging - creek sluicing and true hard rock mining. The local host rock in the area is mica schist and decomposed granite. All the digging you’ll be doing here is open-pit mining, with tunneling explicitly not allowed. You’ll be chasing after small pegmatite veins, where crystals can be present. The primary targets here are obviously emerald, but also hiddenite. The town that the mine resides in is actually named after this stone. It’s a spodumene crystal that is rich in lithium, giving it a distinct coloration.

It’s also worth mentioning that there’s a wealth of different minerals that can be found here, including but not limited to sapphires, topaz, garnets, amethyst, and rutile. If you’re looking for emerald, trying to follow siderite coated quartz crystals is often a good indicator that you’re digging in a decent zone of mineralization.

Seasonality:

Open year-round, minus Thanksgiving, Christmas day, and New Year’s day.
Monday-Thursday: 8:30AM-5:00PM
Friday-Sunday: 8:30AM-6:00PM

May close early in the Winter days based on guest attendance.

Road condition notes:

Parking lot is fully paved and accessible from the road with any standard car.

Additional information:

Address: 484 Emerald Hollow Mine Dr, Hiddenite, NC 28636
Website: emeraldhollowmine.com