Amethyst Mine Wisteria
📍 Iron Station, North Carolina
If you’ve ever visited the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum, you may have seen North America’s largest amethyst cluster which came from the Reel Mine. To the excitement of many, the Reel Mine has re-opened as Amethyst Mine Wisteria under new ownership in 2026. The quartz crystals found here are among some of the best in the country.
GPS coordinates:
35.45832, -81.11694
Land type:
Private
Digging fee:
$125 per person for the public digs (as of August 2026), or $80 per person if you go for one of the stewardship days (explained below).
Digs must be booked online ahead of time.
What can you find?
The Reel Mine was the premier location for public amethyst in North Carolina and arguably the entire Southeast. It has large clusters of both smoky quartz and amethyst, with color saturation rivaling what you’d see in pieces from Brazil or Uruguay.
Digging here is different than at places like Diamond Hill, as it’s on the actual pegmatite veins themselves rather than a tailings pile. While both can be productive, digging at the actual point source gives the opportunity to find true pockets and undamaged “floaters”.
This is a site that has had a lot of anticipation for whether or not it would ever become publicly accessible again, so this an exciting development for public crystal digging in the Carolinas.
Interestingly, the site also has “stewardship” days where they allow the public to come in for a lesser fee if they help renovate the site in the morning and dig in the afternoon. There has been quite a bit of overgrowth since the mine was last operated in the 2010s.
Seasonality:
Announced on the website calendar. Public digging opportunities tend to be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Weather by month (using the nearest town):
Road condition notes:
Unknown
Public bathrooms: Yes (portable)
Showers: No
RV hookups: No
Additional information:
The mine owners are active on their facebook page and it seems to be a good place to find information about upcoming digs: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560830325129
Phone: (864) 665-1263
Email: jake@minewisteria.com / jerry@minewisteria.com
Website: minewisteria.com
Note: rockhoundingmap.com is a free resource created using public online information and has no partnership with Amethyst Mine Wisteria.
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