Rose Creek Mine
📍 Franklin, North Carolina
The Rose Creek Mine is a popular stop for families looking to explore gemstone mining in Carolina’s Cowee Valley. It has a long history of being a publicly accessible mine, beginning back in the 1950s. It offers native material digging, salted bucket digging, as well as activities including geode cracking.
GPS coordinates:
35.2381, -83.40542
Land type:
Private
Digging fee:
$20 per person. Your first two 2-gallon buckets are included. They offer $5/bucket refills. An unlimited rate is available for $50.
Kids age 6 and under dig free alongside an adult.
*Note: This mine offers numerous “salted” dig options, where non-native material has been added to guarantee finds. They also offer geode cracking, making it a fun stop if your group has people with different interest or ability levels.
What can you find?
The material coming from the native ground at the Rose Creek Mine is similar in nature to Mason Mountain, which is right nearby. You’ll be looking for rhodolite garnets, kyanite, and quartz crystals. This mine tends to have less corundum (ruby/sapphire) occuring here than some of the others in the area.
Rose Creek has a covered flume to keep cool while sifting your dirt through the running water as well.
Based on recent photos, it appears that paydirt from the mine is available for you to dig and then sift at the flumes.
Without covering the full list of salted digging options that are available, this mine does a good job of making it clear what you’ll have a chance of finding in your bucket and whether or not you’re digging native material.
The mine owner is a geologist and offers guided geologic tours of the area for a separate fee as well.
Seasonality:
April 1st through October 31st
Wednesday–Saturday: 9am–5pm
Sunday: 11am–5pm
Rose Creek operates rain or shine and asks everyone looking to dig that day to arrive no later than 4pm.
Weather by month (using the nearest town):
Road condition notes:
The road to the Rose Creek Mine should accessible with any standard car.
Public bathrooms: Yes
Showers: No*, but likely available at Rose Creek Campground nearby.
RV hookups: No*, but likely available at Rose Creek Campground nearby.
Additional information:
Phone: (828) 349-3774
Email: rocks@rosecreekmine.com
Website: rosecreekmine.com
Note: rockhoundingmap.com is a free resource created using public online information and has no partnership with the Rose Creek Mine.
This is an unvisited location and the information may be incomplete or have errors. If you have information to add about this site (or others), you can fill out the info form below. It is possible to contribute anonymously and takes 1-2 minutes on average.
Navigation
