Doc's Rocks! Gem Mine & Amusements — Attraction in Blowing Rock

This was one of best experiences we have had as a family. We did the museum, putt putt and gem mining. The museum was incredible. It has an amazing wealth of knowledge and exhibits. There are great exhibits for all ages. My wife and I found some great exhibits where we could engage and learn some interesting things about prehistoric creatures as well as rocks and gems. It also had several exhibits that drew the attention of our 2 year old long enough that we could look ourselves which is rare. The putt putt was fun and challenging. It is a tight little course and it is dimly lit with moving lights on the floor so it challenging for adults but a blast for kids. The real “Gem” here was the mining experience! We bought the motherload package and what you get for the price is pretty amazing. They start you out with a bag or bucket of sand with the gems in it. They take you to a table with flowing water and give you a shaker basket (you will get messy). You dump the sand mix in and you shake to uncover the gems. I haven’t seen our son so engaged before. After that they take you to a little table and lay out your gems and tell you the type and what they are typically used for. Very educational! On top of that we bought 2 of their larger geodes. The employee that was helping us even helped us pick out the one that he thought would be best and he didn’t disappoint. They cracked them right then and there and they were extraordinary! I can’t tell you enough to go there...

Super pricey. We had a good time but wish we had done more research first. First the positives: excellent customer service. Everyone working or volunteering there is super prompt, kind, and knowledgeable. The fossil museum is what makes it worth it for adults. They have so much to look at and we spent majority of our time checking it all out. They offer a guided tour or you can self guide and ask questions. While we as adults loved it, it's probably not the best for Littles to be entertained. The indoor gem mining is a plus since its comfortable in all weather. It's also pretty cool to have someone explain what each gem is once you're finished. The gift shop is nice and has fun stuff for kids. On to the cons. This place is more geared toward children. I guess we should have known that going into it but we didn't. It can get crowded and if you pay for several adults to play 1 super short round of mini golf having a family impatiently rushing you through can really put a damper on the rest of the experience. The pre-processed buckets were costly in my opinion but they did have a good amount of gems of decent size. I thought it would take us longer to sift through but we were done super fast. All in all we did had a good time but felt out of place and rushed. It's definitely a place for families with young children so if you're a group of adults only don't be like us or definitely save your money and skip...

Our favorite gem mine in the Boone/Blowing Rock area. Super-friendly staff, who are very helpful and make sure to point out to you which stones to keep. Unlike most places in the area, they don't seed, but instead use native ore from many mines and quarries from the area and surrounding states. Because of this, the exact assortment of gems varies each time you go, but there's a guarantee that if you don't find anything, they'll give you another bucket to make sure you do (never seen anyone not find something, though). Sometimes you see a bunch of garnets; sometimes it's tons of sapphire and ruby; sometimes it's emeralds or amazonite or fossils; usually there's some kind of quartz. The staff explain what you find to you, telling you about the stones, including a little about how the stones form. Unlike seeded places, you have a chance of actually finding something valuable, but you'll probably see fewer large stones (seeded places often throw very low-quality precious stones and big, cheap semi-precious stones into re-used dirt--fun for kids, occasionally nice semi-precious stuff, but little chance of really valuable pieces). Doc's also cuts in-house instead of shipping off elsewhere, so you know the stones you get back are the ones you gave them to cut, and they'll cut stones from other places for the same price as rocks you found there. Honest, friendly, great fun for everyone...