Hidee Gold Mine Tours and Panning — Attraction in Four Corners States

OH MY GOSH....This was possibly one of the coolest things I have ever done. To give you a little background, this is an old gold mine, which originated as the pittsburgh mine in 1893/1896. The original structures are still standing in the back, and you're allowed to explore them to a limit of your comfortability. Wanna go in the old wooden home and peek in the attic? I did. A little nervous? Fine, peak through a window! Old beds, old couches, old plumbing that can be seen, old electrical, old shafts..absolutely awesome historical site to see. It gets better.

Once it was time for the tour to start, we were given our hard hats and introduced to our guides. Mine was Joe N. Fantastic man. Super educational, super friendly, and personally worked in mines in I believe (Nevada)* for 30+ years. So he knows what he's talking about. From early stages of mining, to technological advances in the mines, to current day gold mining, he knew it all. And Joe showed great examples of how everything would work. Had a question? I had no hesitation asking him. He also was super enthusiastic and you can tell he was proud to share the things he knew. He was phenomenal.

As we walked a couple hundred feet into the mine, you're met with some stairs that go down about 40-50 feet. As you go down these stairs, you can't help but notice the bright blue carbon sulfate (I think Joe taught me that right..) covering the ceiling and walls. Among this beautiful blue was a shining gold. One by one, we were each given safety glasses, a hammer and chisel, and were escorted to the veins of the old gold mine. Inside the vein, you take the hammer and chisel against a spot you like, and you can collect real gold ore from the Hibee Mine!

"Typically there is always one straggler who doesnt want to leave," Joe mentioned to me, as I asked if I could go get 1 more rock - I did not want to stop! He allowed me to do so, and I was as happy as a kid in a candy shop.

It's wildly amazing, and an experience I will never forget. Joe was great, the ground squirrels were great, the info and history are great, 10/10 recommend. Please give Joe a shoutout at...

I bought 2 tickets online for the tour and gold panning class. This was an important trip because this is on my mother’s bucket list. She is disabled and so I made sure to check online if they were wheelchair accessible. Their site didn’t have a lot of information, but on Google it claimed to be fully wheelchair accessible with ramps and smooth pathways. We had trouble on the highway due to construction and the team was beautifully accommodating. The gentleman I spoke with over the phone let us rebook to the next tour same day. When we arrived I realized that the mine was in NO way wheelchair accessible. The driveway is also incredibly steep. There are rocks in the driveway, minimal ramps, and mud inside the mine. You need an off roading wheelchair with thick large tires to make it across the parking lot or inside the mine. If we made it in the mine, we could only have access to the first floor. I was so worried we had wasted our time, but our tour guide Roy (also the owner I think) said “I won’t let anyone leave here without something shiny” ✨ 🥹 He did a little arranging, and found a small buggy to drive my mom into the mine. He took us on a private tour of the first floor of the mine and taught us gold panning himself. We received a unique experience to cross off my mother’s bucket list, rock samples from inside the mine, and baggies from our panning experience. At the end we left happy....

We had a great time! The staff are very warm, welcoming, and accommodating. We were stuck in a deadlock on the interstate due to rock blasting in the area, which delayed us significantly. We called the facility to change our tour time, but the wonderful staff were already aware of the blockage and assured us it would be no problem to wait for us. Other guests, and even their tour guide were also stuck in the jam. We were so deeply appreciative for their patience and willingness to accommodate us. We had a wonderful time interacting with the staff, who are passionate, knowledgeable, and ultra-friendly. Our tour guide, Amanda, was fantastic and her education and background in geology was fascinating to learn about. It was a blast chipping away in the mine for some pieces of pyrite and, for those with the patience, panning after the tour. This was a great value for the experience, and I would highly recommend this tour to anybody! I would give you the head's up that the entrance road to the mine is rather steep and rocky/uneven/potholes and dips. This will pose no issue to any sedan, truck or SUV. To those of you, like myself, who drive very low cars (a Toyota MR2) -- you may want to consider bringing a different vehicle; we made it down just fine, dodging some of the larger potholes, but did eat a little dirt and rock in some...