Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour — Attraction in Four Corners States

Well, this one overall exceeded our expectations. We came from Ouray, and to get to the mine you drive through the town of Silverton and then take a right turn, ending up on some fairly sketchy roads. There were a variety of vehicles in the parking lot so I guess it wasn't that bad, but still if possible it would be good to pick a fairly clear and calm day to do this, for no other reason than the drive will be less stressful than it otherwise might be. The mine itself is a very informal operation. In the main building you may or may not be greeted but eventually you should be able to find the right person to pay the admission price to. There were no tickets, so honor system to a certain extent I suppose. Restrooms were outside but nice considering the middle of nowhere location. Rustic (or even rusty) is maybe a good word for the whole operation. Fancy this place is not! We got there about 40 minutes before tour time and wondered if it would be a really small group, but as people trickled in it ended up being a fairly full train. As far as what to wear, they provide you with a hardhat and raincoat (it was quite noticeably cooler down in the mine compared to the surface, and there was occasional dripping in there), but I'd suggest if you bring some layers with you that's not a bad idea. And for sure closed toed shoes for walking around in the mine (and to not freeze your toes off!). The ride on the "mine train" is fun and at least a little exhilarating. Seems like it was maybe 5 minutes to get down there, at which point the walking tour of the mine starts. Our tour guide, a former miner, was fun and informative. He talked a lot about the experience of being a miner, and demonstrated some of the equipment used through the years and how it all worked. Pretty interesting. And then it was time to go back up to the surface, with the whole experience being completed in maybe 50 minutes. Oh, they also had a little gold panning operation to pass time while waiting and it seemed liked something kids in particular might enjoy. Overall, it really was fun and informative, as well as eye-opening to be honest in terms of the real dangers and challenges miners faced. So if you're in the area and have an extra hour or two, you should consider this place. Mining was and is a big part of the identity of this area, and the tour is good way to learn a little about all...

The tour was interesting and they have a person who was an actual miner (not necessarily here, but at other mines) giving the tour. He knew a lot about the history of mining and about this particular mine. You can also pan for gold before/after your tour time - the gold panning is included in your $30 ticket. No military/veteran discount.

One thing I think could have been done: we had a couple screaming babies in our tour group, and it would have been helpful if the guide (1) told the group before he turned on any of the machinery, to give the parents the chance to move away from it or cover their babies' ears and/or (2) request that those with screaming babies move towards the back, so the rest of us could actually hear him give the tour. When you're paying $30 per person for this tour and you can't hear anything the guide is saying, it's a huge let down and a waste of money. We love doing mine tours, but this one wasn't our favorite for the simple fact that we couldn't hear the guide for half the tour (until we were able to find a way to move away from the babies whose parents seemed to be congregated around the tour guide for the first half of the tour, while their babies were screaming).

Separately, we wanted to help the owner by letting everyone know: no guns can be brought into the mine. It's a safety issue and it's federally mandated. Apparently, they've had people in the past who had a problem with this. The shop will store your gun for you (if you can't store it in your vehicle) while you're on the tour, but you absolutely can't bring your gun...

We stayed another day in Durango just to go to this this tour, we arrived about an hour early there was a note on the door that stated we will be closed for an hour. After waiting around and taking pictures of the old equipment and scenery a man came out and said the mine will be closed the rest of the day do to maintenance and then walked away. He was very rude about how he addressed his potential customers, I walked in his office and asked if there was any other mines around he was very put off about answering any questions. These people had an opportunity to educate us about for 15 minutes about the history of the mine, I understand if the mine is closed for maintenance or safety. But you should at least have some respect for your customers and there inconvenience and put on a little show instead of trying to get home for the day. Anyways this all could have been avoided if they had put a sign at the beginning of there sketchy 4 mile gravel road to the site simply stating they are closed. I said something about how they should have showed a little more customer service and that’s when things took a turn for the worst, now I had the “manager and his assistant” both of them were...