Beaver's Bend Mining Company — Attraction in Hochatown

Let's get the facts straight. This is a scam and I'll tell you why... They advertise a Motherlode/10 lb package for $34.99 which includes a large druzy amethyst. Then there's the Mega Strike/20 lb for $62.99 which includes a huge druzy amethyst and a large Crystal point. So you can pay $28 more for about 10lbs more which includes the huge amethyst & lg. Crystal. My pictures clearly show the difference between a $63 bag and a $35 bag. The $63 bag (left side) contained what I was told is a huge druzy amethyst (top left) and the large Crystal is in the bag with the other gems not of significant size compared to the other gems and stones. But as you can see the $35 bags (right) also have a pretty good size rock that does look like an amethyst and I would say it is large as advertised. Here's where the scam part comes in, $28 more is paid for what seems to be the same amount of gems and stones as a $35 bag but you are supposed to get a huge amethyst & large crystal as advertised. I received a large rock about the same size as the ones in the $35 bags but nothing close to huge. I was not going to bring this to anyone's attention until it was time to get the wax hands and this is where I was greeted by someone as rude as a bear. I asked her when would be a good time to come back because she seemed very flustered. She snapped at me and basically told me it could take as long as it takes. So now I'm like wait what? I paid almost $100 for some gemstones that I didn't get and now you're being rude when I'm trying to get the waxed hands. The owner lied in his reply that I did not want to wait for wax hands. I did not want to continue dealing with a rude bear. We were reimbursed with 2bags of gems not 3. And you won't get a refund no matter how rude they are. This was on a Saturday March 16th 2024. We did come from out of state to do this activity with the children and the Beavers Bend Mining Company was a chaotic mess. From the miniature golf, to the mining, to the wax hands, Folks are traveling and spending good money to have a good time with the kids but I feel they are taking advantage of with this motherload and mega strike gemstone bags basically being the same bags but $30 more for the other. They are charging you $28 more for a Mega Strike but you will basically get the same things you got in the Motherload. BEWARE. BTW the owner was very patronizing continuing to say, yes ma'am, okay ma'am. When I brought it to his attention that I didn't think I received what was advertised, he took the large rock and said "I think any kid would love to find this rock "🙄 Paid over $62 for the Mega strike and I was supposed to get a large Crystal point and a huge amethyst druzy according to the website. When I brought it to their attention that I only got one large Rock and not two they proceeded to explain to me and identify the rocks but the question is is it a big or huge rock not what kind of rock. I paid for two large rocks and I paid $63. The experience was fine until the older lady (that obviously gets irritated with ger job at the Beavers Bend mining) jumped at me when I asked her when is a good time to come back because she was Cleary busy. She was loud rude and made me feel uncomfortable so I decided to not go do the activity that she was running which was...

Nice, family-owned business. All of the staff were very friendly!

My 4 year old son enjoyed the mining activity. We did something similar locally in Kansas City, but at a lower price. I feel like the prices here could have been lower, or perhaps add value by having someone demonstrate and give a brief history of how this activity was relevant to the area. We paid $30 for a 10lb bag of rocks plus a geode. In KC, a similar product costed $20.

We didn't participate in the blacksmithing, but I thought it was an awesome activity to have. Loved how the gentleman had such a positive attitude with the kids and really engaging them in the activity. It seemed like a free activity (with the option to donate).

The Dino Dig activity was "ok". I don't think that it was worth the $10/person. Maybe with some adjustments it could be...

It starts with a 5-min video and then a guided tour in the backyard. The guide tried explaining 6 different posters of different dinos, but there was not adequate space for our group of 12 parents/kids to really see/hear. Maybe a speaker system and a projector could help?

A 4ft long glass case of fossils and Dino poop was located in a small hut. Again, no adequate space for people to see/listen. A bigger hut where people could stand on all sides of the display case would help.

The actual "digging" activity is a wonderful activity for kids, but they literally only got 2 minutes of digging. It was also in a small confined area. Maybe bring it out to where the 6 posters are. As the guide is talking, the kids (who aren't even listening anyway) can go ham dusting off the bones with the brushes.

The interactive Utah raptor robot was a great idea. For timid crowds (like ours), the guide should have several questions prepared to ask the dino. It was an awkward silence when no one has any...

The Beavers Bend Mining Company is an interesting and fun place to visit for your entire family. When we visited we panned for both gemstones and arrowheads. There are other options available to pan for fossils too. You can also do a dino dig but we had plenty to do with the panning. Our kids loved finding their treasures in the screening bag and really loved the neat sluice they used to screen for things.

Another cool thing we did was make wax molds of our kiddos hands. It was a fun process for the kids and the owners did an amazing job of explaining everything about the process to them. Our kids learned so much and had a fun time doing everything as well. The owners even offered to hang on to the molds while we finished up some shopping in town so they wouldn’t get soft in the heat.

The owners and helpers were super friendly and welcoming. Our kids called it the...