Kennedy Gold Mine Tours — Attraction in Jackson

I'd been wanting to go since we see the head frame every time we drive down the 49. This is a non-profit place staffed entirely by volunteers. At first I thought $12 was steep for a tour (general admission and poking around is free; self-guided tour brochure was $5 in the bookshop; adults were $12 and under 6 free). BUT we were greeted by a friendly gentleman who became our guide because he was more into "the technical stuff" (so are we!) and since it was not busy we basically had a private tour! On the tour you can go onto the head frame platform and into the main office (not accessible without tour). Pretty cool history and lots of information. Best part was the hands-on demonstrations that our guide gave us and the interaction our 5 year old had - pushing the ore cart, hammering a hand drill, handling pieces of the gold refining process, getting "locked" in "jail"! We will come back to hike and explore the area because we didn't have time to walk the trail. Really cool place with great people...

Not knowing anything about mining, this was quite an illuminating visit. I had just visited the Black Chasm Cavern so had been in a cave roughly 10 stories down. I can't imagine being almost a mile down. Learning about the processes and what was involved make me wish no one ever has to work in a mine. Thinking about a mine fire is terrifying, imagine all you have is a candle, you're stuck a mile below the ground, there's a fire and there's only an elevator with limited capacity. Also, who would think that a mine fills up with water? It makes sense, but then you have to haul all the water a mile up. The scale and magnitude of the machinery involved and the operation and processing of materials is amazing. This tour is worth it, just to get some idea of what's involved with mining. I went on the self-guided tour because I didn't have a lot of time, but I think it's worth going with the guided tour to get the full flavor of...

I have had gold fever since I was in 4th grade. (30+ years ago) I took my 2 kids 8 and 10. It was an amazing time for all 3 of us, and I was excited to share something with them that I have wanted to do since about their age. Our noon tour group was full and split in 2. If I had to do it again, I would book the earlier 10am tour to try and have a smaller group to really enjoy soaking in the history of the place. We came from the Bay Area, about a 2 hour trip one way. The drive was simple and beautiful, with an autumn day blessed with temps around the low 70's. Highly recommend a day trip, the guided tour! We also gold panned, which the kids fully enjoy...