Pigeon Forge Gem Mine — Attraction in Pigeon Forge

What a great place for a family outing and fun for the whole family!! The great experience at this place is that everybody gets involved from tiny tots to grandparents and everyone in between.

You start off by walking inside and picking your bucket. They start off at $35 and go up from there. You then move onto picking a spot to start mining gemstone, minerals, fossils, arrowheads, shark teeth, and shells. You would think you’re getting little slivers or the junk pieces of the stones but you were getting beautiful stones that are large chunks!! We were definitely surprised at the size and amount of gemstones that we received in our bucket.

When you have finished you put all of your mining items in a bag and take it to The back room, where a certified gemologist will tell you exactly what you have, and where each one will come from. Then you have the option to have your own mind, gemstones, cut, polished, and placed into jewelry or just as loose stones. They have a great variety to show you what each stone will look like once it’s cut and polished, and then an extensive selection of jewelry you can have made for your gemstone.

We worked with Kelly, who was just such a delight to work with. She really took her time with us, she shared her knowledge with us and was able to answer every question, and was really able sit there and go step-by-step with us. Kelly also showed patience and kindness when it came to our very rowdy children. We have two boys who were all about the gem mining and learning about the stones and she was so excited to sit there and teach them and give that same enthusiasm right back to them.

We enjoyed our time at the gemstone mine that we came back three times during our week long stay. Our kids loved it. Our nephews loved it. Grandma loved watching the children just have a blast and it doesn’t hurt that maybe Mom’s gets a piece of custom jewelry in the end!

This is a must do for anyone who comes to the area!! The entire store and all employees make the store feel very welcoming and homey. You can tell they really care about your experience and making it memorable for you. We will definitely be back!!

Also those who are Big Brother fans like myself, Red from season 25 is constantly in store! I was able to grab a photo, a video for my FIL and to have a chat. Such a sweet...

This was a let down. Had been seeing the social media posts and the videos so was excited to go and try it. But it was a let down. Sales kept pushing for the more expensive buckets and was not trying for that. Had mind set on finding certain gems. Got a pink bucket and a blue bucket looking for quartz and amethyst. Well it was a waste of money. Those buckets did not have what the signs said. Would've been better off getting the baby bear bucket that was on sale and saved some money. The pieces were so small, barely got a handful of gems. It was not like the things I've seen. I could see it as a fluke with just one, but with two, nah. It has left a negative feeling for me.

The staff inside were nice and friendly. Some items are priced high.

original review: August 2024 Update: September 2024

Do not contact that email. It is a group mailbox and many of the employees have access to it. So if you get the lazy employee who doesn't want to deal with stuff, your contact may get ignored.

The staff is divided. Some want to do a genuine good job with customer service and others are just there for a paycheck. They don't seem to realize that being rude to customers and giving bad service, you signed up for the role of dealing with customers, that if you keep running them off, that means no business is coming in, and that will eventually mean you will be out of a job.

You are better off searching online for bulk gemstones or even going on Amazon to get them. It's the same stone mix.

They say the buckets are "speciality" but they all have the same thing in it. A specialty would be 75-90% of that special item and a mix of other stuff. But theirs is not at all. When this was brought up they kept saying you should have said something while here. Or call in to get us to help. They did not want to understand that people sometimes cannot always bring stuff up in person, are in hurry with their group, or they cannot use a phone. So out of two buckets that were around $35 each, only got 1 handful of gem stones. For lesser money online, I could buy the gemstones.

On the buckets, don't pay for that speciality one. Just get a regular one if you want to try the "experience". If you want special stones outside of a regular mix, look inside the shop first and price things out before doing the...

We visited this gem mine twice in the month of June. We were approached and asked if we wanted to do gem mining, and then ignored until it looked like we were interested in a pricy crystal and then a sales man offered to put it at the register for us. Our first visit we spent around $100 on smaller stones for our children. Our second visit we spent $300 only because I couldn't find a large geode crystal anywhere else that we visited. Our second visit we were not helped at all until we checked out.

I am knowledgeable when it comes to rocks and minerals, but I would have most likely spent more if I was offered help, or any information at all about the items we were looking at.

We bought two $25 buckets for mining. We received a fair amount of gems, aarowheads and shark teeth in each. It's a fun experience for kids and adults.

My daughters who are one and three enjoyed the t-rex out front. He could use a makeover as he's falling apart and missing limbs and part of his tail. He also doesn't work, so don't waste your quarters. Kids were thrilled just to sit on him and play like they were riding. Cute!

There also is a Bigfoot/Sasquatch inside. He was in good condition and fun for my girls to see and touch. Made for some cute pictures as well. We were impressed with the huge specimens that were on display! Fantastic to see!!

Overall, we were pleased with our visit, but most likely will not return. It's the kind of place that you only need to visit one time. I am enjoying my crystal geode and it looks great in our flower garden/entryway to our home.

Spent about an hour here looking around and exploring stones. Perfect location, right on the Parkway in...