Sumpter Valley Dredge — Attraction in Sumpter

Dredge was interesting. Need to come on a weekend if you want a guided tour. The man at the visitor center was very nice! However, the female volunteer ruined our visit. I stopped in front of the restroom and got rudely bawled out in front of my children. She approached my running vehicle yelling ' what part of 'no parking' can't you understand??? She proceeded to yell about how I was in a traffic zone. There were maybe two other guests at the center and not one car in or out while I was stopped. The entrance is plenty wide so I wasn't blocking anything in the two to three minutes I was stopped. I tried to explain that I was just waiting for my daughter for a minute but she proceeded to yell at me. I understand that places like this need volunteers but looking through reviews others have had similar experiences. I was wrong to stop where I did but it could have been handled much more professionally and with kindness rather than yelling in front of my 8 year old. Totally uncalled for!! Ended what would have been a nice experience on a...

Truly a piece of living history! We had seen videos but wanted to experience it ourselves. It appears to be maintained but there was a broken bridge to the entrance and they weren't allowing any viewing inside the dredge which had been offered previously which was a huge disappointment. We went technically out of season so the ranger station was closed but we might try another one this summer. We would like to go inside and see the workings of the dredge now. There is a lot of old pieces of equipment that they kept in the area where you could go right up to it and touch them, like rusted pumps and scoops. Everything was totally awesome! In addition down the road in Sumter there was an outside museum of sorts where there are lots of different kinds from the same year that have been kept. You just drive in and walk around no cost. We were told that season is memorial through...

Handicap accessibility ♿️. Guided tours are every hour on the dot. Last tour is normally 2pm. We went on a Sunday at 2 pm. I highly recommend taking a guided tour. There is a path you can take to look at some old mining equipment nearby with benches along the path. Picnic tables are available nearby.

They also have a hands on pan for gold activity for the whole family to try, but that is $5 per person. There is a train ride the whole family can take. I took a picture 📸 how much and what times.

It has a nice little gift shop with informational posters throughout, and you can get a picture in and around some real mining carts in front of the visitor center 😀.

Overall, it is a great family...