GTC Rock Shop — Local services in Ballenger Creek

This shop is SO cool. My family were at the Barnes and Noble in the mall, and had to stop by to check it out. It's like something out of Doctor Who... Until you walk in, you don't realize how huge the space is! As a family of nature and dinosaur loving folks, we spent over an hour here and barely scratched the surface. Right when you walk in there is a huge dinosaur and fossil room full of free educational displays, puzzles, and learning stations. There are also a ton of dinosaur displays like the ones you see at kids museums. The staff was so friendly, answering questions and even turning off the lights so we could see the uranium glass glow in the UV light. There was something for everyone... they have a flume where you can do rock buckets and discover fossils, gems, and more! Then they have geode cracking right in the store. There is everything from small tumbled stones to jewelry and massive fossils, megalodon teeth, and huge raw cut crystals for home decor. This place is truly a hidden gem in Frederick. You can and will spend hours walking around, learning, oohing, and ahhing over the incredible rocks. The sweet, helpful staff is the...

What an amazing place! Went with my boys (7 & 4) for the first time… they absolutely loved it! From dinosaurs, to fossils, meteorites, rocks and gemstones… this place has it all! Truly a hidden gem (literally) and a must visit if in the Frederick area. I can’t say enough about this place… everything was so cool. It was paradise for the boys. We did Gemstones Flume Mining… it was SO MUCH fun! They got some awesome shark teeth and semi-precious stones. All that said… the best part was the employees that works there; super friendly, knowledgeable and helpful! Miss Jordan was so kind and sweet in helping my boys at the flume. They couldnt stop talking about it in the car. And now knowing this amazing place exist we look forward to coming here every weekend. Thank you GTC Rock Shop for allowing us to have such precious memories on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.

[EDIT] Came back the very next day! Gave in to my son desire for a Megalodon tooth… Alex was super awesome in helping us find the perfect stand for it! Love...

Not many reasons to go to the mall anymore, but the GTC Rock shop is definitely one of them. Let's start off with the employees. Let's face it. It makes a huge difference to a customer how the employees interact with you. They were knowledgeable and. I brought my 12-year-old daughter with me and she kept her hands to herself but we didn't have anybody breathing down our neck making sure. Next let's move to the merchandise. I'm not much of a geologist but all the rocks, crystals, and so on just look cool. All the displays were well done with the light hitting everything just right. I also appreciated that they had expensive, mid-range, and cheap items for sale. Awesome place and well deserving of a rare five-star...