Mason Mountain Mine & Cowee Gift Shop — Local services in Franklin

I cannot convey how much I enjoyed my recent visit to Mason Mountain Mine on May 25th and 26th (2025). My rockhounding friend and I had traveled from Katy, Texas, to North Carolina, for a rockhounding adventure, and Mason Mountain Mine didn't disappoint! First, the gift shop was great, the owners were so friendly and helpful. I was able to buy souvenier t-shirts and beautiful native stone jewelry to bring back as gifts. They also have a large selection of stone specimens from all over the world for sale. For myself, I bought a ring with a native sapphire stone, and the owner was able to size it up to my finger size at no additional cost. I absolutely LOVED the atmsophere in the mining/flume area! We were catered and attended to by the most excellent "Flume Master", Dale and his young pup, Pearl. I don't know that I would have enjoyed my experience as much as I did, had Dale not been there. Dale is very knowledgeable, very personable and full of wit! And he has quite the sense of humor! He goes all out, so please be sure to tip him! You're not actually in the mine, but rather, large loads of dirt are brought in from the mine to a flume area. They provide you with a 5 gal pail and trowel. You pick your lucky spot in the pile, fill your pail, and take it back to the flume to wash your diggings. And for a single $40.00 fee, you can do this as many times as you want. You don't have to pay extra for additional pails. As we were limited in our time there, I did simple rinsing of my diggings, pulled out obvious great finds (like rubies and rhodolite), and put the rest of the stones into my own pail to haul home and go through at my own pace. And I had a lot of great finds in what I brought home. Several rubies, a lot of beautiful rhodolite in schist specimens, and a whole bunch of smaller garnets, both pink and darker red . Make sure you use a UV 365 flashlight when you sort through your diggings, those rubies shine a billiant hot red under UV light, making them super easy to pick out of your diggings! Be prepared to get a bit wet with water from the flume splashing as you clean. I brought a dry set of clothes that I could change into afterwards. They have a large, clean bathroom on the side of the giftshop, so changing out of wet clothes, and washing hands was easy to do. We had visited a different nearby mine before going to Mason Mountain Mine, and in my opinion, Mason Mountain was by far the better choice. I'm really really hoping that there will be a return visit to Mason Mountain for my friend and I in the not too...

Had a Blast!!! Young and old will enjoy gem mining here You get a choice of salted or not.... meaning you can experience what it was like to mine in the old days, and take a chance on what you find OR, get a salted bucket and find all sorts of cool rocks For kids, the salted buckets are the way to go For experienced 'miners' go for the all day digs cause you never know what you might find. The gift shop is located right on Hwy 28 across from the Little Tenn river. The mine is separate, turn into the parking lot beside the gift shop, walk down the stairs. (Card payers do have to pay inside the shop, but at least they Do accept credit cards, And y'all, they got an ATM! If you are vacationing here, it's a surprise at how many places don't take credit cards!) It's a nice drive, with gorgeous views, no matter which side of hwy 28 you come from Visited a few days ago, and an all day 'miner' was finding star sapphires. Now they looked like rocks to me, but he was tickled pink, so if you know what your searching for, go for the all day digs for sure! Cool mountain stream flows thru their flume, so some might need waterproof gloves on cool days but it's still fun. Snacks and such are available in the gift shop. Most reasonable, affordable gem mining/shop I've found around the Franklin area. Thats why this place stays busy!! Locals love to...

We went to Mason Mountain gem mine in franklin/cower NC. First off... the inside is amazing and all the gifts are stunning. The customer service was very friendly and welcoming. 40 per person... you get a 5 gallon bucket, screens, baggies and a shovel and handtrucks... Now, you don't get a filled bucket of salted material. You get a empty bucket and you get to fill it will native dirt from the mine at the top of the mountain. You get to fill it AS MANY TIMES AS YOUR HEART DESIRES... well between 9am and 445pm. They have a water flume to wash and screen. The flume is covered too. John was the host at the mine. He is half the experience. Before you begin he will show you what the mine has to offer and what to look for. Walks you through the entire process. This guy is super friendly and knowledgeable... not only that, periodically he past by and checks out what you've found and will identify and answer any questions you have. When you are finished, you take your finds inside and have them appraised and weighed. They show off your finds under a UV light and can see your beautiful gems glow. We will definitely be going back and I'd recommend this place if you are traveling through or even want to make a day trip.

Still not sure what the white rice grain looking thing is. It glowed...