Foscoe Gem Mine

"Super super nice staff. Very very knowledgeable. Very patient with a first timer who brought more just rocks back to the claims office than Gems. Eric took his time was very knowledgeable and extremely patient. Would highly recommend for a single person to stop by or a family with ya best pet to stop in and see what treasures you can find. I will be going back again!"

Kristy Sizemore

"We stopped at this gem mining spot during a trip to Banner Elk, and it was a charming little place to visit with kids. I chose this location because reviews mentioned the staff do a great job identifying and explaining the gems you find, which is something we haven't experienced at other mining places before.

We visited on a Sunday morning in June with our two kids (ages 8 and 5) who love gem mining. We were the only ones there, and the staff was friendly and welcoming. You get to choose from a variety of bucket sizes. We picked the third-largest option, which was around $58 after tax. At first, we were excited by how much material was in the bucket (see my photo for reference).

Unfortunately, once we started sifting, we realized a lot of it was just dirt. The kids were a little disappointed because they’ve found much larger gems in smaller bags at other places, so expectations were a bit higher. They split the bucket between them, and I’ve included photos of what they ended up finding.

I did appreciate that the staff took the time to clean and organize the gems. They taped everything to a sheet of paper with labels so we knew what each stone was, although there was definitely a lot of tape involved. That said, we didn’t get much in terms of explanation—just a quick “you guys did well today,” which left us wanting a bit more detail considering what brought us there in the first place. Keep in mind they do accept cash tips at this point.

There is also a jewelry shop next door where they offer to cut your gems and turn them into custom jewelry. We decided not to go that route on this visit.

Overall, it was a fun experience and a nice stop for families. I would be interested in coming back and trying one of the larger $100 or $200 buckets to see if the quality and size of the gems improve with those options."

Aleena Sharp

"This was a great gem mine! We went for the $53 bucket (split between two people) and found a ton of good stones. There was a softball size geode, roughly 20 cuttable stones and tons more smaller stones. The owner was super friendly and helpful, showing us which stones we had found and some of their attributes. My favorites that we found were the Mexican opal and pink sapphire. This location also has great views of grandfather mountain so it’s a good fall family activity. It was really nice to have sleuthing troughs at different heights, a real advantage if you have kids, as well as benches if you get tired of standing. There is also an awning at the top to stand out of the sun or rain. Another big plus is that they also offer cutting and jewelry making of your stones that you find next door for relatively reasonable prices. Definitely will go back!"

Bethany Prevette