Lucky Lake Gem Mine

We had a fun time at this kid-friendly venue mining for gemstones! Helpful, knowledgeable staff were on hand to show us the ropes and we took our loot to be checked by an expert who educated us on our finds. Highly recommend this adventure for young and old alike!

We have been here several times. It’s one of my favorite places to go as a family and for me personally. If you like rocks or stones or gems or anything like that, it’s super fun to see what stones you get. We are now developing quite the collection of cut stones too thanks to this place, highly recommend.

Great little family run place. Great staff, take the time at completion of your search to go over what you have. Also a nice little story of each stone. Really got my daughter into rock hunting and identification. Now we have a young one who wants to learn and cut gems. So this stems from someone to bring excitement and knowledge to a young girl.

My 13 yo daughter and I drove a couple hours to get there and I wasn’t sure what to expect as we’ve never done anything like this before. It’s Virginia so who really ever knows what the weather will be! It was hot and muggy, of course. I can’t remember which bucket we got but we did get a stone cut from it. Although it was hot and I was the dirt scooper of this huge bucket and my daughter was doing the fun stuff. We had a GREAT time! This is a family run business and I think some people forget that when they review. We were engaging with pretty much all the staff out there. They were friendly and at one point an older gentleman came out and asked if we were enjoying ourself etc. the woman who went over our stones was Knowledgeable and kind. We never felt rushed since it did take a while for me to scoop the entire bucket! We went inside the gift shop to find even more beautiful things in there. The stone we had cut was finished pretty quickly but we haven’t been able to make it out to pick it up yet. When we do I’m sure we will be doing it again!

What a fun little operation! My older kids had a great time, though my younger ones weren't interested for more than a few minutes.

The buckets of dirt and gems can be pricey, but most buckets can entertain two or three people for a while, so they're a decent value. You won't find any heirloom quality gems, of course, but there are some sizable treasures to be had all the same. My oldest found two pieces of obsidian, each larger than his hand.

The staff take their time with every customer. While that can lead to some long-ish waits, you won't feel rushed and they will answer EVERY question you have; they're deeply knowledgeable.

My kids are already talking about wanting to go back.