2. Creeking: The creekin' activity is everyone's favorite. Here, participants will learn about density, weight and gravity, and how each of these play a role in why gold and gemstones are so often found in the creek. A demonstration will be given on how to pan for gold and how to find the gemstones in the creek bed. Emerald Creek is only ankle to knee deep, so the student can go creekin' to find more gems. After the presentation, participants are allowed some time to look for gemstones in the creek. Emerald Creek is breathtakingly beautiful. Be sure to watch for the many varieties of wild flowers along the trails!

3. Sluicing: This is also a favorite! At the Sluiceway, your group will learn how to "sluice" a bucket of "ore" so that they may find the gems hidden in it. Each participant will receive one bucket of ore to sluice. These buckets are filled with unprocessed ore taken directly from the mine. Most all of these buckets will produce some colorful gems which are sure to bring plenty of excited ooohhs and ahhhhs! We also have gemstone identification charts in the sluicing area that will show the names of the gems, as well as what they look like after they have been cut into finished gemstones.

4. Surface Collecting: Participants are escorted to a safe mining area on the "East Ridge." Here, they will learn about erosion and what it has to do with finding gems on the surface of the ground, North Carolina mining laws and the E.P.A. After the presentation, time is allotted for participants to do some surface collecting (look for gemstones on the surface in the mining area) on their own. With more than sixty-three different naturally occurring gems and minerals to be found here, there are always plenty of good rocks found on this activity.

Lunch Time: By the time they have completed the four scheduled activities, your group will have probably worked up quite an appetite. We have a beautiful wooded picnic area with picnic tables near Emerald Creek where your group can enjoy lunch. Please remind your group to help keep Emerald Hollow beautiful. There are designated trash containers in the picnic areas, but we appreciate your bringing along large trash bags to help keep your groups' trash contained. (You will probably want to allow approximately thirty minutes for lunch.)

Free Time:  After lunch, there are numerous activities your group may enjoy doing until your scheduled departure time. If you allow, they are welcome to return to the creek or the surface collecting area to look for more gemstones at no charge. They are also welcome to return to the sluiceway to wash additional buckets of ore, although they will be required to purchase the additional buckets of ore. Additional buckets of ore may be purchased for $5.00. For the more serious, we also have $5.00 ruby & sapphire buckets and our ever popular $15.00, 5 gallon "Super Bucket", which is loaded with a wide variety of gemstones.

   They may also visit the gift shop where we offer very affordable gemstone jewelry, gifts and mineral specimens for sale.
  There are gemstone identification charts that will help your group learn more about their finds of the day and plenty of helpful staff to answer any questions.

  Free time is also a great time for picture taking or enjoying all the nature the mine has to offer. There is abundant wildlife - ducks, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and friendly resident dogs and cats for everybody to enjoy!

Schedule: The educational program and field trip lasts about 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours. Please plan to spend as much of the day, from 8:30 to 4:30 as possible.

Helpful Hints: Preparations so that your visit will be more fun:

• Allow all the time that you can.
• Bring a large margarine or cool whip container, or the like with the child's name on it for the gems that they will find.
• Wear old play clothes and shoes. Plan on getting soil on you! Bring a change of clothes and shoes, an old towel to dry your feet after creeking, and sunscreen and bug spray.
• Please collect money in advance (parents same price as child). We need all the time available for field trip activities.
• Dress appropriately for the weather! Remember, we will be outdoors and it can get chilly in early spring and late fall. Also, advise your group to bring rain gear if the possibility of rain is in the forecast. For your convenience, we have provided a link to our local weather forecast here.
  (Note: Rain, sleet or snow - if at all possible we will accommodate your group.)

Pricing:  The cost of the earth science tour is $12/person (College Students - $20.00), with a minimum of 12 people, or a minimum of $144. There are 4 scheduled activities on our earth science tour: sluicing, creeking, surface collecting and an earth science class. The cost of the second option, our summer fun tour, is $10/person, with a minimum of 12 people, or a minimum of $120. The summer fun tour is the same except we skip the earth science class, as most kids on summer vacation are not as interested in sitting through a class. Each activity usually takes about 30 minutes or so. Most groups will come sometime in the morning, do the scheduled activities, go to one of the picnic areas and have their lunch, then come back for free time afterwards. The kids can go back and do more of the activities they were most interested in or go to the gift shop area, whatever your time allows.

Two adults as chaperones per 30 school age children will be allowed to participate for free in each earth science tour. All other participants will be charged. We also have primitive campsites available for scout troops who would like to make the trip a weekend camping outing as well. They will not be charged camping fees if participating in our educational field trip program to earn the geology badge.

NOTE: Pricing for our field trip program is greatly discounted from our regular fees. Please do not ask for additional discounts, more free adults than already allotted, etc...

Reservations:  To make reservations, call 828-635-1126. Dottie or Carolyn will assist you with setting a date and time, and can answer any questions that you might have. When making your reservations, it will be helpful to have the following information available.

• Name of School, Group or Organization
• Name of Contact Person
• Contact Person's Phone Number and Fax Number
• Mailing Address
• Approximate number of field trip participants and grade level or age
• Number of Classes/Teachers
• Arrival Time (If you are late, we will adjust to meet your schedule.)
  Note: Drive time can be estimated by clicking here.
  Click here for detailed map and driving directions.
• Departure Time (Stay as late as you can, it will not cost more. It's just more fun.)
• We have new large restroom facilities.

We hope that you will come to recognize this "hands on" field trip as an important Earth Science teaching tool and like many other public schools, scout troops and other organizations, this will become a regular part of your annual curriculum.

Hiddenite Gems, Inc.
P.O. Box 276 / 484 Emerald Hollow Mine Drive
Hiddenite, NC 28636
Information Toll Free: (866) 600-GEMS or (866) 600-4367
Information Local: (828) 632-3394
Field Trip Reservations for groups of 12 and larger: (828) 635-1126
Fax: (828) 635-7986
E-mail: info@hiddenitegems.com
Owned and operated by Dottie Watkins