Post Date: Sept 30, 2011Trip Date: August 2011

Emerald Hollow Mine Revisted









I wanted to write this article as a follow-up to the first. If you haven’t already done so, please read the original article titled Emerald Hollow Mine. To put this story into the proper time frame it is now the summer of 2011. Seven years have passed since my first visit to the Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite, North Carolina.

My family of rock hounds and I were driving to Arkansas this year to dig for the famed diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds. If you are not familiar with this site please look this one up on the Internet. There is a wealth of information there.

My driving plans were to travel from Pittsburgh, Pa heading south to North Carolina then from there on to Arkansas. Pretty much forming an “L” shape instead of driving straight to Arkansas. We had planned a two-week trip and had reserved cottages close to the towns where our rock collecting would take us. The first week we would spend in North Carolina, staying a few days in Hiddenite and then a few days in Franklin. The second week we had booked a cottage in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

It’s a ten-hour drive from Pittsburgh, Pa. to Hiddenite, N.C. After arriving at our cottage, we unpacked, went for groceries, local newspapers, stopped to browse in a few local stores and did a little sight seeing. From what I had remembered nothing had changed much in seven years. We would dig for Emeralds tomorrow morning. My apprehension was high, though from our last experience Emeralds are very elusive.







We arrived at the road sign pointing the direction to the Emerald Hollow Mine. It was the same sign we saw years earlier. It looked like it had a fresh coat of paint though. I remembered that old narrow dusty red clay road through the forest, hardly wide enough for two cars to pass each other. That road only exists in my memories now! In its place is a dirt and gravel road wide enough for four school buses to pass. I see some changes have taken place.

Turning the bend, where the green forest used to be was a graveled parking lot probably capable of holding fifty or more cars. There was room enough to park at least ten school buses also.







On down the road, another parking lot had been added and just beyond that still another.

We turned one more bend and there it was……..the old wooden shanty just as I remembered it. At least one thing looked familiar. We had to turn around though because parking here was no longer permitted. Back to the first parking area we went. At least it was in the shade. I was completely surprised at the amount of cars in all of the parking areas. Seven years earlier there was a single lot located directly in front of the office, which may have been capable of holding 20 cars. Now, there are enough parking spaces for probably two hundred vehicles plus buses.








We walked down the road to the shanty office all the while I was looking at vehicle license plates. It was unbelievable the number of different states represented here. I was amazed how far people traveled to come here. We ourselves traveled over four hundred miles.

The old office shanty was exactly as I remembered it…small and full of dust, very nostalgic. You would be lucky if five people could stand inside at the same time. The “sluicing area” was still there. In fact I think every seat in the place was taken. Water was splashing, people were laughing. This is something that seems to have really caught on. There were buckets and buckets and buckets of sluicing soil piled three rows high just waiting to be bought. You have several options when purchasing buckets “native soil buckets”, “salted soil buckets” and the more expensive “enriched soil buckets”. If you wanted to sluice for diamonds they had buckets for that. If you wanted to find rubies they had buckets for that. And, if you wanted to find sapphires they had buckets for that. The people seated at the sluice loved this stuff. Why go out in the woods, get eaten by mosquitoes and dig for gemstones which chances are you are not going to find when you could sit on a bench, have a cool drink, buy a bucket of soil and be guaranteed to find a specific gemstone??? It makes perfect sense to me.







The signs directing you to the “digging area” and “creeking area” were still there. All we need do now if find the restroom. The restroom/washrooms were moved to higher ground, enlarged and modernized. We were now ready to find Emeralds.









In the office shanty, I paid do everything……just like the first time. The prices went up a few bucks but that is understandable. I asked a few questions and being just a little disappointed I walked out of the office. We were not given the who, what, where, when, why story like the first time we were here. Nor were we told to avoid crossing the creek because the property on the other side was supposedly guarded. And they didn’t tell us to stay clear of the private individual claim sites, which were staked. Had other things changed???








Back to car to get our dirty clothes, we changed and headed up the hill to the digging area. Right away I noticed the changes. The individual claim sites were gone, vanished, disappeared. The digging area had also been defined, unlike the first time. There were now posts set in the ground with yellow flagging tape running from post to post. It’s not the open range any longer you are very limited as to just where you can dig. This was a bad omen.








I don’t know what happened to the individual claim sites and I did not ask at the office. I probably should have just to quench my thirst. I will however email the mine and hopefully someone will reply. It appeared to me all the claim sites I remembered with all that heavy equipment contained within them had just vanished. As though they never existed. And, without photos it’s like they never did. Even the excavations seemed as though they were back filled and buried. There are several scenarios that could explain their disappearance. If there were Emerald or precious gemstones hidden there, maybe the veins ran dry. Maybe it was not cost effective to work the claim. Or, maybe no one ever found anything of valve and all attempts were abandoned. I was very disappointed with this because armed with my camera this time I was going to click off dozens of photos. I was also extremely displeased the digging area was now limited. It was actually laughable. Here you have a very small area, maybe one acre…guess. With thousands of holes already dug into the soil. From my perspective, there was nowhere anyone could dig that wasn’t dug already. It seemed pointless to even try. My wife and son started an excavation. I didn’t bother. Instead, I walked the perimeter of the digging area looking at what other diggers had thrown away. Needless to say, I returned with nothing








There was one bright spot out of all this darkness. In my exploration, I ran across a young couple just digging away with all the excitement I remember I had my first time. Stopping to chat, they showed me their “finds”. They were really happy and rightfully so. They told me this was their first time rock collecting and asked if I might be able to identify some of their stuff. “Sure” I said and pointed out their pieces of quartz, smoky quartz, and muscovite mica. It was nothing wonderful but to them it was everything. I remember the feeling.

So, locating my family we walked back to have a small bagged lunch. By this time, I had already decided this site no longer held the charm and mineral potential I once believed it did.








Down to the creek we went. What a place ! ! ! The first time we were there it was completely void of people. It was a perfect place to screen for possible gemstones. This time however the small narrow creek ran muddy from the children playing in the water. I am not one to complain or criticize all I am doing is reporting my observations.

This particular day, the day we just happened to be there the creek was now a water sport area. I must admit it is also a perfect place to do just that. The kids were having a great time. We walked the length of the creek, maybe one thousand yards. This is the length of creek on this property. We walked to the sign that said, “no trespassing”. There were several different groups of adults screening the sandy rocky creek bed. These were most likely the parents of the children.







There were no longer were any signs across the creek informing you to “keep out”. In fact there now was a beautiful trail to follow the entire length of the mine property. We crossed the creek and walked down the trail.








Again, my heart just was just not in it but since we were there and it was a hot day. When in Rome do as the Romans. I took off my shoes and socks, stepped into the creek and sat down on a large rock. The water was cool and refreshing. The rest of my family followed suit and soon we were laughing and screening for gemstones. Here is the really interesting part of the story. The first time we were here while screening in the creek we found a handful of smaller pebble sized Emerald pieces. This time within one hour, we had screened up three large chunks of the same greeny Emerald matrix material like the first time. It was amazing. After the first find by my son, my excitement level rose to maximum. My wife had the second find and finally I scored. It was wonderful. With all the activity going on in the creek, I never would have thought we would walk away with the finds we did. My thought is maybe all the activity in the creek loosened up these three specimens hidden below.






Still one more thing to do…sluicing. This has nothing what-so-ever with rock hunting. And, hopefully you got my meaning stated earlier. If you look at it in the perspective of entertainment and not related to serious rock collecting, it becomes clear it’s all right to do.

We got three “free” complimentary buckets of soil since I originally paid to do everything. Wow…………The complimentary buckets are native soil buckets. We had to stand and wait our turn as all the seats were taken at the sluice. I said this is a huge moneymaker here. You have to stand in line to get a seat. Once three seats together were free we sat down. I couldn’t wait to start sluicing. I’m telling you, this is fun. I see why it is such a big attraction. My bucket was emptied within a few minutes. The wife went a little slower, in fact a lot slower. About twenty minutes slower. I found if you dump half your bucket of dirt into your screen at one time you could find the treasures hidden in the bucket a lot faster. She likes the pace yourself approach. Put in a small handful of soil, shake it about in the water stream. Stair at the specimens in your screen. Then finally hand pick each specimen one by one and place each in your complimentary clear plastic bag. Repeat, repeat till your bucket is empty. Regardless as to your particular approach, you will eventually find all the treasures someone put in that bucket of yours ……..after you remove the soil. Hahahahahahah.






We closed the day with smiles on our faces, each of us knowing we will never return. Like it was said in the movie “Casblanca”……..”We’ll always have Paris”.

As a personal note, without malice or bad intentions, I would like to say to any serious rock collector this site holds nothing of value for you. I seriously do not believe you will dig up Emeralds. Certainly not by hand with pick and shovel in the area provided. The possibility does exist however, as remote as it may be should heavy digging equipment be employed. This seems unlikely though. You may dig up a few chunks of quartz, mica. The creeking area does hold some possibility but in my estimation hardly worth the effort. To many people with to many screens. Anything that may have been in there is no longer there. If there were any potential here the property owners above and below would be actively and aggressively pursuing this. Which they are not.

If on the other hand you are looking for a fun filled day this is the place to come. Weather young or old there is something for everyone. Bring a lunch, bathing suit, towel, hand soap to clean up when you’re ready to leave and clean clothes. Have fun…………….



I do have an update (October 7,2011)to this story. The mine does have a website and they do offer a "contact us" link. I emailed the mine through this link asking about the former rental claims. I received a reply from a lady named Dottie. She states "those claims would have expired by now". "We had someone back in June who wanted a short term claim, but haven't heard back from them".



Thank you

Franko