Gold Rush Mining Adventure

We loved it! The blonde gal working was super sweet. We went in with 6 kids and she handled our group with a great attitude and huge smile! The kids had a blast, We panned for gems and broke geodes. We would definitely visit again!

I was surprised by this place. We found a flyer and decided to stop in and check out prices. Once we got into the door, it was an adventure. My kids were super excited and we split a package. We did the lava Dino dig. It was totally decorated darling and all ages 9, 6 and 3 were totally into it. Afterwards you look through your stones and talk about them with the people who work there. We went straight to dinner and my kids looked and talked about their adventure all night. It’s simple, if you want to you can split it and make it affordable and surprisingly it entertained all ages. I’d go back!

This place is an old fashioned tourist trap adventure! Everything is totally overpriced and such cheap quality. I would avoid this one. We did the Frozen adventure and searched thru some sort of slimy goo to find ‘treasures’.

Phenomenal! Truly the highlight of our entire trip. Very unique experience. I completely disagree with the post complaining that it’s too brief and expensive. For one thing, it’s several experiences you can choose from a variety and assemble your own package. So if you want it longer, then make it so.
Secondly, while not super cheap, your kids get to take home a ton of beautiful semi precious stones, geodes, agates, amethysts, mineral rocks, jewels in raw form, fossils and more. So you can’t compare it to amusement experiences of the same length and/​or price where you do the activity and leave without a big bag of goodies.

Awesome place! Went here with my family! They were so helpful! We got to pan for gold and break open different rocks! My kids loved it and I would definitely go back!

This was a very neat place everyone needs to take some time to visit. Their staff was so friendly and nice. You can tell they love what they do. They have a great selection to choose from with regards to options for the kids to pan for gems, bones, teeth, etc.
Prices were decent. Regardless of which bucket or package you get you won’t be disappointed.

Had some time to spare before heading home and happened to stumble across this place on the Internet. My son, 9, thought it was pretty awesome that he could sift for fossils and pan for gold. Cheryl happened to be in the office that day and she was fantastic. She explained everything thoroughly and was great helping my son with the gold panning. We had a great time. He’s in the process of painting a display box for his treasures he found today. We even cracked geodes while we were there! Highly recommend for the kiddos!

Awesome place to visit while you’re at big Bear. My daughter had a lot of fun mining and identifying the gems

Tourist trap. The gems were pretty, but the «mining» was not very exciting and the prices were too high for a 10 minute stop. It took us longer to drive here. The best part is the pamphlet that came with the gems. My kids have been using it to identify rocks in our backyard and for the rest of our trip to BigBear.

A super fun thing to do with kids… fun and educational. Breena was very kind, patient and informative. We absolutely loved this experience!

it is a little pricey… i.e. 9.95 for a plastic egg. but the kids were happy and i am sure that could use the money

If you haven’t visited this awesome place take the time and check it out. it’s a fun experience for the whole family. My boys loved it. The staff is very welcoming and informative on explaimg the process. Plus you get to bring home some neat souvenirs. thank you to our helper Shauna :)

I’ve done gold mining before when I was younger in Girl Scouts so I was excited when I found out about this place before my visit to Big Bear. I was expecting to see a creek alongside the shop where the gold mining was done but it’s done right outside the front door. Even though it wasn’t what I expected it was still a fun stop.
You have a lot of options to choose from; whether you want stones, fossils, gold, pearls, geodes, etc. There is a decent price range, and you’re guaranteed to get stuff in your bag. I got the $ 20 fossil bag. Once you pick your bag you go outside and sift your treasure out in the water & then they give you a zip lock baggie and a brochure so you can identify everything. I think this would be an awesome stop for people with kids, it’s a chance to learn and have fun at the same time. It doesn’t take a lot of time and you have something really unique to bring home with you afterward.

We are staying at Golden Bear Cottages. Gold Rush Mining Adventure is only a two minute drive. So we brought my three kids here to mine for gold!
The employee that helped us, Cheryl, really makes this place what it is. She was friendly, helpful, and detailed in her description of what is offered as well as pricing. I used my Unilocal check in to score a free historical item for the kids. She let each of my boys choose one free Quartz stone. She explained the historical significance. In the past when miners searched for gold, they often used Quartz as a clue. Quartz would sometimes be abundant if there was gold in the area.
We decided to purchase a $ 20 sand bucket to mine for gold. Each of my kids sifted through the dirt to discover small treasures! They included gems, rocks, and minerals. We also got 3 small geodes (one for each kid) for $ 3 each. After tax, our total was around $ 31. They also offer a choice of fossils instead of rocks. All in all my kids enjoyed themselves. This is a nice souvenir for the kids to reminisce about for their first trip to Big Bear.
There is a small ghost town located right next to the mining area. We walked around and took pictures of the kids.
If you’re concerned about price, they offer $ 10 bags to sift through (they contain unpolished rocks). If you’re looking for something cool for your kids to do in Big Bear, this is a great place. It was a cool activity that got us off the premises of the cabins. The kids were able to take home a nice memento.

This is a great geology adventure for kids. Staff was incredibly nice and knowledgeable. We will definitely come back again.

If you have nothing else to do with your time and money, come here. A little pricey, ($ 20 — $ 50) for a 5 minute ordeal. Gift shop is also pricey with Geodes averaging between $ 45-​$ 75).
You go inside and pick out a bag of either minerals, fossils, etc, the price is on the bag. The staff member takes you outside and dumps the sand with the fossils, etc. into your sifter. What is left are the rocks, fossils, etc. that were hidden in the bag you purchased. You then go over to the dry table and you get a pamphlet for you to match up your treasures with their names and learn a little more about them.
Staff was not very nice, but didn’t go out of their way to make you feel like you were a customer or that they value your business. More of a hands off approach. If you have questions, they will answer them, but won’t go out of their way.
Again, the end result is cool, but we were looking for more of an experience, instead of just handing over the money, dumping out the sand, and walking away with our treasures $ 40 later. I can think of a lot more ways to spend 15 minutes and $ 40. We will not be returning.

Saw their ad in the big bear magazine so thought would check this out. Mining for gold is really just a name. You have a lot of choices to pick for kids to mine for like rocks and minerals to even some dinosaur stuff. You pick what size bucket you want to mine for some are about $ 10. We were their on Thursday and place was empty so got the place to ourselves. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable on what the rocks were etc. Great for kids.

My 7 & 10 year old girls loved the place! Cheryl was fantastic, and very knowledgeable. My girls said she was very sweet! Check out the packages for a better deal. They also sell beautiful jewelry and bracelets. We will be back! Thanks again!

Not a tour, BUT great fun for kids. Lots of stuff to look at. The shops sells bags of what looks to be pretty much sand. You get to pan the contents and keep what pans out. We split the Mother Lode bag for 4 boys (ages 6 to 9) and they all got a bunch of fossils, gem stones, and more. A pamphlet that tells you what you got.
The shopkeeper was very nice and helpful, and great with the kids. The kids are all thrilled with their haul. Fun stop for something quick and different to do in BB.

If you have elementary age kids this place you gotta see! They sell bags of sand and have the kids sift through the sand and bingo! They have beautiful jewelry, the owner is very knowledgable about the types of rocks and is friendly with our children