Consolidated Gold Mine

Our two kids (7 and 12) are enamored with minerals and mining and were excited to go into a old gold mine and get a chance to pan for gold. The tour and panning did not disappoint. They were both very happy so the parents were too. We also did the gem ‘mining’ which was fun even though not our first time. The items the kids found were larger and nicer than any other place we have been. And Miner Mike is making our 12 yo daughter a ring from one of our finds for a shockingly reasonable price.

My Girl Scout troop voted to go gold panning with their cookie money this year. We selected Consolidated because the mine tour looked cool. Let me tell you, it was even better than we expected. We had 13 3^rd graders (8 – 9 years old) and 4 adults.
We started with a picnic lunch — they have a covered area with plenty of picnic tables. Very nice and clean. Good bathrooms close by.
We did the combo with the gem panning, gold panning, and mine tour.
The girls loved the gem panning and there was a large display of all the minerals, so they could identify everything. Very enthusiastic.
The panning for gold was a little more challenging, but they all dug it. We did not get very much gold, but everyone was happy with their finds regardless.
The mine tour was EXCELLENT. Frankly, I was taken aback by how interesting it was, and how thorough the tour was. We really enjoyed this. The girls learned a lot, and equally importantly, they thought it was very cool. Two thumbs up from girls and adults.
Our guide, Micah, was very patient with the girls, answered endless questions, and handled their occasional silliness with good humor. He was very knowledgeable and very funny. He kept things interesting and was very accommodating to the girls. Very impressed.
Overall this was the rare combination of something that was both educational and really fun. It’s an excellent group outing. Highly recommended!

This a fun place for a day trip especially if you have young children. The staff is very friendly and the tour was interesting. Our guide was very funny and knowledgeable. We did the gold panning, too which was a big hit for my 5 year old son. I’ve heard good things about the gem mining, so we’ll plan to do that next time. They have a clean gift shop with lots of neat items, all which are reasonably priced.

We did the tour and gold panning. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Loved our tour guide JD. He was comical and informative all at the same time. Definitely one of our favorite activities while in Dahlonega!

Kids love it! Fun for the family !! Guide very nice and funny for the little one ! Worth the stop!

We took our 8^th graders here! They loved it! So did I!!! We had a great tour guide and enjoyed his jokes and lively personality.

Lots of fun, very interesting to learn about the mines. Our tour guide was awesome. Great thing to take children to see!

We love it here. You can take a tour of a real mine and also pan for gold. This is only for older kids and adults that are not clausterphobic. The mine is underground and is down many stairs so it is not good for strollers or wheelchairs. It is very informative and interesting.
In addition to this fun family even you can pay $ 30+ for a bucket and find gem stones. This is so much fun for kids and adults and no skill necessary. We even are keeping our stones.
We went all the way with the tourist experience and even paid to get our sapphire we found and had the family there cut it and set it in a ring. The staff is friendly and very attentive. They do work for tips but treat everyone wonderfully.
Unfortunately they do not have family restrooms and suggest changing babies in your car. Other than that they are wonderful.

Took our family to celebrate our daughter’s 29^th birthday… the staff welcomed us with great enthusiasm and announced her birthday. Every employee was friendly and helpful, especially Jean! Toured the mine, panned for gold and panned for Gem stones. Found lots of great stones in the $ 100 bucket! No 3 daughter ordered an Amethyst ring and Sapphire Earrings will go to the birthday girl. The jewelry prices are VERY fair and they will ship directly. Wonderful experience! Thank you for a very fun family outing!

We’re locals and this was our first time exploring the mines. I have to say, the tour and how well we were treated by the entire staff definitely makes you want to return. Super friendly folks from the time you enter till the time you leave.
We started by panning for gold which honestly we’ve done on a prior trip to Alaska, but this time, we actually learned more about the technique and how to properly pan. A very simple video explains the techniques and then a staff member comes along while you’re panning to assist. You’re only going to find a few pieces of gold in your pan, but it does give you an appreciation for the art of panning for gold.
Then it was on to the tour which was lead by Precious. In a word, he was awesome. He knew the story well on the mines, answered everyone’s questions and he was very entertaining, especially with the kids. To go down into the mines, you do have to have a good sense of balance and you definitely want some good walking shoes as you will be walking down over 100 feet. Sometimes you’re walking down an incline and other times, you’re walking down stairs. Oftentimes it’s a little damp along the ground. So definitely wear good shoes and if you get a chill easily, it’s around 55 degrees at all times down in the mine so bring a jacket.
The mine itself is eerily beautiful especially with the way it’s lit. It really makes you appreciate the struggles and work required to carve this mine into the ground. They give you hard hats because while the ceiling is generally quite high, the ceiling does change heights and even at my 5′ 7″ there are times that I had to duck. There’s not much more to say about the mine itself because describing it doesn’t do it justice, you really have to visit to see.
Of course the gift shop is well stocked and there is quite a selection of gems and jewelry that was created right on site that’s quite impressive. They will even set and cut loose gems into rings.

Took my nephew for his birthday. He loves geology so I thought he would enjoy this. He had a blast and surprisingly, so did me and my wife. We panned for gold then took the tour. Very cool down in the mine. Our guide, Nolan, was very informative and funny. We then grubbed for gems. We found all kinds of different stones in our bucket. One of the «miners» then took time to talk to my nephew about each of the rocks. Very good trip for us!

Getting the one big negative out of the way, Consolidated Gold Mine does not allow U.S. Military personnel free admission or at very least a deep discounted admission price. This is very shameful and unpatriotic, and ALL tourist attractions in Georgia offer free or deep discounted admission to U.S. Military personnel. Shame on Consolidated!
That said, we had fun here. The $ 16 per person admission is reasonable. The mine tour takes about 30 minutes, and our guide was very informative and friendly. They allow you to pan for gold at the end of the tour, and that was fun for all ages. The gift shop was interesting, and many prices were not too bad. All employees are friendly and courteous.
Be aware, there are some wet steep stairs to climb, and sandals are not recommended for foot wear.

I had a great time gem-​panning a few years ago in Helen, GA so my wife thought she’d surprise me with a trip to Dahlongea for my birthday to pan for gold!
It was a bit of a drive for us, especially for me who had no idea where we were going. The closer we got to the place, the more gorgeous the views became. The mountains on such a clear and beautiful day were just breathtaking!
The, «goldmine this way», signs right before we pulled up gave the surprise away and put a big smile on my face! :) I was so excited!
To begin, you walk straight into the gift shop which is made to look like an old ‘general store’ of the gold rush era. Speak to the cashier/​ticket agent at the first counter and she’ll help you choose your activity. Their options include: taking a tour of the gold mine, panning for gems, panning for gold or various combinations of all. Their activities and packages range from $ 6-​$ 300. We chose to just pan for gold using the large, rubber pans that supposedly trap more gold than the smaller, tin pans. I was skeptical of this but I played along. :)
Once we paid, we received two tokens and were instructed to walk all the way through the gift shop and into the back room where the panning takes place. On your way through the shop your eyes can’t help but to be attracted to all the gold, gems and sparkly things shining all around you. I thought that this was a GREAT tactic to get people to purchase items, having them both enter and exit through the gift shop.
Once we got to the back, we were greeted by a guide who suggested we watch the two minute long instructional video on how to pan. After the video we were confident that we had it, it looked pretty easy. Then the workers handed us our pans, that are pre-​filled with dirt, and pointed us to a trough of water. We did our best to apply what we learned from the video but found it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked. It’s not hard but it might take a few tries to get the dipping and shaking technique just right. It did for me anyway. Luckily, the friendly workers come around every so often to give tips and demonstrations.
When you’re down to only a handful of dirt left in your pan (takes about 15mins of dipping to get a here) they ask you to bring it back up to one of the workers who helps you harvest your gold. They’re trained to get the most gold out without losing it in the water like I would’ve done had I kept going lol. While they harvest your gold, you can tell that they’re encouraged to engage in conversation with you. I agree that this is important and probably great for garnering repeat customers but our guy, bless his heart, was almost too talkative. He wouldn’t shut up! Lol. He gave us restaurant suggestions and «things to do» in Dahlongea tips the entire time. I swear he didn’t take a breath.
Finally, he put our gold flakes into little plastic vials filled with water for us while we oohed and aahed. We were so thrilled with our little gold flakes and I even had a tiny gold nugget in mine! I felt RICH! LOL. It’s truly a cool feeling when you get to see the gold that you panned for yourself floating around in your own little vial .
Afterwards, we walked back through the gift shop and, just like they plan on, we bought a bunch of stuff we didn’t need. They have everything in there from high end jewelry that costs thousands to $ 1 vials of gems. They also have puzzles, books, magnets, slingshots, soaps, candles, figurines, jewelry, junior excavation kits for kids, helmets with lights for gold-​mining and SO much more. We bought way too many things before finally making ourselves leave.
All in all, it was a fun time. I’d especially recommend it for little kids and older adults because it’s an easy, low key activity. I honestly don’t think this is something I’d rush to do again though. For me, it was a «one and done, seen all there is to see» experience. But, it was cool for what it was.

Fun place to go with kids for children. Do the gem stones, do not do the gold panning. little kids can get bored very quickly and the success with the gemstones is just bigger

The mine is pretty hard to find. It’s an obscure right turn after you turn into the Wal-​mart area. The tour guide actually shared a comical story about a man shoplifting in the gardening area of Wal-​mart and ran off a cliff into the mine. They apparently let the guy go, because they felt sorry for him.
Anyway, you will go down a hill into a run-​down looking area. You might meet a toothless hillbilly.
Just go inside and you will meet the friendly staff. Seriously, they were pretty nice people. They definitely peddle their services, but it’s understandable. They seem to have a pretty large staff and probably thrive off of school field trips. It definitely seemed like a place that would light a child’s eye.
We signed up for a tour of the mine, gold panning, and a 30 dollar gem bucket.
We started off with the gold panning, which seemed to be the biggest rip off. We went to watch a video that demonstrated how to gold pan and then we sat down with Austin, alone, as he handed us some pans. The funny thing is he had already filled our pans for us. So, we had pre-​filled pans and signs everywhere that basically said that «scraping the bottom» was not permitted. Essentially they don’t want you get to the heavy gold material at the bottom of everything. They state several times while sifting and through the tour that gold was heavy and finds its way down, so it was an interesting way for them to pull a fast one over on you. The pan being filled already reminded me of old produce tricks where people would put their thumbs on the scale while your food was weighed. Just a little crooked…
Either way it was a quick experience. It was probably over in about 10 minutes — including the video. I got about 3 flakes.
We did the gem bucket next. It’s basically a bucket full of dirt that you sift in a flowing trough of water. This was kind of fun and we found a few gems including emeralds, rubies, and garnets.
The mine was a little longer and slightly strenuous to walk down into and up. If you’re tall, then I recommend you definitely take a hardhat. I bonked my hat twice during the tour.
I was busy taking pictures most of the time, but Austin did a good job telling stories about the mine and letting us know the history. It basically boiled down to it’s the oldest mine in Georgia, the biggest quartz vein with 54 lbs of gold was found here, they can’t mine here anymore, and it was reopened in the 1980s after being shut down for 85 years. He told short stories of the different mining methods and spoke of how the miners went crazy due to different things. Mercury inhalation from mixing mercury with gold and burning it off drove many miners crazy. Electricity with lines overhead electrocuted many people. He mentioned miners made a dollar a day. 5-​year old kids would make 50 cent a day to advise the deaf miners of things that were coming. He described a now-​illegal method of hydraulic mining that used an ever-​decreasing-​in-​size pipe that would eventually shoot a stream into the mountain. He described how the lights would go out and some people might see ghosts and told a story about seeing someone that he thought was at work one day, but wasn’t even at the job. He turned out the lights and described how some of the deaf miners might still be working and whack one another. He also pointed out the stalagmites and stalactites and cautioned us not to touch, because it would stop them from growing.
Oh, and I found a cool frog.

One of the last, if not THE last, gold mines in the area that gives tours. We started off panning for gold. A short instructional video was helpful but did not prepare me for the «physical» labor that would entail. I do not know how the miners did this 100+ years ago all day, without chairs and A/​C! It was a fun and interesting experience.
We finished in time to tour around the facility, seeing the area for «gem mining» with posters of different precious rocks and information about them. We later were called on the intercom to meet in the patio. Our small group of about 6 – 8 people were perfect to go the tour in the mines. Helmets were offered as there were several locations where the ceiling was low and people could potentially hit their heads.
Our tour guide was informative. Although he started working here in October (about 7 months ago), he was knowledgeable and fielded questions well. I like that the tour brought us to different locations with different props. That helped me visualize life in the 1800s.
Notice upon exit that there are picnic tables (mostly shaded) for large (and small) groups.

Had a great time on the tour. It was enjoyable for all of us, including four kids ranging in age from 2 – 12. Panning for gold at the end was a lot of fun too!

Very pleasant surprise!
I lived in Dahlonega for four years and never went gold panning. Skip a few years and as i am now a tourist visiting friends and family i thought to go check out Consolidated Mines with my six years old.
We were welcomed and informed on the various kinds of things to do there.
We opted for gem panning with a $ 15 bucket. What a deal! My daughter played for a good 20 minutes scooping sand from the. bucket to the sand strainer and found a load of colored gems crystals and rocks.
We look forward to going again for the Mine Tour.

We took a family trip with the grandparents to check out this gold mine. Overall, we really had a good time. We loved panning for gold and watching the other guests do the gem stone panning. We opted not to do that because of the additional cost. All of the gentlemen working were fantastic. Some of us took the tour down into the mines, but not all of us could. If you have foot, ankle, or knee problems, it’s best to stay above ground. It’s slippery down in them there mines. The tour guide was funny and lively, cracking jokes along the way. One of my kids is a little scared of the dark, so we stood in a different tunnel when he showed everyone else how dark it can get there if the lights go out. It was really interesting to learn how they used to mine for gold during the gold rush. I’d definitely say that if you have an empty Saturday morning, it’s worth a visit.

Okay, so it’s not exactly around the corner but what a great day trip! (Especially if you add on the outlet stores while you are up there.)
This is an education spot, perfect for kids. They start with a short film that tells you about gold mining in GA back in the day. Then a guide takes you down into the mines (Bring a winter coat, gloves, hat & scarf.)
The guide explains, tells stories and even showed us some bats that were hibernating. After the mine tour everyone pans for gold. Once a fleck is found the put in in a glass vile to keep.