Hiddenite NC

family xj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Location
Jacksonville NC
Well it is vacation time and one of the things we are doing is going to Hiddenite to do the mining thing. Has anyone here done this with their family? My kids are 10 and 13 and i want them to have fun doing this. Also is there anthing else close there to do? What about places to stay? We can either camp or do the Hotel thing. thanks for any advice.
 
I went there when I was really young. It's a tight place. The way we took (don't remember) There was some place called Hickory Dickory Dock or something like that. The sign was some mice and gears or something. It was a family entertainment place. I'm not sure if it's still around or that is the exact name but the town was cool. We went there to look at a puppy. We didn't stay the night but they have a lot of little "Bed n Breakfast" type establishments that are well up kept. Not sure about the prices, but I'll hit my mom up and see if the remembers the way we went.


http://www.hickory-dickory-dock.com/

I guess its in hickory.

http://www.ncbbi.org/display-city-82.php
 
Those 2 places are nowhere near each other. Hiddinette is ok, its fun for kids. They "salt" the ground some. But the buckets you dig are real.
 
lol.....my dad ran the sluice way for 2 years after he retired the first time. it's great fun, and mike deff makes sure that you'll find some stones in any bucket.

but, if you want to get the REAL expierence (non-juiced buckets and what such) just grab a screen and some shovels...and head down to the creek/river....or if you can, go up and dig around some of hte claims areas (be sure not to dig on a claim....or...yeah....that can get kinda sketch)


lots of quartz, good chance of some emerald, ruby, or other gems that are natural to the area as well.

when i was 9 or 10, i found a rutilated garnet just walking on the trail....had it cut, by mike, into a stone for my mom...who had it mounted in a ring, it was a GREAT gift.








as for staying...there's not much, at all. and you'd be smarter to stay in statesville, seeing as it's considerably closer than hickory....and still plenty of places to eat/sleep.
 
I went. I'm not usually so critical about places i visit but i felt really ripped off when i got done. The customer service sucked. for ten bucks (a person) i got this little bucket that i didnt find diddley in, no instructions on how or what i was doing. Once that buckets gone its like $25 bucks for another bucket! I asked the difference between the creek, the sluice or the digging and they said i'd have to pay to do them all and find out.

Take GSR's advice, spend the $80 bucks your gonna pay for your family to go to hiddenite and invest in some tools and maybe a how to book and your family will have more fun. Plus you can go anywhere and do it again when your done.
 
hang a left in greensboro on I85 and go to spencer. bout the same distance as hiddenite, more fun in my opinion. Take a train ride and visit the transportation museum. You'll cross over part of high rock lake and the yadkin river, im sure you can find plenty of places to pan in that area. if the fam decides that blows, keep rollin 85 and head to carowinds.

on a side nite, as long as your coming through jamestown on I85 (just past greensboro) castle McCulloch might be a cool place to stop in and have a look. I cant speak from experience, just word of mouth and from looking at their website it looks like a cool place to go see.
 
I'll second the recommendation for the Spencer museum ( http://www.nctrans.org )- too bad you weren't going this past weekend, it was my crew weekend there, and I could have gotten y'all a ride in the engine. It's definitely a great time, especially if the kids haven't ridden a lot of trains. Of course, if you do go, go early, and you can always pay the extra few bucks to buy a cab ride. I'll be back in a few weeks - crews rotate every 5 weeks.
Also if you go, the second weekend of every month they have a cruise-in across the street, and this past weekend there were a ton of great old cars for that...
As for Hiddenite, well, I just drove through there this morning on my way to and from an inspection I had to do in Stony Point, and I didn't see a whole lot out there...ymmv of course...
then again, there are lots of state parks, lakes, trails, etc in this area...
 
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