Big Thunder Gold Mine

What a fun experience for our family! Our gold panning tutor and guide, Daniel, was fun and knowledgeable. We learned a lot of new things about how the gold seekers mined for gold back in the day. The mine itself was a marvel. To think these guys dug out this tunnel with just a few hand tools, black powder, and candles. Our seven-year-old was convinced it was impossible. Everyone was so kind and full of interesting facts about the mine and the area. Would definitely recommend.

the mine went further back than we thought. fun experience the kids enjoyed it. they have an old mining cart that you can sit in for photos inside the mine. tour guide gave great facts about the mine the entire tour. if someone needs to have a wheelchair it's easy to push through the mine as well.

Amazing experience…. We got the half day claim package on Groupon. The lady behind the counter who runs it was happy to walk me around the shop and show me local stones I can find around the area.
Trent the tour guide is amazing amazing! Very passionate, very knowledgeable. Could probably be a geologist anywhere, and does an amazing job teaching and making it fun!!

We loved this place. The tour of the mine tells you the incredible history of the mine. It will also give you perspective. There are several cool things inside the mine itself that you'll want pictures of. There is also a barn outside the station with gold processing equipment from the time period. Afterward, you'll definitely want to do the panning experience. The technique is relatively simple, and you're very likely to find some flakes of gold. Again, this helps paint a picture of what some people went through in their search for fortune.

Cool, kitschy old working mine to visit. Best part was the tour guide had lots of great info about how mining took place in that area back in the day before modern machinery. Very interesting. A good bit of walking and for us tall people the hard hats came in handy as some areas are a bit short. Fun place to check out. Temps are 50 in the cave which was nice on the hot day. We didn’t do the panning - but a lot of kids were having fun!