“the first hard rock mine in the Silver Valley”
Winter or summer, the Silver Valley is a great place to vacation! The Crystal Gold Mine, near Kellogg, Idaho was the first hard rock mine in the Silver Valley. Worked from 1879-1881; closed by hiding the mine, it was rediscovered in 1991, reclaimed in 1996, and opened as a tourist historical attraction. The work was all done in candlelight by hand. The guided underground tour explains how they drilled with "Hand Steels" using "Single Jacks" and "Double Jacks" (Hammers), how they traced the quartz vein using 1880 methods, how they tested the vein for gold. Beautiful stalactite crystals of smithonite in an array of colors coat the walls. Gold and wire silver can still be seen in the quartz vein.
This was a great stop! Super impressed with our tour guide and all the information we learned. My kids loved stopping in and learning and also loved mining for gold at the end! It was super hard to find gold but they put fun rocks in there too that my kids really enjoyed "mining" for. The gift shop was fun too. Staff very friendly.
A lot of fun and very informative. Takes a little over an hour and would definitely recommend!
This was a fantastic little stop on our road trip! They were so nice and informative! You get to sift for gold at the end, would definitely recommend. Take about an hour or so.
We enjoyed the guided tour with Chris. Great family experience that is just off the Interstate. If you have the time in your trip, this is worth the stop!
We loved it! Very educational and fun. My 9 year old said, “I wish we could come back here every day!”
Very fun time with my grandson here. The panning for gold is fun and they place rock of many colors that the kids get to take with them when they leave. There was also specks of gold if you panned well. The mine tour was informative and fun. Craig, our tour guy, was a wealth of knowledge. He was really great with the kids too. Great stop for all.
We stopped here for a little break and had a lot of fun. Ray was our guide and he was great! It took about an hour and we left with some fun stones and garnets from panning after.
Well worth the Stop. You get a great tour on this family owned business with a lot to see and a lot of information. I took my 13 year old granddaughter and she had a very enjoyable time.
Oops.. *Kellogg
Spacious sites, very shaded. Rode our bicycles along paved bike trail into Ketchum. So nice, great place to stay.
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Crystal Gold Mine & RV Park
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Back In RV Sites Count
- 27
- Max Length
- 90ft
- Pull Through RV Sites Count
- 10
- Season End
- Year Round
- Season Start
- Year Round
- Sites Count
- 25
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Paved Sites
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Pull Through
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Back In RV Sites
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Laundry
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Potable Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Sewer Hookup
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Sites
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Water Hookup
Campground, Parking
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