Herkimer Diamond Mine – Herkimer County, New York

Prospecting for a diamond? That was never on my list of things to do in New York. But when we discovered a diamond mine was located so close to Little Falls we just had to try our luck!

As I’ve said before, Mother Nature was quite unkind to us during our New York adventures. The storm turned out to even be named after Peepaw! Yes…Tropical Storm Fred was one for the record books!

We had a busy day planned, so we grabbed a delicious light breakfast down the hall from our room.  The Inn at Stone Mill made sure we had lots of delicious options to choose from that day.

A Glimpse Of Iowa – In New York!

As we headed out on our early morning drive to the diamond mine I suddenly felt as if we were home in Southeast Iowa. We came across an Amish man and his son…heading home after delivering milk to some unknown location.

That buggy looked exactly like the ones near Kalona, Iowa…our own stomping grounds!

Diamonds Anyone?

Our short and foggy drive took us to our destination. The Herkimer Diamond Mine.

Before we headed out to the rocky prospecting area we went inside Village Hall to buy our day pass/wrist band. (ADMISSION PRICES: $15pp for Ages 13 and Up, $13pp Ages 5-12, Kids 4 and Under Free. Check current rates on their website. Opens for the season on April 15th, 2022)

Considering the weather we knew we would NOT be spending the entire day. Plus…once I found out how hard we would need to work for an elusive Herkimer Diamond I was happy to just spend a short time in the foggy, wet, slippery conditions. A broken hip didn’t sound like anything on my bucket list.

But take a look at one of the huge finds on display.

First we watched a short video to give us an idea of what the diamonds are and how the mining operation works. (Their website is filled with interesting information.)

We had the opportunity to rent equipment such as hammers and picks…just like those old-time gold miners! But never fear. Peepaw is always prepared for any adventure.  Our car contained all the tools we needed! (You see…before we headed to New York we had stopped in Indiana so Peepaw could help our son Nick with a building project of his own! Who knew how handy those “traveling tools’ would be later in our trip.)

Tool Time!

We headed back to the car to grab the tools and buckets we needed.

Once we had everything we needed we headed for the diamond mine entrance…and even though the drizzle continued we were certainly not alone on our prospecting adventure.

I soon realized I was NOT dressed for the occasion!

My flip flops made every step an adventure on those sharp granite rocks. (I spent more time trying not to fall down than I did searching for a diamond in the rough.)

But Peepaw was soon intent on his mission. (Yes…those are his safety goggles he’s wearing.)

It wasn’t long before we decided our best bet would be to select several buckets of “promising” looking rocks home with us instead of cracking them open in the rain. (We DO have our limits when it comes to our adventures!) So we filled our coffee can and bucket with some small rocks and called it quits.

How do you like my “drowned rat” hair style?! (It was one for the record books, for sure!)

It was actually lots of fun in spite of the weather, and who knows? Those rocks might just contain a golf ball size diamond…IF we ever get around to cracking them open. (Those rocks are currently safely resting on a shelf in our garage.)

Since we were already soaked we decided to head to out on another soggy Tropical Storm Fred adventure. (And this next one is even ON the water.)

Now come along for the fun.

But first…please hand me a towel!