Emerald & Sapphire Gemfields

Unearth a treasure! Enjoy the thrill of fossicking, venture underground with a guided mine tour or spoil yourself at one of the local gem galleries.

Strike it lucky

Try your luck at uncovering precious gemstones.

Let a local guide you through a walk-in underground gemstone mine from days gone by, try a digging tour or buy a bucket of sapphire ‘wash’ and learn how to sieve the slurry and recognise your sapphire in the rough.

Emerald green

A warm welcome awaits you in Emerald, the hub of the Central Queensland Highlands.

Named not after the gem, but for the lush green pastures that surrounded the town, Emerald was established in 1879 as a base to build the western railway. As the Gateway to the Outback, Emerald is a great base to refresh, restock and relax. As you drive into this Central Queensland town you can’t help but see the world’s biggest Van Gogh Sunflower painting. Arrive by train and you’ll come to the historic train station restored to its former glory.

Take the high road

Big smiles and even bigger vistas!

Travel west from Rockhampton along the Capricorn Highway and explore original outback frontier towns like Alpha, where each street is named after a famous poet, or Dingo, where you can learn the unique skill of dingo trap throwing. This is big sky country and Emerald and Sapphire Gemfields are a central gateway to some of Queensland’s most spectacular National Parks including; Carnarvon Gorge, Blackdown Tablelands and Minerva Hills.

Unearth a geo-holiday

Take a unique geological journey along the Tropic of Capricorn.

Dig The Tropic is a self-driving trail through pre-history where you can discover dinosaurs, view remnants of an inland sea, explore ancient lands, and fossick for gems. It is the only known trail of its kind in the world. Following the Tropic of Capricorn, you can experience a living museum created by ancient events causing sites as varied as Sapphire Gemfields, the Capricorn Caves and the Southern Great Barrier Reef.

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Capricorn Enterprise acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and pays respect to the Elders past, present and future, representing the traditional Aboriginal land across the Capricorn Region.