The Cowee Valley north of Franklin is the ruby and sapphire capital of the East, a string of public fee-dig mines where you wash gravel for real corundum, pigeon-blood rubies and blue and star sapphires. Some mines salt the buckets for fun and some run native dirt, so ask which you are digging. Franklin is the gem town of the Smokies.
Ruby, sapphire
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
