The name gives a big hint of what Rubyvale has to offer but dig a little deep and you’ll discover there’s more to explore of this tiny town.
- Rubyvale is a bustling hub of the Sapphire Gemfields, with gem cutters, jewellers, fossicking parks and mine tours; and a pub, cafés, general store, service station and accommodation providers.
- Policeman’s Knob (pictured) offers magnificent views over the surrounding landscape and is a perfect spot to take in the sunset. Keep an eye out for rock wallabies who find the rock structure an ideal home and seem unfazed by human visitors. The Knob can be tricky to reach if you don’t have a high-clearance vehicle so get some advice (and directions!) from the locals beforehand.
- Miners Common Museum Arts and Cultural Centre, at 1605 Rubyvale Road, is nestled on 20 hectares of walking trails and houses relics from the Sapphire Gemfields’ colourful history. Open 10:00am to 2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays, gold coin donation and pet friendly.
fossicking
- Fossicking Parks (pictured) – the simplest option to go on a treasure hunt. Simply buy a bag of wash, get some instructions from the staff, and start fossicking.
- Dedicated Fossicking Areas – hire the equipment, buy a fossicking licence (online here or by phoning MyMines (07) 3199 8133 – have your email address and credit card handy), and head to one of these designated zones:
- Middle Ridge – sapphire and zircon gems can be found in the mostly shallow wash of this area.
- Tomahawk Creek – more remotely located some 45 kilometres north-west of Rubyvale. Blue and parti coloured sapphires have been found in the generally shallow wash. The 2,500 hectares of bush tracks also make this a great spot to explore in a 4WD or trail bike.
For more ideas on how to find treasure, visit our main Sapphire Gemfields page.
- Step into another world on a walk-in mine tour where the underground temperature sits at a cool 25 degrees Celsius. Tours take visitors through the network of tunnels, providing insight into the process of underground sapphire mining. Marvel at the tiny tunnels called tummy tunnels used by the pioneer miners.
- Fun photo ops – Rubyvale’s Big Miner at the front of Bobby Dazzler Mine is just one of six oversized photo ops in the Gemfields. The Thong Tree, on Goanna Flats Road just outside of Rubyvale, is where travellers’ broken pluggers go to rest, and look closely to see how the sign at Boot and Kettle Creek (pictured) is taken literally by passers-by!
FUN FACT: The 1983 Australian movie Buddies was filmed in Rubyvale. It starred Colin Friels, Harold Hopkins, Kris McQuade and many local people as extras. The story depicted life on the Sapphire Gemfields during the machinery boom of the 1970s.
HANDY LINKS
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PHOTO CREDITS: Tourism and Events Queensland, Jesse Lindemann, Nicky Fisher.