Location guides
Rockhounding Locations
Plan by state, then narrow to the ground you can actually collect.
Start with the broader state context, then drill into the exact collecting stop. That keeps land-status rules, access planning, and trip difficulty clearer than a flat directory ever could.
State-first exploration
State guide index
Use the state guide as the main planning layer, then open the specific stops that sit under it.
Arizona
A full Arizona state guide built around fire agate, quartz, petrified wood, and the land-status rules that actually control access.
Rockhounding in Arizona
Use our Arizona guide to plan around BLM rockhound areas, National Forest quartz stops, refuge limits, and protected or restricted ground.
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Arkansas
State guide hub for Arkansas collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Arkansas
Browse Arkansas collecting guides, including Crater of Diamonds State Park and Mount Ida.
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California
A full California state guide covering gem mining, coastal jade, desert agates, gold panning, and geode collecting across the state's diverse geology.
Rockhounding in California
Use our California guide to plan around Pala gem mining, Central Coast jade, Mojave desert agates, Sierra gold panning, and the access rules that vary by land type.
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Colorado
State guide hub for Colorado collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Colorado
Browse our Colorado location coverage, including the Specimen Mountain area page.
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Georgia
State guide hub for Georgia collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Georgia
Browse our Georgia collecting guide for Graves Mountain.
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Iowa
State guide hub for Iowa collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Iowa
Browse our Iowa collecting guide for the Keokuk Geode Region.
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Michigan
State guide hub for Michigan collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Michigan
Browse our Michigan collecting guide for Petoskey stone beaches and shoreline collecting.
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New Jersey
State guide hub for New Jersey collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in New Jersey
Browse our New Jersey collecting guide for Franklin and Sterling Hill mineral sites.
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New York
State guide hub for New York collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in New York
Browse our New York collecting guide for Herkimer Diamond Mines.
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Oregon
A full Oregon state guide covering beach agates, thunder eggs, sunstone, obsidian, and the best collecting locations from coast to high desert.
Rockhounding in Oregon
Use our Oregon guide to plan around Pacific coast agate beaches, Central Oregon thunder egg sites, Lake County sunstone fields, and Glass Buttes obsidian.
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North Carolina
State guide hub for North Carolina collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in North Carolina
Browse our North Carolina collecting guide for Emerald Hollow Mine.
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Utah
State guide hub for Utah collecting locations currently covered on the site.
Rockhounding in Utah
Browse Utah collecting guides, including Topaz Mountain and Dugway Geode Beds.
Open state guideField planning workflow
Three moves before you leave home
01
Pick a state guide
Use the state page to understand the bigger collecting picture and which districts are even worth planning around.
02
Verify the land rules
Confirm whether the stop sits on BLM, state park, private pay-dig, refuge, or another land status with different collection limits.
03
Choose the exact stop
Open the nested location page when you are ready for the real trip details: terrain, minerals, access friction, and map context.
Beginner shortcut
Start with the easy-access pages
These 7 pages lean toward simpler access, more predictable logistics, or a gentler first-day learning curve.
Field directory
All collecting locations
Specific collecting destinations nested under the state guides above.
Arizona
ModerateBlack Hills Rockhound Area
BLM-managed fire agate area near Safford and one of the clearest public rockhounding stops in Arizona. Best treated as a deliberate desert field day rather than a quick roadside stop.
Arizona
ModerateRound Mountain Rockhound Area
Second major BLM fire agate area in Arizona's Safford district. More remote than Black Hills and better planned as its own collecting day.
Arizona
ModerateDiamond Point
Tonto National Forest quartz locality near Payson, known for doubly terminated crystals and a cooler-season alternative to lower-desert collecting.
Arizona
EasyCrystal Hill Area
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge crystal-collection area near Quartzsite. Best for surface searching loose quartz under refuge-specific rules.
Arizona
ModerateSedona
Famous red rock scenery near Sedona, with protected zones off-limits to collecting and surrounding Coconino National Forest and Verde Valley BLM land offering legal casual collecting for agate, jasper, and petrified wood.
Arizona
EasyHolbrook-area Petrified Wood Ground
Legal petrified wood planning outside Petrified Forest National Park, focused on public land where casual collecting rules may apply and the park boundary remains a hard no-collect line.
Arkansas
EasyCrater of Diamonds State Park
The only public diamond mine in the world. Finders keepers policy — every visitor keeps whatever they find. Over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed here since 1906, including the 40-carat Uncle Sam.
New York
ModerateHerkimer Diamond Mines
World-famous for doubly-terminated quartz crystals with exceptional clarity. The dolomite host rock dates back nearly 500 million years. Tools and guidance provided on-site.
Utah
ChallengingTopaz Mountain
A remote BLM site in the Thomas Range where topaz crystals weather out of rhyolite lava flows. Also produces red beryl, obsidian, and bixbyite. Free to collect, but bring water — there are no facilities.
Georgia
ModerateGraves Mountain
Open during special dig days twice per year, this site produces museum-quality lazulite, rutile stars, and pyrophyllite. One of the most productive mineral localities in the southeastern US.
California
ModerateOceanview Mine
A fee-dig site in the Pala district of San Diego County, historically one of the most important gem-producing areas in North America. Known for tourmaline, kunzite, and morganite.
North Carolina
EasyEmerald Hollow Mine
The only emerald mine in the US open to the public. Sluice mining and digging available. A good site for beginners and families, with on-site gem identification help.
Utah
EasyDugway Geode Beds
Free BLM collecting area west of Delta, Utah, producing rhyolite geodes lined with quartz, calcite, and occasionally pink chalcedony. No tools needed — geodes weather out of the soil.
Iowa
ModerateKeokuk Geode Region
Permission-first geode country across southeastern Iowa, where productive Warsaw Formation exposures are real but most worthwhile ground is private and Geode State Park itself is view-only.
Arkansas
ModerateMount Ida Quartz Mines
The quartz crystal capital of the world, with several fee-dig mines offering surface collecting and tailings digging. Known for clear, phantom, and tabular quartz crystals.
Colorado
ModerateSpecimen Mountain Area
Rocky Mountain National Park geology stop centered on closures, viewpoints, and no-collect rules rather than take-home material.
Michigan
EasyPetoskey Stone Beaches
Lake Michigan’s shoreline near Petoskey and Charlevoix is the best place to find Michigan’s state stone — a fossilized Devonian coral with a distinctive hexagonal pattern. No tools needed.
New Jersey
EasyFranklin & Sterling Hill Mines
The fluorescent mineral capital of the world. Over 80 minerals found here glow under UV light. The on-site museum and collecting dumps offer a unique experience for any rockhound.
Perfect for beginners
Easy-access collecting sites
The gentlest on-ramp into the directory: simpler access, clearer expectations, and less trip friction.
Arizona
EasyCrystal Hill Area
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge crystal-collection area near Quartzsite. Best for surface searching loose quartz under refuge-specific rules.
Arizona
EasyHolbrook-area Petrified Wood Ground
Legal petrified wood planning outside Petrified Forest National Park, focused on public land where casual collecting rules may apply and the park boundary remains a hard no-collect line.
Arkansas
EasyCrater of Diamonds State Park
The only public diamond mine in the world. Finders keepers policy — every visitor keeps whatever they find. Over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed here since 1906, including the 40-carat Uncle Sam.
North Carolina
EasyEmerald Hollow Mine
The only emerald mine in the US open to the public. Sluice mining and digging available. A good site for beginners and families, with on-site gem identification help.
Utah
EasyDugway Geode Beds
Free BLM collecting area west of Delta, Utah, producing rhyolite geodes lined with quartz, calcite, and occasionally pink chalcedony. No tools needed — geodes weather out of the soil.
Michigan
EasyPetoskey Stone Beaches
Lake Michigan’s shoreline near Petoskey and Charlevoix is the best place to find Michigan’s state stone — a fossilized Devonian coral with a distinctive hexagonal pattern. No tools needed.
New Jersey
EasyFranklin & Sterling Hill Mines
The fluorescent mineral capital of the world. Over 80 minerals found here glow under UV light. The on-site museum and collecting dumps offer a unique experience for any rockhound.
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