Is the watermelon rock you mentioned in article of the tourmaline family? google_ad_type="text_image"; While much of the region is difficult to access, a large portion of the land is managed by the National Forest Service and is largely open to the public for collecting. You can also read through my free rock identification guide and mineral identification guide which are filled with useful information and tools. Volcanic type agates or chalcedony usually occur in stream gravels in the western half of the Bighorn Basin, of Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie Counties as well. Sharktooth Ridge teeth and trace fossils near Rawlins, WY: 6.) This is one of the best family-friendly rockhounding locations in the entire country, where you can spend all day searching for you own diamonds. You can also find other types of agates like moss agate and Sweetwater agate, another variety that is unique to the state of Wyoming. The GPS coordinate I put up is right by a place called Black Rock, which is an ultrapotassic, lamproite volcaniclastic exposure. I love finding agates because you never know what sort of beautiful patterns and colors they might contain. 08-07-11 Elusive Wyoming fluorite specimens. She said she was looking for Sand People.. As you travel through Wyoming's basins and across its mountain ranges, you can pass over all of the geologic eras of time which produced a variety of rocks, minerals, and fossil types. amzn_assoc_asins = "B01IEX2TEO,B0002YWWVE,B08N41884X,B00A4H4ZQ4"; Pictures and notes on the fossils near Farson. I spent about an hour at this location, and . Follow the road toward its terminus (going down toward a river) and easy, walk-in access is available. Let me know if this is useful or if I can improve it in any way! Please take our survey about how you use and access the data we provide on our website. . I hope this will make it a bit easier to find information on my Wyoming rockhounding pages. Library for the books I use when I go out rock hunting. There are several excellent rockhound locations all throughout the state. Places such as Fremont, Washakie, Sweetwater, Carbon, or Natrona County are where you can find jade, which is Wyomings official state gemstone. //-->, Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites. Geologic Map of Phantom Lake Quadrangle. WSMGS Affiliated Clubs when planning your visit. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; (Rough Draft, 05/02/2021 Revision), Hiking and Adventure Map (Work in Progress). Members can expect various educational speakers and a lot of group interaction. Peridot in ant hills and arroyos near Black Rock Butte. Sign In. Enter your email address to subscribe to this the content of this site, some of which, we hear, is worthwhile. We hope you enjoy your time on our site and come back often because were always adding new dig locations and crystal collecting updates. LOCATIONS FOR ROCKHOUNDING IN WYOMING Includes descriptions and maps. Maps showing the location of public lands in Wyoming can be obtained from As you Please take our survey about how you use and access the data we provide on our website. Follow the four-wheeler track down the mountain and into the badlands below. LockA locked padlock The club started in 2016 and has been growing in numbers ever since. I lost service and I dont think I went to the exact location because I didnt see much there. 08-13-11 A very hot day to rockhound with cool marcasite, 09-03-11 Crystal park quartz crystals and bread, 10-15-11 Another world class pseudomorph deposit, 2012 Denver gem and mineral show report fall, 2013 Denver gem and mineral show report fall, 2013 Rockhounding and mineral collecting reports, 04-06-13 Shirley basin agates and calcite, 04-13-13 red feather quartz crystals and a surprise mineral, 2014 Denver gem and mineral show report fall, Denver Coliseum Mineral Fossil and Gem Show, International Gem Jewelry Show denver 2014, Denver gem and mineral show 2010 report fall, Denver mineral show report 2010 fall part 2, Denver mineral show report 2010 fall part 3, Denver mineral show report 2010 fall part 4, Denver mineral show report 2010 fall part 5, Photo report Denver gem mineral rockhounding show 2011, Denver gem and mineral show report 2010 spring, Denver gem and mineral show report 2011 spring, Links to other Rock show reports Tucson , Denver, Blue Forest Wyoming petrified wood location, Copper Mountain Pegmatite District Wyoming. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; Simple Explanation, 8 Factors Why Opal is Valuable (Prices for Different Types), How To Cut & Polish Petrified Wood: Follow These 3 Steps, Recommended tools and equipment for rockhounding, Commonly found in the Paleozoic rocks, the Permian Phosporia formation, and the Mississippian Madison limestone, The northwest city of Cody and the Lovell town in Big Horn County, The Spirit Mountain Cavern, located west of Cody, along the Yellowstone Highway, The Eocene Green River Formation of southwestern Wyoming, or the town of Green River, Very common in all of the Precambrian mountain cores of Wyoming, On the west of Jay Em in Muskrat Canyon area of Goshen County, about 15 miles west of Wheatland, in the Marble Canyon area of Platte County, in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Albany and Carbon Counties, the Bighorn Mountains, near Douglas, in Converse County, and from the west flank of the Black Hills in Crook County, The Copper Mountain, Freemont County, in the Laramie Range of Albany and Converse counties, the Lewiston area of Fremont County, and the Bighorn Mountains area of Washakie County, Almost in all of the Precambrian pegmatites of Wyoming, Albany County, Carbon County, or 23 miles southwest of Wheatland, Platte County. This club hosts multiple outings every month during the summer. Some areas of individual parks are legal to rockhound, but it all depends on the state. The ant hills are basically everywhere if you get out and walk around, and your biggest issue will most likely be needing 44 to get there, and especially across the creek to the north. We have listed each type of crystal in separate sections since we know how much you love them. Wyoming is home to some incredible jade specimens, mainly of the classes nephrite and jadeite. Rockhounding is incredible, but its even better when youre a member of a club or society. Membership is only $15 for adults 18 and up. There is a limit to the number of specimens you can carry, which differs from site to site. It will help show how non-descript the host is. This is a great resource for anyone who loves rockhounding, from beginners to experts alike! Rockhounding in eastern Wyoming offers a lot of opportunities to find a wide variety of rocks and minerals. If you want to find sapphires in Fremont, you should go to Grizzly Creek and Sweeny Basin. The 12 Best Places to See Lava (With Helpful Tips) Obsidian is abundant in the park, with the most famous location to find these beauties being the Obsidian Cliff. There are many rockhounding clubs in Wyoming so you can most likely find one you like nearby. Quartz crystals are abundant in the feldspar pits south of Laramie. In general, the best places to find crystals and gemstones in Wyoming are washes and draws across the western half of the state, particularly near Kemmerer, Atlantic City, and Rock Springs. Their annual Mineral and Gem Show is a massive hit with members and anyone interested in the field of topics. You may also find gold along with parts of the Snake River in the southern part of Jackson Hole, northwest Wyoming. Various outcrops along the road contain specimens. That is partly because of about 50 percent of the states public land. My neighbor and i hopefully will be heading out to Wyoming if our health is good, sometime this summer. This is where the famous Yellowstone National Park is located, which stretches for more than 2 million acres. Wyoming is home to Yellowstone National Park, which spans over 2 million acres. Go to Albany County, since agates are commonly found near Marshall, located in northwestern Albany. Carbon County is also a famous location for rockhounding in Wyoming. BTW: Do you want to know more about rock and mineral identification? Be safe, never go underground, and make sure to get permission from the landowner to search for and collect specimens. Agates also happen to be some of the most commonly collected rocks in the United States, including Wyoming. If youre looking for individual hiking tracks (rather than single-point GPS data), please see my GaiaGPS page, which is hosted off-site, and is free. Most of the mining has been less than 20 feet . If youre planning on heading to the field, make sure you have all the gear youll need! Its water has provided food and habitat for humans and wildlife . The Hartville district within Platte County is said to contain some copper minerals. We are using my Subaru forester. The Wyoming State Mineral and Gem Society is an umbrella organization. Though there are many locations listed here, this list is far from exhaustive. The ants use them for construction material. Natrona County is located in central Wyoming, and it is another excellent county when it comes to rocks or minerals. Wyoming isnt just rich in rocks and minerals; it also has gold, fossils, and petrified wood. NOTE! Fossils in the escarpment. BTW: Check out this amazing metal sign (Amazon link) which is perfect for everyone who loves rockhounding in Wyoming! The GPS map below shows how I drove, as well as the two main places I walked which had good anthills. Cracking them open reminds me of opening a Kinder-Egg with a surprise toy inside. This new version of the guide arranges the sites into counties and regions, with a different chapter for each county. Hi, do you have the gps coordinates for the peridot/ant hills? (Said Kimm-ur.). Files WYNF-0004_rockhounding (051418).pdf (PDF / 264 KB) Publication Date You can even find geodes in Wyoming. If you sign up for GaiaGPS (free, takes about 2 clicks, and Ive never gotten mail from them, as its a husband+wife team that runs it), you can download the GPS data in the map to use on your phone or to import to Google Earth. The GemHunter (Dan Hausel) found peridot and garnets in the area, the latter of which can also be found NNW of Cedar Mountain. A locations listing here is not a guarantee of accuracy. These rockhounding sights ofWyoming are mostly on public land but a good blm ownership map isrecommended allowing you to stay off private land. You can probably find it just about anywhere in the area, though I had good success looking along the eastern flank of Black Rock. In the Absaroka Mountains, you may discover opal, galena, or molybdenite. The state fossil Knightia-fish is located in the Green Fiver Formation of Wyoming. Belemnites and other fossils near Bridger, MT: 4.) To find petrified wood in Wyoming, you should go northeast of Eden, Sweetwater County, or the Wind River Formation where the Eocene age petrified wood is, 35 miles north of Medicine Bow, near the old Casper road. This site is devoted to sharing my love of rocks with you. Interesting sedimentary features near Adobe Town, WY: 7.) While there may have been changes in hours of public viewing, business location and/or other Rockhounding Wyoming Table of Contents: About This Book ix. The Sierra Madre Mountains are noted for their jade findings too. I mention all this as it helps explain how to find the peridot. Thank you for your reply! Phosphate rock is also located here. Agatized fossil shells near Rock Springs, WY: 14. And you can typically find them laying around, but often youll have to pry open the rocks. Fossil Butte National Monument Rockhounding is recognized as a legitimate recreational pursuit on nearly all of the 18 million acres of public land in Wyoming. Members have access to the Jade State Newsletter, containing news and updates on subjects concerning geology and mineralogy. Sharktooth Ridge teeth and trace fossils near Rawlins, WY: 6.) I encourage you to check them out if you are curious about the legalities of rock and mineral collecting. The Wasatch Formation is a great place to find manganese and uranium minerals. This is where you will find what is legal or not in Wyoming, in regards to rockhounding, where you are allowed to rockhound, what, and how much. HowtoFindRocks.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Sublette County, located in western Wyoming, is noted for its jade findings, while the mineral molybdenite is found in the Wind River Mountains. Geologic mapping of the Phantom Lake quadrangle in Carbon County is available. Becoming a member of one or more clubs or societies comes with a wealth of benefits. Specimens may become depleted from other collectors, the location may have been built on or altered, locality information in literature may be inaccurate, and property ownership may have changed hands. I enjoy collecting and tumbling rocks with my daughter and traveling the world with my wife seeing geologic wonders. google_color_url="FFFFFF"; Check back often as I add new places. Also explore the WSMGS Topic Library for articles such as Concretion and geodes are common in many of the sedimentary rocks in the state, but a good way of finding geodes in Wyoming is to search for the conglomerate in limestone or sandstone. google_ad_client="pub-2930148589555936"; Wyoming is full of jades, mostly of the nephrite class, and the jadeite class, which sounds like something out of Star Wars. You can find pegmatites in the Haystack Range of Goshen County. Teepee Canyon Agates 13. Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution. here. Stream gravels, washes, and draws all over this region will have the potential to contain nephrite jade as well as agates and petrified wood. Some of the more unique specimens you may be interested in are Turritella agates and nephrite jade which can both be found in relative abundance if you look in the right places. google_color_border="1B1B1B"; There is of course another way to find larger pieces of peridot in the area. Take our Survey for a Chance to Win a Map! TIP: Geodes can form anywhere in the world, but they do not form at random. . Sign in to your account on ArcGIS Online. google_color_link="000000"; In Wyoming, you can find sedimentary rocks such as bentonite, chert, coal, concretion-geode, conglomerate, gypsum, limestone-dolomite, oil shale, shale, taconite, or trona, among many others. Here you can find minerals, rocks, and varieties of quartz such as allanite, beryl, calcite-aragonite, columbite-tantalite, copper minerals, euxenite, galena, hematite, jade, mica minerals, monazite, opal, pyrite, agates, uranium minerals, vermiculite, gabbro, pegmatite, sedimentary rocks, taconite, and slate, among other things. Feldspar vs. Quartz: Whats the Difference? Im out of the US as I update this revision, so I dont have photos of the really good specimensgo figure. I recommend walk-in access via the Radio Creek Road starting at a pullout located here. Everyone enjoys the prospect of finding their very own geodes out in the wild, and its easy to see why. There is plenty of BLM and National Forest land to collect on in Wyoming which is, in general, open for public use. If youre unsure where to start, try looking into some of Wyomings rockhound clubs and societies. In fact, Wyoming is home to a unique variety of agate called Turritella agate that is extremely popular with local collectors. We are here for any questions or concerns that might arise about your adventures in mineral collecting. This area was explored by a South African diamond company briefly but nothing came of it. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Albany is among the best rock-hounding places in Wyoming since you can find various rocks and minerals. The specimens found here vary from blue, and light gray, to deep colors such as violet. These public lands administered by the BLM are open to everyone to take limited amounts of rock material for noncommercial purposes without charge. Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. Exposed and subsumed vertebrate fossils of what amounts to a type of ancient alligator-type creature, as well as some others, can be found here. Albany County is home to some of the best rockhounding locations in Wyoming because there are various rock and mineral specimens, including: Sand Creek and the Red Buttes areas in Albany County are full of sedimentary rocks. It is the responsibility of each rockhound to obtain permission from a landowner to search and/or collect on a piece of property. I recommend accessing the area from highway 414 to the west, turning right just above Behunin Reservoir. Objective is to get to Road 4412. This publication can be downloaded directly from the WSGS amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "rockhoundreso-20"; This is missing a ton of great places, but I do update it every few months with a new location or two from my past explorations. The ant hills are basically everywhere if you get out and walk around, and your biggest issue will most likely be needing 44 to get there, and especially across the creek to the north. Where are the best places for rockhounding in Wyoming? 15 Best Rocks & Minerals, Are Agates Valuable rocks? (I do not live in the US right now.). On top of that, weve created a resource page to assist with answering all of your gem and mineral collecting questions. Wyoming is perhaps most well known for its world-class National Parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton. The majority of counties in Wyoming contain numerous minerals, rocks, gemstones, and fossils. google_ad_format="120x240_as"; For all of my maps, you can use my maps page. However, that hasnt limited their successful innovation and progress. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This site contains affiliate links to products. Clear chalcedony and vein moss agate occur along this countys outcrops of the Bridger Formation. Atlantic City, area stream gravels, draws, etc. These public lands administered by the BLM are open to everyone to take limited amounts of rock material for noncommercial purposes without charge. 5 Crucial Signs. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section below. Continue on the main path to Winton, Follow it. If youre into gemstones like amethyst, I suggest checking out Amethyst Mountain; it got its name for a reason. Each of the included tracks will eventually have its own transcription of events. Quartz crystals are relatively abundant in the feldspar pits just south of Laramie. Please respect the claim owners rights and stay off active claims withoutpermission. Rockhounding in Wyoming is a great way to discover the states diverse geology and fossilized wildlife. Rocks there have a different variety of lab than down below. The prominent minerals found in Wyoming are agates quite a variety of them, jades, opals, chalcedony, and other varieties of quartz crystals, among others.