google_color_bg="1B1B1B"; The state of Wyoming is noted for its copper minerals, lithium minerals, uranium minerals, feldspar minerals, manganese minerals, mica minerals, and quartz minerals. Welcome to Wyoming Rockhounding Adventures, 2010 Rockhounding and mineral collecting reports, 03-27-10 Wyoming rock hounding agate and jasper, 04-23-10 Schrckingerite or schroeckingerite found at lost creek, 05-22-10 Riverton rockhound club field trip, 05-30-10 Orthoclase the other white crystal, 09-04-10 Wiggins fork moss agate petrified wood, 10-09-10 Malachite and azurite in the rain copper mountain part 3, 10-23-10 Azurite and malachite copper mountain pt4, 2011 Rockhounding and mineral collecting reports, 04-10-11 Schrckingerite or schroeckingerite found at lost creek part2. Geodes can also reportedly be found in gravels in the southern reaches of the Absaroka mountain range. Precambrian metamorphic rocks are abundant in Wyoming. Its water has provided food and habitat for humans and wildlife . The GPS map below shows how I drove, as well as the two main places I walked which had good anthills. Still, there may be privately owned mining claims inside those boundaries and youll need to get permission to collect on that location. Fremont, Sweetwater, Washakie, Natrona, and Carbon Counties are all prime rockhound locations to find Jade. 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. I have written entire articles which cover the rockhounding laws and regulations for nearly every type of public land you can think of. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section below. The best we have for GPS is cell phones. Be safe, never go underground, and make sure to get permission from the landowner to search for and collect specimens. 15. There is a limit to the number of specimens you can carry, which differs from site to site. The Sublette County Rock Hounds Club is relatively new to the scene of formal rockhound organizations. Exploring the Laramie Mountain Range can lead to finding specimens like amphibole, epidote, plagioclase minerals, garnet, magnetite, and mica. circumstances since the article was originally published in 1989, it remains a valuable guide for anyone seeking additional resources in the pursuit of their interests, As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Note: stramatolites can be found in some washes at the base of the Pryors nearby. Proceed up canyon dirt road (12) until you reach the top plateau and it is flat. I spent about an hour at this location, and . Wyoming rockhounding map on Google maps click link below. As a group, members learn so much about the local geology and spend time sharing knowledge of lapidary techniques necessary to enhance the appearance of their finds. Please take our survey about how you use and access the data we provide on our website. Wyoming is home to some incredible jade specimens, mainly of the classes nephrite and jadeite. The Wyoming State Mineral and Gem Society is an umbrella organization. BTW: Check out this amazing metal sign (Amazon link) which is perfect for everyone who loves rockhounding in Wyoming! Members can participate in outings, monthly meetings and be a part of a fantastic rockhounding community. amzn_assoc_asins = "B01IEX2TEO,B0002YWWVE,B08N41884X,B00A4H4ZQ4"; I love finding agates because you never know what sort of beautiful patterns and colors they might contain. Thats one of the reasons why you can quite a lot of fake ones for sale. Check out how to cut and polish petrified wood in the article below:How To Cut & Polish Petrified Wood: Follow These 3 Steps. You can also find agatized and opalized wood specimens here. 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. Wyoming is perhaps most well known for its world-class National Parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Becoming a member of one or more clubs or societies comes with a wealth of benefits. popular museums of interest to rockhounders, places to visit, and rockhounding sites for children and families. I have tried to take care not to list locations within National Park boundaries since collecting is illegal there, but please remember that it is up to you to make sure you have permission to collect wherever you are. If you want to hunt for Jade in Wyoming, you can start from the northern part of the Granite Mountains, or to the south of Crooks Countys Gap-Green Mountain. If youre unsure where to start, try looking into some of Wyomings rockhound clubs and societies. Introduction 1. Quartz crystals are relatively abundant in the feldspar pits just south of Laramie. Rockhounding is recognized as a legitimate recreational pursuit on nearly all of the 18 million acres of public land in Wyoming. Please respect the claim owners rights and stay off active claims withoutpermission. google_color_bg="1B1B1B"; Luckily, Wyoming is a prime spot for hunting your own crystals and gemstones. Cracking them open reminds me of opening a Kinder-Egg with a surprise toy inside. This area is very close to Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite. Phosphate rock is also located here. This paper has an alternate location along the logging road. Make a right on it. Teepee Canyon Agates 13. If you explore the highway cut north of Laramie, you might find meteorites. Gator Girl Rocks provides useful information about The majority of national parks located in the U.S. prohibit gem hunting/rockhounding. Veins of banded agate and drusy quartz occur in Mississippian limestone beds a few miles northwest of Guernsey, Platte County. lol Thanks again! Calcite for making lamps and also nice bots in roadside cut near Lander. Here, rockhounds can find agates. The Lost Creek areas of this county contain many uranium minerals, while petrified wood is found northeast of Eden. Buy on Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. google_color_text="FFFFFF"; //-->, Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites. What a great reason to go rockhounding. (I do not live in the US right now.). We hope you enjoy your time on our site and come back often because were always adding new dig locations and crystal collecting updates. google_ad_height=600; Speaking of Laramie, you can find in the Laramie Range amphibole, cordierite, epidote, orthoclase and plagioclase minerals, garnet, magnetite, and mica minerals, among many other materials. While you cant collect rocks within those parks, the fantastically complicated and gorgeous geology found within their borders is a testament to the complex geological history of the area. google_color_link="000000"; Please direct technical questions (including broken links) about this Web site to [email protected]. So, this saves us precious time. Thanks again for this site. I f you are a rockhound and don't live in Wyoming, you may want to move here! Whether you're one of the thousands who come to Wyoming each year to admire its unique geologic features or you've come to rockhound and prospect for gemstones and gold, Thank you for your reply! Clear chalcedony and vein moss agate occur along this countys outcrops of the Bridger Formation. Rockhounding in eastern Wyoming offers a lot of opportunities to find a wide variety of rocks and minerals. Agates also happen to be some of the most commonly collected rocks in the United States, including Wyoming. If you want to find geodes in Wyoming, you should look for places with many sedimentary rocks, such as in the beds of the conglomerate, which crop out throughout the state. Devils Kitchen walk-in access near Red Gulch, Wyoming: 9.) That is partly because of about 50 percent of the states public land. In that case, you might want to explore the Kortes Dam area and the Sierra Madre Mountains. Through quite a bit of research and cross-referencing of available literature, I have compiled this list of some prospective locations in Wyoming which I would recommend to people looking to do some rockhounding. You never know what type of crystals or patterns youre going to find inside and it makes them incredibly exciting. I am wondering what it looks like on top of canyon. Rockhounding in Wyoming never seems to let down rockhounds. Also lots of buzzworms. TIP: Geodes can form anywhere in the world, but they do not form at random. | Thanks! Enter your email address to subscribe to this the content of this site, some of which, we hear, is worthwhile. The sapphire specimens found in the Canyon vary from blue and light grey to deeper colors, including violet. But where else can rockhounds explore, and what can they find? Now that you know where to find agates in Wyoming, lets see where you can find the official state gemstone of Wyoming, the famous nephrite variant of jade. These rockhounding sights ofWyoming are mostly on public land but a good blm ownership map isrecommended allowing you to stay off private land. The best place to start is in Yellowstone National Park. Rocks there have a different variety of lab than down below. Suitable for the advanced backpacker. Find out how these beautiful minerals are formed and more in this article:What Is Agate And How Do Agates Form? The most commonly found gems and crystals in Wyoming are quartz and feldspar, but you can also find many others including garnet, tourmaline, and opal. Here are 10 of the best rockhounding sites for rocks and minerals in Wyoming: Fremont County - Agate, Chalcedony, Jasper, Jade Split Rock - Ruby, 'Sweetwater' Agate Sweetwater County - Agate, Quartz crystals, Chert Rock Springs - Silicified wood, Agate, Jasper Box Elder Canyon - Geodes, quartz crystals Wamsutter Agate Beds - Turritella agates This site is devoted to sharing my love of rocks with you. In Wyoming, there is a wide variety of gemstones like jade, the states official gemstone, diamonds, sapphire, ruby, opal, peridot, iolite, agate, petrified wood, and quartz crystals. google_ad_client="pub-2930148589555936"; Geologic mapping of the Phantom Lake quadrangle in Carbon County is available. These include allanite, beryl, calcite-aragonite, columbite-tantalite, cordierite, feldspar minerals such as orthoclase, plagioclase, galena, graphite, kyanite, magnetite, manganese minerals, mica minerals, uranium minerals, and varieties of quartz. My kid loved exploring it with me. Wyoming's Cultural Geology Guide, published by the Wyoming State Geological Survey (2015), provides an up-to-date, comprehensive list of Museums and sites that And of course, nephrite jade can be found in such abundance that it is Wyomings state gemstone. , Places to See Geologic Displays in Wyoming, Guide to Prospecting and Rock Hunting in Wyoming, "Rockhounding, Prospecting, and Fossil Hunting on the Shoshone National Forest". Check out the table down below to see where these specimens of sedimentary rocks are found in Wyoming. A locations listing here is not a guarantee of accuracy. Rockhounds can explore most of Wyoming's geologic products up close because over 50% of the state is public land! Follow the four-wheeler track down the mountain and into the badlands below. I find the watermelon stone about halfway up the canyon. 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 article will dive deeper into the many great rockhounding sites across the state (along with maps), but Id like to highlight a few standouts here. Members can expect various educational speakers and a lot of group interaction. As you tour the State of Wyoming, feel free to contact any of the If youre really nice and want a piece, maybe Ill send you some. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below. google_color_text="FFFFFF"; The road is really easy going, but the locals arent friendly, even by my states standards. The Medicine Bow Mountains are excellent places to find slate, galena, beryl, barite, and platinum-sperrylite. However, anywhere in the area around Black Rock should be good, and maybe to the west, too, which I havent checked yet. Some of the most prominent metamorphic rocks in Wyoming are gneiss, marble, quartzite, schist, and slate, among many others. . As with most states, each county in Wyoming will have records of who owns each piece of property. Wyoming isnt just rich in rocks and minerals; it also has gold, fossils, and petrified wood. 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. Ammonite-like fossils, kimberlite, etc. My little girl loves rocks now (gems and fossils both). I found this book very useful and clearly written. However, lets talk about the 11 best places to rockhound in Wyoming. Atlantic City, area stream gravels, draws, etc. Rockhounds can find opal within the deposits associated with the parks hot springs. Sapphires and other treasures lie north of Yellowstone. You may also find gold along with parts of the Snake River in the southern part of Jackson Hole, northwest Wyoming. Wolsey Shale yields abundant articulated trilobites (Albertella helena, Kochina gordonensis, Strotocephalus gordonensis, Ptarmigania gordonensis, and Vanuxemella contracta), as well as brachiopods (Acrothele colleni and Micromitra scuptilis) and hyoliths (Hyolithus convexus). The 12 Best Places to See Lava (With Helpful Tips) Black Hills, South Dakota: 1. Zoom in for full list. Only very minor surface mining has been done here. This club hosts multiple outings every month during the summer. It is located in the northwestern part of Wyoming, and you can find amethyst, opals, and many other types of valuable gems and minerals. Here at Rockhounding Maps, we give you access and information to the best dig sites for crystals and minerals in Wyoming. Other sources include: North Carolina Rockhounding Location Guide & Map, Montana Rockhounding Location Guide & Map. google_ad_width=120; My best to you and your family. Quartz crystals can also be found northeast of Buffalo and in Box Elder Canyon. See my details at this link. Public access with nice walk in. If you are interested in checking out the best book about rockhounding in Wyoming you can find it by clickinghere(Amazon link). google_ad_host="pub-6693688277674466"; In Johnson County, located in the north-central part of Wyoming, you can find agate. It will turn slightly left for a short, steep incline. Obsidian is plentiful in Wyoming, especially abundant in Yellowstone National Park, where the Obsidian Cliff is located in the northwest part of the Park. Winton petrified wood near Rock Springs, WY: 5.) ), let me know. Rockhounding Locations in WY, MT; UT. If you have a public-lands GPS map, you can proceed up the Plumbago Canyon road to the top, where people dont go, and find some nice specimens lying on the roadside. types. These rockhounding sights of Wyoming are mostly on public land but a good. ROCK SHOWS Gem, mineral. here. Im here to serve you! I hope my articles will be useful to you. Azurite, Barite, Chalcopyrite, Cuprite, Galena, Gold, Limonite, Malachite, Pyrite, Quartz crystals, Sphalerite, etc. At the same time, some reports of meteorite findings are also standard in this region. Some icons at default view contain 5+ hikes when zoomed in. No rockhound excursion would be complete in Wyoming without exploring Yellowstone National Park. 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. Jade can be found in the Sweetwater River district southeast of the Wind River Mountains in Fremont County. Rockhounding in Wyoming is a great way to discover the states diverse geology and fossilized wildlife. 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. To this general information we might add: The article Places to See Geologic Displays in Wyoming And if you have any tips (Ill keep your finds a secret! Tom, this is an AMAZING resource. Hi, do you have the gps coordinates for the peridot/ant hills? Some people say that they have a lot of success near the reservoir, but this hasnt been too true for my family. See my Wyoming Rockhounding Location Guide for more places to rockhound. In the Casper Mountains, you can find chromite, feldspar minerals, or beryl. was featured in the November 2012 issue of Jade State News. Copyright 2022 Rockhound Resource | Birch on Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Greybull, area washes and draws btwn Big Horn River and Mountains, Lovell, E to Big Horn Mountains in draws and washes, Fremont County, all regional washes and draws. This region is full of mica minerals, phonolite, pumice, and Wyomingite in the Leucite Hills area. Rockhounds can find all sorts of rocks and minerals, including: A look around the Wood River and Sunlight Basin areas can potentially lead to finding gold. Zirkel Mesa to the west is actually remnants of exposed cinder cone volcanoes; the cinders can be found at Black Rock, too. Despite the otherwise impressive rockhounding in Wyoming, geodes are a fairly rare occurrence in the state. Where are the best places for rockhounding in Wyoming? First of all, check the Tertiary igneous rocks in the Wood River and Sunlight Basin areas of Park County and the Black Hills area of northeastern Wyoming. Wyoming is among the best rockhounding places in the U.S., and this is partly because around 50% of its lands are public! Various outcrops along the road contain specimens. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS The Riverton Mineral and Gem Society is an organization for people of all ages and experience levels. Rockhounding Wyoming by Kenneth Graham. The higher hills to the west (the mesas and buttes) are all ultrapotassic and mafic rocks. It should be no surprise that there are several rockhound societies in Wyoming worth checking into. To get you started on prospecting, the Wyoming State Geological Survey has prepared a Sweetwater County is located in the southwestern part of Wyoming. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; hobby, or education. google_ad_client="pub-2930148589555936"; 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. google_ad_width=120; Welcome to the Wyoming State Geological Survey Interpreting the past, providing for the future Take our Survey for a Chance to Win a Map! I would probably start by contacting the assessor in whatever county youre interested in and getting whatever contact information you can for the landowner. One of the most common questions rockhounds have is whether or not they are allowed to collect at a certain location. Obsidian isnt listed here since we know how much rockhounds love this igneous rock, so let us talk about obsidian separately. 05-01-11 Water line and fortification agate and calcite geodes and selenite phew!! In general, the best places to find agates in Wyoming are in gravels and washes, particularly in Sweetwater County, Fremont County, and along the Sweetwater and Wind Rivers. If you want to find agates in Albany, they are usually found near Marshall, located in northwestern Albany. Red Gulch Dino Track Site near Shell, WY: 8a.) Rockhounds have several excellent locations to choose from in Wyoming. Hello and thank you for posting this information. "Rockhounding Rules on BLM Public Lands" and google_color_link="000000"; as well as detailed information that will interest any rockhound. "Rockhounding, Prospecting, and Fossil Hunting on the Shoshone National Forest" Quartz crystals are typically found everywhere north of Saratoga along Highway 130 to Walcott Junction. Interesting sedimentary features near Adobe Town, WY: 7.) Sign In. Important Disclaimer: I have not been to these locations myself, and I do not know if they are currently open for collecting. This is a great resource for anyone who loves rockhounding, from beginners to experts alike! Each of the included tracks will eventually have its own transcription of events.
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