Rockhounding and fossil sites in California
Rockhounding and fossil sites in California, each compiled from its own sources: what you can collect, how much, and the agency rule. No ratings; every entry carries its status.
Point at a dot to see the place.Tap a dot to see the place. Road map of California.
- Chambless Rock Collecting AreaChambless · Rock collecting areaA Bureau of Land Management rockhounding ground off National Trails Highway near Chambless, California, where green epidote carrying metallic hematite blades lies along the Trilobite Wilderness boundary.
- Clear Creek Management Area gem collectingBLM management areaThe Bureau of Land Management's Clear Creek tract in southern San Benito County holds more than 150 minerals, among them the state gem benitoite, in serpentine that is also an asbestos deposit.
- Flattop Mountain Rock Collecting AreaNeedles · Rock collecting areaA Bureau of Land Management rock collecting area west of Needles, California, where jasper lies on both sides of a dirt route at the base of Flattop Mountain.
- Inyo NF obsidian digs (Glass Creek, Obsidian Dome, Deadman Creek)Highway 395 Corridor June Lake · Observation siteThree young lava domes of black obsidian and gray pumice on the Inyo National Forest north of Mammoth Lakes, California, dated by tree rings to a single eruption in 1350 CE.
- Savahia Peak Rock Collecting AreaVidal Junction · Rock collecting areaThe large wash north of U.S. Highway 62 just 2 miles east of Vidal Junction is an excellent site for collecting chalcedony, which can be found from Highway 95 extending east approximately 1 mile.
- South Yuba River SP gold panningPenn Valley · Gold panningModern-day gold seekers can play out the story of the gold rush using only bare hands and shallow gold pans. Visitors may keep any gold they find.
- Wiley Well District Geode BedsBlythe · Geode bedsBeautiful desert country of the Little Chuckawalla, Mule, and Palo Verde Mountains and the Black Hills; rich in history from gold rush days to General Patton's tank training during World War II; contains ancient fossils and artifacts from early Native Americans, pioneers, conquistadors, ranchers, and military troops.
Rockhounding in all eleven states; next door in Oregon and Nevada.