OregonMineral collecting
Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area
A remote BLM-designated public collection area where visitors may collect sunstone for personal, noncommercial use inside clearly marked boundaries.
Plan this tripAll 50 states. Known rules. Low impact.
Geology field trips in every state
Explore a national catalog of rock, mineral, and non-dinosaur fossil destinations. Collecting pages require explicit authorization; states without a defensible collecting program are represented by clearly labeled observation-only geology visits.
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A verified starting point—not a permanent promise
Recheck the official source before every trip
Open status, road access, fees, reservations, permit limits, fire restrictions, and collecting zones can change. An official program checked today does not authorize a future visit. Posted rules and staff instructions always control.
For federal fossil rules outside these controlled destinations, use the U.S. fossil collecting-law guide. For specimen preparation, begin with the field-test safety guides.
59 vetted destinations · 50 states
Choose a rules-first field trip
Every state is represented. Named collecting programs are separated from observation-only destinations so a visitor never has to infer permission from a locality listing.
States covered: Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming
22 destinations
Mineral collecting trips
NevadaMineral collecting
Garnet Hill
The Ely BLM district’s designated rockhounding area, known for dark red garnet crystals in rhyolitic volcanic rock and weathered surface material.
Plan this tripUtahMineral collecting
Topaz Mountain Rockhound Recreation Area
A remote BLM rockhounding destination where topaz and associated crystals occur in cavities and weathered material within volcanic rhyolite.
Plan this tripIdahoMineral collecting
Emerald Creek Garnet Area
A controlled Forest Service collecting experience where advance Recreation.gov tickets, an onsite mineral permit, and staff orientation authorize limited garnet collection.
Plan this tripArkansasMineral collecting
Crater of Diamonds State Park
A staffed Arkansas state park where paid visitors search a designated plowed volcanic field and may keep rocks, minerals, and gemstones they legally find under park rules.
Plan this tripArizonaMineral collecting
Black Hills Rockhound Area
A BLM-designated desert collecting area where the public may dig for fire agate without a site fee or permit.
Plan this tripMontanaMineral collecting
Crystal Park
A Forest Service day-use mineral collection area with about 30 acres of designated quartz-crystal digging ground and a seasonal host.
Plan this tripOklahomaMineral collecting
Salt Plains Selenite Dig Area
A free, seasonal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program for collecting distinctive selenite crystals inside one orange-signed dig area.
Plan this tripMaineMineral collecting
Mount Apatite Park
A city-owned park where amateur collectors may use hand tools in the historic quarry and mine-dump area under a clearly published depth limit.
Plan this tripNew YorkMineral collecting
Herkimer Diamond Mines
A seasonal private surface mine where paid visitors receive instruction, use approved tools, and keep the quartz crystals they find.
Plan this tripNorth CarolinaMineral collecting
Emerald Hollow Mine
A private public-prospecting mine offering permit-based digging, creek searching, and separate sluice products under operator rules.
Plan this tripCaliforniaMineral collecting
OceanView Mine
A reservation-based private mine experience where visitors screen operator-provided mine material and keep permitted finds.
Plan this tripNevadaMineral collecting
Royal Peacock Opal Mine
A remote seasonal private mine offering paid bank digging and tailings searching, with finds governed by the operator’s keep policy.
Plan this tripSouth CarolinaMineral collecting
Diamond Hill Mine
A private fee-dig property with surface collecting and hand digging for quartz-family crystals in unsalted mine material.
Plan this tripAlabamaProgram or paid access
Alabama Gold Camp Prospecting
A private fee property where checked-in visitors may pan, sluice, or use other operator-approved prospecting methods under the camp’s current rules.
Plan this tripAlaskaCollecting allowed
Wrangell–St. Elias Recreational Gold Panning
A narrow Alaska exception that permits low-impact hand panning and limited surface rock collection while excluding fossils, gemstones, silver, and platinum.
Plan this tripGeorgiaProgram or paid access
Graves Mountain Public Rock Swap and Dig
A privately controlled mineral locality opened to the public only during announced events or by an approved arrangement with the caretaker.
Plan this tripKentuckyProgram or paid access
Carter Caves Gemstone Flume
A supervised park concession where visitors buy prepared material and keep the washed contents; it is not permission to collect natural park geology.
Plan this tripNew HampshireProgram or paid access
Ruggles Mine Mineral Collecting
A seasonal private mine attraction where paid visitors may collect a published bucket quantity of loose mineral material under operator rules.
Plan this tripNew JerseyProgram or paid access
Sterling Hill Mine Run Dump
A museum-operated collecting dump at a world-famous zinc deposit, with separate age, access, fee, and safety rules from the underground tour.
Plan this tripTennesseeProgram or paid access
Cooper’s Gem Mine Sluice
A private educational sluice experience where visitors purchase prepared ore and keep discovered material; it is not a natural outcrop-collecting site.
Plan this tripVirginiaCollecting allowed
Fairy Stone State Park Hunt Site
A designated Virginia state-park hunt area where visitors may surface-search for and take a small number of staurolite crystals for personal use.
Plan this trip9 destinations
Rock collecting trips
UtahRock collecting
Dugway Geode Beds
A BLM rockhounding area known for rounded geodes containing quartz varieties in a remote, sparsely serviced desert setting.
Plan this tripNew MexicoRock collecting
Rockhound State Park collecting area
A New Mexico state park with a specifically regulated rockhound unit where souvenir collection is allowed only in posted designated areas with small hand tools.
Plan this tripCaliforniaRock collecting
Wiley Well District Geode Beds
A remote BLM desert district long used for geode hunting, approached by graded dirt roads whose condition changes after rain and maintenance.
Plan this tripCaliforniaRock collecting
Chambless Rock Collecting Area
A BLM-named collecting area with varied mineral and rock material, bordered by land where collecting rules differ sharply.
Plan this tripCaliforniaRock collecting
Savahia Peak Rock Collecting Area
A BLM-named desert collecting area where chalcedony may be found in wash material inside the authorized public setting.
Plan this tripMichiganCollecting allowed
Michigan Lake Superior Shore Rockhounding
A rules-first shoreline search for loose pebbles on public land, with Michigan’s annual personal-use weight limit and local closures treated as controlling.
Plan this tripMissouriProgram or paid access
Sheffler Geode Mine
A private appointment-only geode dig with a published admission allowance and per-pound charge beyond that allowance.
Plan this tripSouth DakotaCollecting allowed
Buffalo Gap Grassland Agate Search
A surface-only personal rockhounding opportunity on verified open Buffalo Gap National Grassland ground, excluding fossils, claims, and private land.
Plan this tripVermontCollecting allowed
Mount Ascutney Small-Stone Field Walk
A conservative Vermont state-park field walk that pairs geologic observation with the statewide personal-use exemption for a few small, ordinary stones.
Plan this trip18 destinations
Legal fossil collecting trips
NevadaFossil collecting
Oak Springs Trilobite Site
A BLM-designated outdoor trilobite site with a marked trailhead and fossil-bearing shale, included only because the agency explicitly presents it as a rockhounding destination.
Plan this tripMarylandFossil collecting
Calvert Cliffs State Park fossil beach
A Maryland state-park beach where fossil hunting is allowed in the open beach area while the eroding cliffs and ground beneath them remain permanently closed and illegal to collect.
Plan this tripNew YorkFossil collecting
Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve
A private nonprofit fossil park where paid admission, an introductory tour, and site rules allow visitors to collect Devonian marine fossils during public hours.
Plan this tripOhioFossil collecting
Sylvania Fossil Park
A free municipal fossil park where visitors may keep fossils from designated soft-shale collecting areas without using tools.
Plan this tripTexasFossil collecting
Mineral Wells Fossil Park
A free city-owned park where visitors may keep common Pennsylvanian marine fossils found by surface collecting in designated areas.
Plan this tripIowaFossil collecting
Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve
A county-operated fossil park within an Iowa state preserve where personal collecting is authorized in the former quarry.
Plan this tripIllinoisFossil collecting
Mazonia-Braidwood Fossil Permit Area
An Illinois DNR permit program for limited surface collection of fossil-bearing concretions in designated erosion areas.
Plan this tripUtahFossil collecting
U-Dig Fossils Trilobite Quarry
A remote private fee quarry where visitors split Cambrian shale for trilobites under operator instruction.
Plan this tripColoradoFossil collecting
Florissant Fossil Quarry
A private pay-to-collect quarry where staff provide tools and instruction for splitting fragile Eocene shale outside the national monument.
Plan this tripWyomingFossil collecting
Fossil Lake Safari
A seasonal private Green River Formation quarry where paid visitors split prepared shale and may keep most finds under an explicit operator policy.
Plan this tripWyomingFossil collecting
American Fossil DigFish Quarry
A separate private Green River Formation quarry offering scheduled visitor digs with tools, instruction, and an operator keep policy.
Plan this tripDelawareCollecting allowed
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Fossil Search
A Delaware Geological Survey–documented fossil area where small-scale personal collecting is possible only from currently open public ground.
Plan this tripFloridaCollecting allowed
Venice Beach Shark-Tooth Search
A surface and shallow-water search for common shark and ray teeth on public beaches, with Florida’s vertebrate-fossil permit distinction made explicit.
Plan this tripIndianaCollecting allowed
Falls of the Ohio Collecting Piles
A tightly defined Indiana collecting opportunity: rocks may be removed only from the designated quarry-material piles behind the interpretive center.
Plan this tripMississippiCollecting allowed
W.M. Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park
A public geological roadside park where visitors search creek sediment for common Late Cretaceous fossils under the park’s current rules.
Plan this tripNorth DakotaProgram or paid access
North Dakota Geological Survey Public Fossil Dig
A scheduled citizen-science dig where registered participants excavate with state paleontologists and finds are handled under program rules rather than personal collecting rights.
Plan this tripPennsylvaniaCollecting allowed
Montour Preserve Fossil Pit
A free, year-round public fossil pit in Devonian shale where the preserve expressly allows visitors to keep finds.
Plan this tripWashingtonProgram or paid access
Stonerose Eocene Fossil Site
A managed public fossil dig where visitors split Eocene lakebed shale, show every find to staff, and may keep a limited number of approved specimens.
Plan this trip10 destinations
Observation-only geology trips
ConnecticutObservation only
Hammonasset Garnet Sand Geology Walk
A no-collection shoreline geology visit for observing dense garnet grains and glacial sediment without removing state-owned rock or sand.
Plan this tripHawaiiObservation only
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Geology Drive and Walks
A no-collection volcanic field visit for observing young basalt, craters, lava tubes, and active geologic processes from currently open routes.
Plan this tripKansasObservation only
Little Jerusalem Badlands Geology Walk
A no-collection visit to fragile Niobrara Chalk spires and marine-fossil-bearing strata, viewed from marked trails or reserved guided access.
Plan this tripLouisianaObservation only
Longleaf Vista Sandstone Geology Walk
A low-impact walk through Louisiana’s unusually rugged sandstone terrain, presented as an observation trip because the trail page does not grant collecting permission.
Plan this tripMassachusettsObservation only
Natural Bridge Marble Geology Tour
A seasonal no-collection tour of a marble arch, gorge, historic quarry, and marble dam shaped by bedrock geology and glacial meltwater.
Plan this tripMinnesotaObservation only
Soudan Underground Mine Geology Tour
A staff-led descent into Minnesota’s oldest deep iron mine where ancient volcanic and sedimentary rocks are observed but not collected.
Plan this tripNebraskaObservation only
Toadstool Geologic Park Fossil Walk
A no-collection badlands trail where fossils and trackways are studied in place as part of a protected scientific landscape.
Plan this tripRhode IslandObservation only
Beavertail State Park Coastal Geology Walk
A coastal field-observation stop known for accessible bedrock and shoreline processes, presented without any collecting authorization.
Plan this tripWest VirginiaProgram or paid access
Lost World Caverns Geology and Gem Sluice
A private cave walk paired with an optional prepared-material sluice; natural cave formations are observation-only while purchased bag contents may be kept.
Plan this tripWisconsinObservation only
Interstate State Park Glacial Pothole Walk
A no-collection walk through the Dalles of the St. Croix, where basalt, glacial meltwater, and sediment abrasion produced a celebrated pothole landscape.
Plan this tripPublication threshold
What qualifies for this directory
A collecting guide requires a responsible authority that clearly identifies the allowed area and method. An observation guide may document an important protected landscape, but it must say plainly that removal is not allowed. We exclude sensitive paleontological sites, dinosaur collecting, abandoned-mine directions, unclear ownership, unverified roadside stops, and places supported only by social posts.
- Authoritative source. A current agency or operator page must support the trip and its status.
- Defined place. Visitors need a managed destination, not an occurrence coordinate.
- Recheckable conditions. The reader must be able to confirm current hours, permits, closures, or contact information.
- Honest expectations. A legal destination does not guarantee a find, quality, abundance, or value.