![]() ![]() The American Museum of Natural History has a 150 millimeter sphere cut from a Mokelumne Hill rock crystal. Over the years, various mines in the area have produced thousands of kilograms of rock crystal, with some of the individual crystals weighing as much as 275 kilograms and many of the crystals measuring more than 600 millimeters in length and 250 millimeters in diameter. The best quality, largest, and most abundant crystals come from ancient stream channels in the Mokelumne Hill area of Calveras County. For many years cobbles and round crystals have been found in streambeds in Amador and Calveras Counties. Near Indian Head Hill in San Diego County is a deposit of fine-quality hessonite garnet, and another deposit is near Dos Cabezas.ĭeposits in California are another source of significant amounts of quality rock crystal. The most productive area with the finest quality garnets is on the western side of Hatfield Creek Valley near Romona. Spessartites have been found on Gem Hill near Mesa Grande and in mines in the Rincon and Pala Districts. ![]() Some of the finest quality spessartite garnet known come from pegmatites in San Diego County. Other locations for these types of grossularites are the south side of Watts Valley in Fresno County, near Selma in Tulare County, near Big Bar in Butte County and near El Toro in Orange County. ![]() Gem- and specimen-quality white to pale green grossularite garnet occurs on Indian Creek in Siskiyou County and along Traverse Creek near Georgetown in Eldorado County. And colorless Natrolite comes from San Benito County. Scheelite comes from deposits in Kern and Inyo Counties. Large light to medium green Fluorite is found in Los Angeles County. San Benito County is the only source of this fine, blue colored gem. Benitoite, the State gemstone, is the collector/specialty stone for which the State is best known. Fine-quality, brown colored stones of Axinite comes from deposits in Calaveras, Madera, Riverside, and San Diego Counties. Pink Apatite was found in San Diego County. But other rocks and minerals that are found in California include Chinese Writing Rock, Lepidolite, Tourmaline, Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper, Jade, Kunzite, Garnet, Fire Agate, Benitoite (named the state gemstone in 1985), Serpentine (named the state rock in 1965), Howlite and more. See my page on Rockhounding Rules for general information on the rules of collecting rocks on various lands.Ĭalifornia isn't called the Golden State for nothing. For more information on collecting sites on BLM land click here. Cross country travel is illegal, as is driving in designated Wilderness Areas. Remember to stay on designated open roads. If you must travel alone, be sure to let someone know of your plans. It is always a good idea to travel in a group and to bring plenty of drinking water with you when traveling in the desert. Many rockhounding sites require hiking or driving to remote areas on sandy or rocky roads where there is a possibility of getting stuck. Just about any hill, mountain, or wash can provide some wonderful rock and mineral discoveries. Libraries, bookstores, and "gem and mineral shows" are also very good sources of published information. Perhaps the best source of information is rock, gem, and mineral groups found in communities throughout southern California. Visitors to the California often ask where they can rockhound. By the 1960's the government saw a need to regulate the collection of rocks and minerals on public lands. This led to substantial amounts of material being removed and an increase in mining claims. With increased popularity of rockhounding, some rockhounds regarded certain areas as their own and feared that other collectors would deplete their rocks and minerals. By the 1930's, interest in rockhounding increased significantly and it was during this period that rockhounding groups were formed and collecting areas in the desert were publicized. Eventually, however, more people were drawn to rockhounding for recreational purposes, mainly for the beauty that rocks and minerals provide. Even today there are active mines, some still producing gold, as well as iron, lead, tungsten, zinc, quick silver, talc, chromite, and borate minerals.Įarly rockhounds were prospectors looking for valuable minerals and gemstones for commercial purposes. In fact practically every known mineral exists in some quantity in California. Rockhounds sought California's rock and minerals before the gold rush.Ĭalifornia's geological forces have created one of the widest varieties of rocks and minerals found in any state. ![]()
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