• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
methodshop

methodshop

tech news, reviews & how to's

  • Trending
  • Latest
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Internet
    • Software
    • Security
    • Games
    • Advertising
  • Life
    • Entertainment
    • TV & Film
    • Music
    • Health & Science
    • Family
    • Social Media
    • Food
    • Style
  • Learn
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • News
      • Business
      • Crime
      • Politics
  • Fun
    • Featured
    • Humor
    • Holiday

Home : Learn : Rockhounding 101: Everything You Need To Know About This Fun Rock Hunting Hobby

Sexy Woman At A Rock Quarry
Picturekult

Rockhounding 101: Everything You Need To Know About This Fun Rock Hunting Hobby

Looking for a fun outdoor family activity? How about rockhounding (aka rock hunting)? Everything from minerals to fossilized rocks can be easily found if you know where to look.

August 25, 2020 by Ethan Millard
FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn

What is rockhounding? It’s the hobby of hunting both interesting and rare rocks. Everything from minerals to fossilized rocks can be easily found if you know where to look. Plus, rockhounding is a great outdoor family activity. It satisfies the curiosity and adventurousness in every kid and kid at heart. Here are some rockhounding tips to help make sure your next rock hunting adventure goes well.

What To Pack: Essential Rock Hunting Gear

Family Hiking In The Mountains
stux

It’s not necessary to invest in new gear when you go rock hunting.  The basic necessities for rockhounding are the same as any other outdoor activity, such as hiking. You’ll want sturdy shoes and plenty of water. If you have camel packs ($18-60), then fill them up with ice water in the summer. Keep in mind that you’ll primarily be looking for items in areas of exposed rock. That means you’ll have little or no shade. So make sure everyone is wearing hats and sunscreen too.

Rockhounding: Fossil And Hammer
PDP

I also recommend bringing work gloves ($9-50). Many people carry special rock hammers (~$20) with them, too, but don’t feel like you need that to get started. If you do take a hammer with you to break rocks in the field, then make sure you wear safety glasses ($1-30). Shattered rock fragments can be very sharp and dangerous, especially to your eyes.

Also, don’t forget to bring a bag to store collected samples.  If you carry a backpack, use a separate shoulder bag to store what you collect.  It should be something within easy reach and quick to get in and out of.

  • Hiking shoes
  • Hats
  • Sunscreen
  • Water
  • Bags and backpacks
  • Hammer and safety glasses

Make You First Rockhounding Trip An Easy One

Tired Girls Outside During The Winter
jty11117777

For your first few rockhounding trips, try to start with some easy ones. Make your first outings to locations where you’re guaranteed to find interesting things quickly. Depending on where you live, you probably won’t have to drive far. When initially researching locations, try an Internet search for “rock hunting near me” and you should find a few options to get you started.

Also before your trip, show your kids some photos of what they should be looking for and try to help them get some quick early successes. That will help fuel their interest and excitement on future excursions.

Rockhounding Wonderstones In Utah - Rock Hunting
JA

Here’s a rock hunting excursion that my family really enjoyed near Salt Lake City. Your kids are guaranteed to quickly find things at this Wonderstone quarry that will fascinate them and look awesome. If you live in the area, it’s just outside of Vernon, Utah.

The State of Utah published this list of rockhounding locations in UT that are accessible and great for families to collect a variety of different things. Check to see if your local government has published a similar collection of places to go rockhounding.

Plan Your Rockhounding Trip Route And Be Prepared To Navigate Without Internet Access

Hiking Map And Compass
JoshuaWoroniecki

Before your trip, research the route to and from your destination. Explore it with an online map, but make sure you bring physical maps just in case. You can just print out some screens from Google Maps if you don’t already own a set of maps. Also, don’t rely on a GPS route finder. In rural areas, they can lead you onto roads that are not passable via car or that no longer exist. In some instances, people have died blindly following their GPS units. Rescue teams call it Death By GPS.

Don’t Break Any Laws While Rockhounding

Private Keep Out - No Trespassing
PDP

If you want to collect rocks on private property, then you must have permission from the property owner.  If it is public land, you won’t need permission but you will need to follow some rules.

National Parks, National Monuments, and State Parks do not allow collecting of any kind.  Outside of that, most public lands allow rock collecting for personal use. According to the Bureau Of Land Management‘s website, you are allowed to collect 25 pounds per day up to 250 pounds per year. Collecting single specimens larger than 250 pounds requires special permission.

Public land can be leased and claimed for rock and mineral extraction and you will need permission from the property leasee or claimant if you’re hoping to collect on the areas they occupy.

One final note on public lands.  If you collect under these public access rules, then you are not allowed to sell what you find. Your rockhounding collection is for personal use only.  If you want to make some money collecting and selling on public lands, then you’ll need to apply for the proper permits first.

Pay To Play: Rockhounding At Private Queries 

Sexy Woman At A Rock Quarry
Picturekult

One of the easiest ways to collect rocks is at private quarries. The landowners will allow you to gather rocks from their property for a reasonable fee. Some quarries charge by the pound, others by time. If the quarry charges by time, then ask if you can start with a partial day first.  Even just a few hours in an open quarry is physically taxing, especially for children. Ask the quarry if they’ll give you the option to upgrade to the full day rate if it’s going well and you don’t want to leave.

We had a lot of success at a very well known trilobite quarry outside of Delta, Utah, called U-Dig Fossils. Just search for “rock quarries near me” to find some suitable locations near where you live.

What NOT To Collect When You Go, Rock Hunting

Don'T Collect Dinosaur Bones When You Go Rockhounding
dassel

You are legally allowed to collect mineral specimens, semi-precious gems, petrified wood, rocks, and invertebrate fossils. Something that’s not on that list is dinosaurs. Do not collect dinosaur bones on public lands.  All vertebrate fossils, creatures with bones, are off-limits.  You can however collect nonvertebrate fossils including the famous trilobite.  Fossilized tracks and tail drag marks by dinosaurs are also off-limits. Take pictures and enjoy them when you find them, but leave them alone.

Also, steer clear of human artifacts and remains.  These are protected and even though you may find them lying around, we are prohibited from disturbing them.  This includes even simple items like stone tools or arrowheads and shards of pottery.

Establish This Family Rule Early: You Carry What You Collect 

Red Hiking Backpack And Coffee Mug
HawkEyeRO

Set this expectation firmly and early: You must carry what you collect.  Make this a rule for everyone, even for the smaller kids.  Make sure they each have a bag and tell them that they can keep what they find IF they can carry it.  When you first take your kids out they’ll be tempted to collect everything and anything and make you carry it for them.

Training them in the “you collect it, you carry it” method will not only save your back from breaking, but it will also help them be more discerning in what they choose to bring home.

Easy Rockhounding Tips

Yellow Flowers - Iceland Lava Rocks
KarinKarin

I hope you found these rockhounding tips helpful. If you’ve never been rock hunting before, then you don’t know what you are missing. It truly is a fun outdoor activity. If you or your family think hiking is boring, then try rockhounding or geocaching. Having a goal or objective is often the hook they will need to make walking around outside more fun.

To get started, just try an internet search for the phrase “rock hunting near me.” Good luck!

Rockhounding 101: Everything You Need To Know About This Fun Rock Hunting Hobby … #Rockhounding #RockHunting
Click To Tweet

Related Articles:

  • How To Virtually Hike the Grand Canyon
  • What Is Geocaching? It’s A High-Tech Easter Egg Hunt For Adults
  • Geocaching How To – A Quick Start Guide


FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn
Category: Learn, Family Tag: dinosaurs, education, environment, Hiking, Rockhounding
Previous Post:Ads.txt File FormatHow To Easily Manage Ads.txt Files Across Multiple Subdomains
Next Post:TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Quits After Only 3 Months On The JobTikTok iPhone Man

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Popular Posts

  • Job Automation Using ChatGPT Could Make These Jobs Obsolete - Is Your Job On This List?Job Automation Using ChatGPT Could Make These Jobs Obsolete – Is Your Job On…
  • The Surprising Story Behind The NBC ChimesThe Surprising Story Behind The NBC Chimes
  • 7 Pictures Of Naked People Captured By Google's Cameras7 Pictures Of Naked People Captured By Google’s Cameras
  • Top 200 Nielsen DMA Rankings (2023) – Full ListTop 200 Nielsen DMA Rankings (2023) – Full List
  • 20 Famous People Who Are Members Of The Sleepless Elite20 Famous People Who Are Members Of The Sleepless Elite
  • How To Change The Default LG TV Home Screen To Live TVHow To Change The Default LG TV Home Screen To Live TV
  • 5 Funny Resurrection Jokes To Share On Easter Sunday5 Funny Resurrection Jokes To Share On Easter Sunday
  • Controversial Nimbus 2000 Vibrating Harry Potter Broomstick Has Parents In An UproarControversial Nimbus 2000 Vibrating Harry Potter Broomstick Has Parents In An Uproar
  • 30 Dirty Irish Pick Up Lines That Will Probably Get You Slapped30 Dirty Irish Pick Up Lines That Will Probably Get You Slapped
  • The Best Caddyshack Quotes: 30 Famous Caddyshack Quotes That'll Make You LaughThe Best Caddyshack Quotes: 30 Famous Caddyshack Quotes That’ll Make You Laugh

Categories

Ask Alexa St. Patrick's Day - Funny St. Patrick's Day Jokes & Irish Jokes

10 Fun Things To Ask Alexa On St. Patrick’s Day

Amazon’s Alexa can be a fun and helpful part of your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and activities. Here are some fun Irish and St. Patrick’s Day related things to #AskAlexa.

How To Visually Identify AI-Generated Text

How To Manually Identify AI-Generated Text Without Using A ChatGPT Detector

Wondering if what you’ve read is bot or human-generated? AI text detectors can help, but can be time-consuming. Here’s how humans can train to identify AI-generated text.

Recent Posts

  • How To Manually Identify AI-Generated Text Without Using A ChatGPT Detector
  • 10 Clever Tech Gifts That People Actually Want
  • 10 Fun Things To Ask Alexa On St. Patrick’s Day
  • 30 Dirty Irish Pick Up Lines That Will Probably Get You Slapped
  • Why Chuck E. Cheese Is Still Using Floppy Disks To Make Its Rodent Mascot Dance

Jump to comments

About

MethodShop’s mission is to entertain, inform, and sometimes gross you out. MethodShop has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by us. All prices are subject to change.

Latest

How To Visually Identify AI-Generated Text

How To Manually Identify AI-Generated Text Without Using A ChatGPT Detector

Clever Tech Gifts

10 Clever Tech Gifts That People Actually Want

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
MethodShop Animated Zoom Icon
  • About
  • Submit
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Store

Copyright © 2023 MethodShop · All Rights Reserved