Meteorites have been found on a highway cut north of Laramie. I spent about an hour at this location, and . The entire region boasts many outcrops of bentonites, which are ash clay layers left over from ancient volcanic activity. Sublette County, located in western Wyoming, is noted for its jade findings, while the mineral molybdenite is found in the Wind River Mountains. 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. Gold can also be found in Park County, specifically the Wood River and Sunlight Basin areas. Wyomings state gemstone, nephrite, can primarily be found in Fremont County, particularly in the large area centered around the towns of Lander and Atlantic City. Wall of crystals found hiking Big Balls of Cowtown Trail. It will turn slightly left for a short, steep incline. Select locations particularly the tailings of old mines are prime spots for specimens of minerals like azurite, malachite, beryl, tourmaline, and garnet. Wyoming is home to some incredible jade specimens, mainly of the classes nephrite and jadeite. Use caution. Zirkel Mesa to the west is actually remnants of exposed cinder cone volcanoes; the cinders can be found at Black Rock, too. Pegmatite and sedimentary rocks such as bentonite are also found in Johnson County. . 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. Check out my article about how to identify a geode. types. You can buy ithere(Amazon link). If you sign up for GaiaGPS (free, takes about 2 clicks, and Ive never gotten mail from them, as its a husband+wife team that runs it), you can download the GPS data in the map to use on your phone or to import to Google Earth. google_ad_client="pub-2930148589555936"; Im doing a fossil camping trip near the buttes to a quarry where you can pay to dig for fish fossils. Members can participate in outings, monthly meetings and be a part of a fantastic rockhounding community. This is a simple guide to my website. This way I can make arrangements to make trip as enjoyable and stress free as possible. But sometimes you can mistake feldspar with quartz. This interest of mine has lasted until today, so I decided to create this website. The higher hills to the west (the mesas and buttes) are all ultrapotassic and mafic rocks. This book is a 6" x 9" paperback with 246 pages, descriptions, maps and photos. Near the Sierra Madre Mountains, in the Hot Park Area, barite is commonly found, a couple of miles southwest of Encampment. I recommend walk-in access via the Radio Creek Road starting at a pullout located here. (Rough Draft, 05/02/2021 Revision), Hiking and Adventure Map (Work in Progress). Obsidian is abundant in Yellowstone, with the most famous location being the Obsidian Cliff, located in the northwest part of the Park. Anyway, follow that Jeep trail down toward the bottom, where it first starts getting pretty flat, and youll find a ton of fossils. 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. Below is a list of rockhounding locations in wyoming with a description of the minerals found there and pictures. was featured in the November 2012 issue of Jade State News. I hope my articles will be useful to you. Rockhounds can find opal within the deposits associated with the parks hot springs. that describes some of the most common rocks and minerals to be found in Wyoming, along with general localities in the state where they might be found. Exploring the Laramie Mountain Range can lead to finding specimens like amphibole, epidote, plagioclase minerals, garnet, magnetite, and mica. google_ad_width=120; I hope this will make it a bit easier to find information on my Wyoming rockhounding pages. Petrified wood occurs in the Specimen Ridge and Amethyst Mountain area of Yellowstone. The majority of these locations are my interpretation of Robert Bestes A Location Guide for Rock Hounds in the United States. "Rockhounding, Prospecting, and Fossil Hunting on the Shoshone National Forest" Check out how valuable different types of opal can be in the article below:8 Factors Why Opal is Valuable (Prices for Different Types). Fort Bridger, area gravels, streams, washes, etc. Obsidian is plentiful in Wyoming, especially abundant in Yellowstone National Park, where the Obsidian Cliff is located in the northwest part of the Park. Proceed up canyon dirt road (12) until you reach the top plateau and it is flat. Wyoming is full of jades, mostly of the nephrite class, and the jadeite class, which sounds like something out of Star Wars. Check out the table below to find where to find the more important metamorphic rocks in the state of Wyoming. We have listed each type of crystal in separate sections since we know how much you love them. , ,