Rockhounding Washington

by Lars W. Johnson

Overview

Revised and updated this guide provides detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the best rockhounding sites in Washington, with valuable tips on what to tools to bring and how to conduct your search. Comprehensive lists of minerals or fossils for each site and excellent color photos will help you know what to look for and to identify what you’ve found. Information on clubs, rock shops, museums, and special attractions are provided. Rockhounding Washington is a must-have for anyone interested in collecting their own minerals, gems, and fossils in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493081271
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/03/2025
Series:	Rockhounding Series
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Born and raised in the northwest, Lars W. Johnson’s passion for absorbing geologic beauty developed early when the family took a trip south to Portland, Oregon, just in time to catch Mount St. Helens erupt in 1980. Decades, and countless rockhounding trips, later, Lars opened a retail rock shop and organized many fieldtrips, inspiring enthusiasm and inclusivity to those new to rockhounding and a renewed curiosity for locating, collecting, and sharing experiences that seasoned rockhounds could appreciate. A blog quickly spawned to share his accumulated rockhounding information (LarsRocks.com) and exploring, writing, mapping, and cataloguing became his focus. Lars belongs to several rockhounding clubs, including The Northwest Diehard Rockhounds.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Washington Rockhounding 3

Officially Washington 5

Collecting Regulations 6

Tools and Supplies 9

Top Ten Washington Rockhounding Sites 12

How to Use This Book 13

Map Legend 16

Rockhounding Sites

1 Puget Sound 18

2 Blanchard Hill 22

3 Murdock Beach 26

4 Sol Due River 30

5 Rialto Beach 33

6 The Number Beaches 36

7 Skokomish River 39

8 Iron Springs 44

9 Damon Point 47

10 Wynoochee River 50

11 Satsop River 54

12 Newaukum River 57

13 Chehalis River 61

14 Doty Hills 64

15 Green Creek 69

16 Grays River 72

17 Salmon Creek 77

18 Washougal River 80

19 Rawson Quarry 85

20 Rock Creek 88

21 Lewis River 91

22 East Canyon Creek 94

23 McCoy Creek 98

24 Klickitat Raver 101

25 Wood Gulch 105

26 Snake River-West 107

27 Dixie 111

28 Asotin Creek 114

29 Snake River-East 116

30 Racehorse Creek 119

31 Fossil Creek 122

32 Canyon Creek 125

33 Swift Creek / Rainbow Creek 128

34 Loretta Creek / O'Toole Creek 131

35 Little Deer Creek 134

36 Jordon Creek 137

37 Cascade River 140

38 Walker Valley 144

39 Pilchuck Creek 149

40 Deer Creek 152

41 Sweetwater 154

42 Sloan Creek 157

43 Skykomish River 160

44 Stubbs Hill / Cedar Ponds 163

45 Heather Lake 167

46 Geology Adventures 170

47 Hansen Creek 172

48 Denny Creek 176

49 Greenwater 180

50 Pyramid Creek 185

51 George Creek Cliffs 188

52 American River 191

53 Little Naches 194

54 Timberwolf Mountain 198

55 Icicle Creek 200

56 Douglas Creek 203

57 Rock 'N' Tomahawk Ranch 207

58 First Creek 209

59 Crystal Mountain 212

60 Red Top 215

61 Old Blewett Pass 219

62 Umtanum Creek 221

63 Yakima River 225

64 Gingko Petrified Forest State Park 228

65 Columbia River-Sand Hollow 232

66 Saddle Mountain 236

67 Golden Horn Batholith 239

68 Methow River 244

69 Chewuch River 247

70 Frosty Creek 250

71 Stonerose Interpretive Center 254

72 Columbia River-Kettle Falls 257

73 Winchester Creek 260

74 Pend-Oreille River 264

Appendix A Glossary 266

Appendix B Clubs 268

Appendix C Museums 273

Appendix D Rock Shops 274

Suggested Reading 278

About the Author 279