Rockhounding Arizona

by Gerry Blair, Robert Beard (Revised by)

Overview

Explore the mineral-rich region of Arizona with veteran rockhound Robert Beard’s Rockhounding Arizona, 3rd Edition. Fully revised and updated, unearth treasures from the state’s best rockhounding locations, ranging from popular and commercial sites to numerous lesser-known areas. Featuring an overview of the state’s geologic history as well as site-by-site chapters, Rockhounding Arizona is the ideal resource for rock seekers and collectors of all ages and experience levels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493058303
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2022
Series:	Rockhounding Series
Edition description:	3rd Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Robert Beard is a geologist and has collected rocks for over 30 years. He is a Contributing Editor to Rock & Gem magazine, and has written for Rock & Gem since 1993. He received his M.S. degree in geology from UNM in 1987, at a time when the mining and oil industries were flat on their backs, but the environmental cleanup industry was just getting started. In 1988 he moved to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area to pursue a career as an environmental geologist. Since then he has remained alert for opportunities to see geology and collect rocks, minerals, and fossils, as he was taught that the best geologist is the one that has the most rocks.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1

Rockhounding Basics 2

How to Use This Guide 8

Rockhounding Sites in Arizona

Cochise County

1 Harris Mountain Mines 16

2 Gold Hill Chalcedony 20

3 Golden Rule Mine Quartz Crystals 23

4 Centurion Mine Garnet and Marble 27

5 Dragoon White Marble Quarries 30

6 Courtland Ghost Town 33

7 Middlemarch Pass Mines 36

8 Ash Canyon Quartz Crystals 39

9 Reef Mine Quartz Crystals 43

10 St. David Selenite 46

11 H&D Mine Fluorite 50

Coconino County

12 Obsidian Tank Obsidian 54

13 Ash Fork Flagstone 57

Gila County

14 Globe Travertine Onyx 60

15 Phillips Mine Chrysotile and Serpentine 63

16 Indian Gardens Paleo Site 66

17 AZ 260 Jasper 69

18 Payson Quartz Nodules 71

19 Diamond Point Quartz Crystals 73

20 Pine Fossils 75

21 Winkelman Quarry Fossils 77

Graham County

22 Joy Valley Fire Agate 81

23 Whitlock Mountains Volcanic Rocks 85

24 Pipeline Road Spherulites and Geodes 88

25 Black Hills Chalcedony and Fire Agate 91

26 High Noon Prospect Copper Minerals 94

Greenlee County

27 Round Mountain Chalcedony and Fire Agate 98

28 Polly Ann Mine Fluorite 102

29 Limestone Gulch Agate, Chalcedony, and Jasper 106

30 Ash Peak Quartz Crystals 109

La Paz County

31 Little Harquahala Mountains Mines 113

32 Harquahala Road Fire Agate 117

33 Little Harquahala Mountains Chalcedony 119

34 Harquahala Road Mines 122

35 Cunningham Pass Copper Minerals 125

36 Brenda Jasper 128

37 Bouse Hematite 131

38 Blackbird Mine Manganese Minerals 134

39 Quartzite Area Mines 137

40 Crystal Hill Quartz Crystals 140

Maricopa County

41 Bartlett Dam Road Granite 144

42 Horseshoe Dam Agate 147

43 Seven Springs Onyx Quarry 150

44 New River Red Jasper 153

45 Table Mountain Dark Jasper 156

46 Painted Rock Mountains 158

47 Saddle Mountain Fire Agate 161

48 Salome Highway Specular Hematite 165

49 Big Horn Mountains Fluorite and Selenite 168

50 Aguila Road Apache Tears 172

Mohave County

51 Burro Creek Campground Apache Tears 177

52 Burro Creek Pastelite, Opalite, and Agate 181

53 Black Mountains White Agate 184

54 Cuesta Fire Agate 188

55 Kingman Honey Onyx 190

56 Cerbat Mines 193

57 US 93 Camptorute Dike 196

Navajo County

58 Woodruff Petrified Wood 201

59 Joseph City Petrified Wood 204

60 Winslow Petrified Wood 207

Pima County

61 Ajo Copper Prospects 211

Pinal County

62 Picketpost Mountain Apache Tears 216

63 Bomboy Mine Chrysocolla 220

64 Superstition Mountains Banded Marble 223

65 Dudleyville Calcite and Heulandite 226

Santa Cruz County

66 J. C. Holmes Vanadinite Mine 230

67 Temporal Road Quartz Crystals 234

Yavapai County

68 Camp Verde Salt Mine 238

69 Chasm Creek Agate 242

70 Rodeo Flats Agate 244

71 Mayer Travertine Onyx 247

72 Monte Cristo Mine 250

73 Date Creek Quartz Crystals 253

74 Crookton Road Onyx 256

75 Rock Butte Fossils 260

References 263

Site Index 267

About the Author 269