Rockhounding

Agate Hill offers excellent agate in many colors. To get to the hill, drive northeast from Delta on US Hwy 6/50 to the Brush Wellman Road (about 11 miles). Follow that road west as if you were going to Topaz Mountain. When you have gone 31 miles you’ll come to a road that heads southwest. Follow it for about 3 miles, to where a dirt road forks south. Follow the dirt road for 1.4 miles to its end. Agate is scattered over the top of the large hill to the west.

Denderite can be found in the Antelope Springs area. Oxide patterns color these rocks to make them look like plant fossils. Find then along a wash about 2 miles south of the U-Dig fossil site. From Delta go west on US Hwy 6/50 for about 32 miles to the signed road leading to U-Dig. Follow that road 17 miles to the Denderite site.

A solitary Lombardy poplar marks the old homestead at Antelope Springs. Along the main road going north of this tree is the abandoned site of the Antelope Springs Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp established in the 1930s. The road will make a right turn to the left along the north edge of the camp. Follow the road up the mountain to get to Sinbad and more trilobite hunting areas.

Apache Tears (round nodules of obsidian) form if water is present during the cooling of obsidian lava. Curved, onion-like fractures may form. If the central core does not get hydrated, the fresh obsidian core ends up being an Apache Tear.  Starting in Delta, follow US 6 north about 11 miles to the Brush Wellman Road. Turn west and travel 38 miles until you reach the Topaz Mountain sign.  Drive pass the sign to the west end of the pavement.  A gravel road will branch off of the main route to the left. Near this intersection Apache Tears  can be found scattered on the surface of the ground.

Rhyolite formations at Smelter Knoll offer pitted rock suitable for aquariums and flower pots. The remaining four places are located just above Millard County line in Juab County.  Keg Mountain and Desert Mountain are composed chiefly of extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks of Tertiary age. Lacustrine and alluvial deposits of Quaternary age cover the older rocks and fill in the valleys. Topaz, pseudobrookite, specular hematite, and bixbyite occur in cavities in the Keg Mountains Rhyolite.

Deseret: Obsidian can be found west of Black Rock. Drive Hwy 257 south from Deseret for about 43 miles, until you come to a sign identifying a road that heads east.

Kanosh: Turn east onto the dirt road and travel about 6 miles to the sign for Black Spring. Turn right onto the Black Spring dirt road and park in the open area by the watering trough. Obsidian can be found all around that area. Most pieces are black but some reddish-brown and snowflake obsidian can be found.

Fillmore: Follow I-15 south to Exit 146 south to Kanosh. Cross the freeway to the east and turn south on the first frontage road. Travel south to a bridge crossing the freeway to the west. Follow this gravel road bearing west for approximately 26 miles. Or, take US 6&50 west of Delta to SR 257 and turn south. Travel about 43 miles, passing the Graymont lime plant, to the sign saying “Kanosh 26” (miles.) Turn east and travel on the dirt road 5.25-5.5 miles. In the depression, one road goes east, the other goes north. Mahogany, snowflake, and black obsidian can be found on the hillsides and on the roadbeds near Coyote Spring and Black Spring. Take the north road and then turn east at about ¼ mile on the first side road going east. Drive up the hill and over the crest.

A wide variety of rocks, minerals and fossils can be found in our West Desert country. See our rockhounding map for general locations.

Hunting and collecting sunstones glittering in the sun atop Sunstone Knoll is a great way to spend an afternoon, especially with kids. Some of the sunstones (golden labradorite) are the size of small fingernails. Others are larger and yellow in color.

Golden labradorite is believed to increase inner strength, vitality, courage, mental clarity, endurance and spiritual focus. The sunstones are easy to find on sunny days. Otherwise, dig where others have, and look for rocks holding the crystals within hollow cavities by cracking them open.

Sunstone Knoll is about 11 miles south of Deseret, just east of Hwy. 257. Turn left over the railroad track, then follow the road about one-quarter mile onto the knoll. See our rockhounding map.

The sunstone here is a transparent, yellowish labradorite (a plagioclase feldspar mineral) found as crystals in volcanic rocks and on the flats surrounding the knoll.