41.492660, -113.920247 (approximate)

Minerals

Geodes containing calcite, quartz, and agate/chalcedony.

Description

I’ve not seen any published on this site — print, internet, or otherwise. Nonetheless, it’s a perennial favorite of rockhounds in northern Utah, southern Idaho and western Nevada.

Known for their distinctive red rhyolite shells and highly variable innards, they are a fairly accessible and gratifying reward for a day trip. Although most of the geodes have a thin quartz layer lined with white botryoidal calcite and yellow barite, there are often surprises to be found within. Formations of banded agate, black bladed crystals (not sure what these are — possibly axinite), and occasionally well-terminated quartz crystals are present.

The site is located on Winter Cabin Road, which is a left turn off of the main gravel road heading north to Grouse Creek proper. The road winds back into the foothills and the geode bed is on the north side of the road just below the western crest of a large hill. Unfortunately, I don’t have any site photos at this time, but I’ve verified the Google Maps coordinates from my memory. A lot of broken material can be found scattered around on the hillside, but take a good shovel and dig down a foot or two to find better specimens. As always, make sure to fill in you holes.

You can approach from a couple of different directions and road conditions are variable with the time of year. Generally I would recommend a high-clearance/4×4 vehicle in every case. There is private property for grazing and claims in the area, so be sure to respect that and close the one or two gates you will encounter.

On the western flank of the Mineral Mountains, between Beaver and Milford, is the Rock Corral Recreation Area. This site is purported to have good specimens of smoky quartz and feldspar. I originally set out to explore this as well as the Porcupine Ridge beryl site on the eastern side of the range, but ended up not having the time to do both.

It may be of note to some readers that there is no overnight camping allowed in the Rock Corral site itself, and space for larger campers and RV’s is limited throughout the area. I ended up camping a few miles to the north along Ranch Canyon Road.

I started off in the morning at the Rock Corral site, exploring the large granite formations for vugs and productive seams. The area is actually quite brushy and a lot of the granite is difficult to access without some serious bushwacking. The ground is more or less littered with milky and cloudy gray quartz and microcline, but nice vitreous, well-terminated specimens are scarce. I managed to find a few small specimens laying in the float and a couple of exposed vugs that hadn’t been thoroughly worked.

Later in the day, I left to explore down lower in Rock Corral canyon and along Ranch Canyon. For the most part, all of the granite in the area is similar and yielded the same type of material. At one time the region was frequented by Native Americans, so if you do visit, keep an eye out for artifacts as well. I hiked through a clearing strewn with obsidian flakes and partially worked points. Overall the area is very appealing, with running water at the bottom of the steep arroyo even in mid-September of a dry year. I would recommend an aside if you are ever in these parts, even for just the great desert scenery.

Coordinates

41.531536, -113.685255 (approximate)

Minerals

Quartz crystals, garnet, epidote, kyanite

Description

This remote area in west Box Elder county is well known by northern Utah rock hounds. Quartz crystals can be found throughout the area in vugs and veins within the granite formations. Most crystals are milky white in color, but many clear, facet-quality specimens can be found with a little diligence. Though rare, smoky, and rose crystals are occasionally discovered. Garnet has also been found west towards Ingraham pass and North along Dove Creek Road.