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Bisbee Rockhounding Tours

Guided hunts for copper minerals and fluorescent rocks around the old mining town of Bisbee

What you do
Guided day tour, evening UV tour, advanced midwave UV tour or a turquoise hunt
Meeting point
Outside the Copper Queen Library, 6 Main St, Bisbee
Where you search
Three stops within 4 miles of the start: 1890s mine tailings, old railroad beds (railroad ballast, rock brought in for the track) and a historic gold mine area
Finds
Azurite, malachite, chrysocolla, quartz, agate, jasper; calcite, fluorite and sphalerite under UV; Bisbee blue turquoise on the turquoise hunt
You keep
The specimens you find; a bag is provided on the day and night tours
Getting to the stops
The guide drives; up to five guests can ride along, or follow in your own vehicle

Fee dig: pay to search the ground on site

Native material: you search the natural ground on site.

Season: Year-round; check the schedule on the tour website.

bisbeerockhounding.com ↗

Make a weekend of it

10 gem and mineral spots on open public land with no claim on record, within 50 miles.

There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.

See the 10 gem & mineral spots on the map →

About Bisbee Rockhounding Tours

Bisbee, in the far south-east of Arizona, grew up around the copper mines of the Mule Mountains, and the rock left behind is still full of color. Bisbee Rockhounding Tours is a local guide service that takes small groups out to collect it.

Every tour starts on the sidewalk outside the Copper Queen Library at 6 Main Street. From there the guide drives to three stops, all within 4 miles of the start, on 1890s mine tailings left at the old workings, on old railroad beds and in the area of a historic gold mine. The railroad beds are railroad ballast, rock that was brought in to carry the track, so it is not native ground; the mine tailings are the rock of the mine itself, where it was dug. Up to five guests can ride in the guide's vehicle; you can also follow in your own.

The day tour looks for the copper minerals Bisbee is known for, azurite, malachite and chrysocolla, and for silica stones such as quartz, agate and jasper. After dark the UV tours use ultraviolet lights to pick out fluorescent minerals such as calcite, fluorite and sphalerite; an advanced tour uses midwave UV to show more of them. A longer turquoise hunt covers turquoise in Bisbee and visits a spot to find Bisbee blue turquoise. A bag is provided for the day and night tours, and you take home the specimens you find.

The tour website lists the current schedule and how to book; check it before you go. The pin on the map marks the meeting point, not the collecting stops.

Clubs and places nearby

Where to buy gear nearby

Access

All tours start outside the Copper Queen Library at 6 Main St in Bisbee (the pin marks this meeting point, not the collecting stops). The guide drives to three stops: up to five guests can ride along, or you can follow in your own vehicle.

Technique

Hand collecting on the ground with a bag provided; UV flashlights for the evening tours.

Sources