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Payson Rimstones Rock Club

Rock club for Payson and the Rim Country since 1992

Meets
Most months on the 1st Wednesday, 3:30 pm (board meeting at 2 pm)
Where
Payson Public Library, Rumsey Park, 328 N McLane Rd, Payson
Members
About 350
Field trips
At least one a month, plus joint trips with nearby clubs
Classes
Cabbing, wire wrapping, rock cleaning, cutting and acid washing
Shows
Spring show in April, main show in September at the Mazatzal event center
Kids
Junior Diamond Rockhounds Club
Member of
American and Rocky Mountain federations of mineralogical societies

Club with field trips for members

Based in Payson, Arizona.

rimstonesrockclub.org ↗facebook.com ↗

Email:

Prospect on your own near Payson

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

1 fossil and meteorite 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.

Open the gem and mineral map around Payson →Open the fossil and meteorite map around Payson →

Prospecting and collecting rules in Arizona →

About Payson Rimstones Rock Club

The Payson Rimstones Rock Club serves Payson and the Rim Country, the pine country below the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona. It was formed in 1992: the first outing the club ever made was a hunt for petrified wood, and its first trip with a coalition of clubs went to Agate Mountain. From about 35 members at the start it has grown to around 350.

Field trips are the core of it. The club runs at least one of its own every month, plus joint trips with other clubs, and members joke that their trunks, yards and china cabinets fill up accordingly. Meetings are held most months on the first Wednesday at 3:30 pm, after a 2 pm board meeting, at the Payson Public Library in Rumsey Park, 328 N McLane Rd. Each one brings a presentation or demonstration by members and friends who know rocks and minerals well, and visitors are welcome.

The club also teaches what comes after the field: cabbing, the cutting and polishing of stones into cabochons, wire wrapping, and classes on cleaning, cutting and acid washing rocks. The monthly newsletter, the Rimstones Review, and an online calendar list what is coming up.

Payson gets two rock shows a year from the club, a spring show in April and the main Gem and Mineral Show in September. The main show started in 1997 at the Payson Junior High School and now fills the event center of the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino; it is the club's chief fundraiser, and the 2026 edition was written up in the Payson Roundup.

The club gives a lot back to the town. It keeps an educational display at the Payson library, gives family presentations for the summer reading programs in Payson and Pine, donates books to libraries and schools, runs the Junior Diamond Rockhounds Club for young people and awards scholarships to Northern Gila County graduates heading into science and technology careers. It even keeps a basket of Arizona rocks at the visitor center for travelers to take home.

Payson is a good base for rockhounding. North-east of town the Tonto National Forest has set aside the Diamond Point crystal area, where clear quartz crystals with points at both ends lie loose in the soil, and anyone can pick up a few for personal use without a permit.

Other clubs and places nearby

Where to buy gear nearby

Sources