Red Cloud Mine
Collect wulfenite on the tailings of one of the world's most famous mineral mines
- What you do
- Collect on the tailings, where fresh rock from the ore body is dumped
- What people find
- Wulfenite, vanadinite, mimetite, cerussite, barite, quartz, fluorescent minerals
- Season
- Fall to spring; the 2026-27 season opened on September 18
- Where
- Red Cloud Mine Rd, La Paz County, about 40 miles north of Yuma
- Getting there
- Only from the south, from Martinez Lake; 4WD recommended
- Camping
- Free dry camping at the mine
- Good to know
- No underground access; never pay anyone in advance
Fee dig: pay to search the ground on site
Native material: you search the natural ground on site.
Season: Collecting season from fall to spring. The mine can close for a day or two even in season: confirm your visit with the mine before you go.
Make a weekend of it
9 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.
About Red Cloud Mine
The Red Cloud Mine sits in the Silver mining district of the Trigo Mountains, in the far west of Arizona, about 40 miles north of Yuma. It was located in 1862 and patented in 1877, and its only profitable years as a silver and lead mine were from 1878 to 1885. What made it famous came later: its wulfenite.
Wulfenite from the Red Cloud forms thin, glassy, red-orange plates, often more than a centimeter across, and for collectors around the world it is the standard every other wulfenite is measured against. Specimens went into eastern museum collections as early as the 1890s, and in 2025 a Red Cloud piece was acquired by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.
Today the mine is worked for mineral specimens, and in the cooler months the owners open the dumps to the public. They excavate fresh material from the ore body and move it to the tailings area, where visitors flip, break and sort the rock and keep what they find. Besides wulfenite there is vanadinite, mimetite, barite, cerussite and quartz, and the rare carminite. The site has also become known for its fluorescent minerals: calcite, fluorite and willemite that glow in three, four and sometimes five colors under ultraviolet light. Collecting at the nearby South Geronimo Mine is also run from here, with check-in at Red Cloud.
Plan the trip with care. The mine can only be reached from the south, on Red Cloud Mine Road from Martinez Lake, and a four-wheel-drive vehicle is recommended. There is no underground access at any of the Red Cloud properties. The owners also warn that payment is taken only on site, so never pay in advance anyone who claims to represent the mine. Dry camping at the mine is free, so many people stay overnight and hunt fluorescents after dark.
The season runs from fall to spring; summers here are brutally hot. The 2026-27 season opened on September 18.
Clubs and places nearby
- Wiley Well District Geode BedsFree public dig · 30 mi
- Quartzsite Roadrunners Gem and Mineral ClubClub · 45 mi
- Savahia Peak Rock Collecting AreaFree public dig · 84 mi
- Havasu Gold SeekersClub · 96 mi
- Lake Havasu Gem and Mineral SocietyClub · 97 mi
- Borrego Rock and Gem Club (BRAG)Club · 103 mi
Where to buy gear nearby
- Gem World (Quartzsite)Shop · 44 mi
- T-Rocks in QuartzsiteShop · 44 mi
- Half Fast Mining Co.Shop · 44 mi
- Camel Mining ProductsOnline shop · 45 mi
Access
Reach it only from the south, on Red Cloud Mine Road from Martinez Lake, north of Yuma. Never from the north, near Cibola. The last 15 miles are unpaved and mostly in a sand wash: 4WD recommended. No underground access anywhere on the property. Cash only.
Technique
Hand tools: flip, break and split the rock on the tailings to find wulfenite in small cavities. The fluorescent minerals show under a UV lamp; the mine also offers night collecting for fluorescent material.