The Rock Yard (Tucson)
Lapidary rough, slabs and petrified wood in a Tucson warehouse that opens for the gem show
- Where
- 615 W Lester St, Tucson, AZ
- Open
- During the Tucson gem show (13 January to 14 February 2027) and occasional open houses
- Sells
- Rough rock for cutting and tumbling, rough and polished slabs, Kirkby Collection petrified wood, thundereggs, agates and jaspers, designer cabochons, animal carvings, decorator pieces
- Run by
- Bruce Barlow, Barlow's Gems
- Contact
- 602-571-9287
Over 100 tons of rough; open in gem show season and for open house
Shop with a storefront
In Tucson, Arizona.
What they sell: Mineral specimens · Rough & slabs · Petrified wood
Where to use your gear near Tucson
9 gem and mineral spots on open public land with no claim on record, within 50 miles.
Nearest open public land on our fossil and meteorite map: about 144 miles away.
There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.
About The Rock Yard (Tucson)
The Rock Yard is not a shop you can drop into any week of the year. It is the Tucson warehouse of Barlow's Gems, and its doors open for the city's gem show season, from mid-January to mid-February, and for a few open houses in between; the 2027 season runs from 13 January to 14 February.
What fills it is material for people who cut stone: more than 100 tons of rough from around the world for cabbing, tumbling and polishing, and a large stock of rough slabs for buyers who want to see the pattern before they buy. Barlow's has specialized in chrysocolla for more than 40 years, and the polished slabs include Sonora Sunset, Wild Horse, Apache Gold and wave dolomite.
The current highlight is the Kirkby Collection. Sam Kirkby and his wife spent years traveling the West collecting petrified wood, thundereggs, agates and jaspers by hand, much of it from places now closed to collecting, and in 1964 founded the Jurupa Mountains Discovery Center in California. Their American petrified wood, rough and polished, is being sold at the yard.
There is also a room of designer cabochons and drilled pendants cut for jewelers, gemstone animal carvings, and large decorator pieces, some cut and polished by Bruce Barlow himself, a few of them over 400 pounds.
Clubs and places nearby
- Desert Gold DiggersClub · 3 mi
- Tucson Gem and Mineral SocietyClub · 4 mi
- Old Pueblo Lapidary ClubClub · 4 mi
- Gold Prospectors Association of Tucson (GPAA)Club · 6 mi
- Pinal Gem and Mineral SocietyClub · 60 mi
- Huachuca Mineral and Gem ClubClub · 63 mi
Other shops and gear makers nearby
- Tucson Mineral & Gem WorldShop · 8 mi
- Raining RocksShop · 8 mi
- The Wizard's WorkshopShop · 65 mi
- Desert DryWashersOnline shop · 74 mi
Access
615 W Lester St, Tucson. Open during the Tucson gem shows, late January to mid February, and on open-house weekends, usually the first weekend of April and the third weekend of October: call 602-571-9287 to check.