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Clear Creek Management Area

Jadeite and benitoite country, open by permit

Managed by
Bureau of Land Management, Central Coast Field Office
Area
About 63,000 acres of public land, with many private parcels in between
Minerals
More than 150, among them serpentine, jadeite, neptunite and benitoite
Serpentine area permit
Free, one day, in your own name; five a year per person; online only, on Recreation.gov
Vehicle permit
Every vehicle in the management area: 5 dollars, good for seven days
Asbestos
Naturally occurring; the risk lasts all year, and children are most at risk
Hours
Serpentine area: day use only, half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset
Vehicles
Serpentine area: highway-licensed only, on the designated routes
Camping
Inside the Serpentine area only at Jade Mill Campground

Public area set aside for recreational collecting

Native material: you search the natural ground on site.

Season: Year-round: the BLM issues the permits all year. Summers are hot and dry, winters cool and wet; after heavy rain the BLM may close the area to vehicles for a while. The asbestos risk lasts all year.

blm.gov ↗

The easy way in

Within 50 miles of Idria our maps show no open public land, so a site like this one is the simplest way to dig legally around here.

Nearest open public land on our gem and mineral map: about 51 miles away.

See the nearest open land on the gem and mineral map →

Prospecting and collecting rules in California →

About Clear Creek Management Area

The Clear Creek Management Area covers about 75,000 acres of rugged hills in southern San Benito and western Fresno counties, 63,000 of them public land run by the BLM's Central Coast Field Office, from 1,830 feet at Pine Canyon to 5,241 feet on San Benito Mountain. The BLM calls it one of the most highly mineralized areas in California and puts hobby gem and mineral collecting on its list of things to do. Of the more than 150 minerals and gemstones it counts here, it names serpentine, jadeite, cinnabar, neptunite and benitoite, the state gem.

Jadeite gives the area a place in the history books. According to the state's Bulletin 176 of 1957, it was discovered in southwestern San Benito County in the mid-1930s, the first occurrence of the mineral noted in the western hemisphere. The county's jadeite bodies reach 200 feet in length and 50 in width. California jade, the bulletin adds, is white, pale green or a dark grayish to bluish green, usually semi-opaque, and only a small part of it is of good gem quality. Bulletin 189, the state's 1966 catalogue of minerals, records jadeite on Clear Creek as boulders and as nodules in the serpentine, together with pumpellyite and lawsonite, and notes that a single natural crystal from Santa Rita Peak was used to describe the crystal structure of jadeite.

The same serpentine is the reason for the rules. Since 1984 about 31,000 acres at the heart of the area have been the Clear Creek Serpentine Area of Critical Environmental Concern, set aside because the soils are high in asbestos fibers. On May 1, 2008, after an EPA risk assessment found that visiting more than one day a year could put adults and children above the agency's acceptable risk range, the BLM closed the whole Serpentine area to all public entry until a new management plan decided if and how people could visit. That plan, signed on February 11, 2014, allows access by permit only, for highway-licensed vehicles, and limits the days each visitor may spend inside.

Today each person going into the Serpentine area, whatever the age, carries a free permit in their own name, good for one day, and may have five a year; it is issued only online through Recreation.gov, and the gate combination is printed on it. Every vehicle in the management area also needs a vehicle permit, 5 dollars for seven days, on the dashboard. Inside the Serpentine area only highway-licensed vehicles may drive, on the designated routes; visits run from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, and the only place to camp is Jade Mill Campground, where the Eureka marker sits. In September 2024 the BLM closed the management area for the Boone Fire and lifted the closure on September 12.

To get there from Hollister, follow Highway 25 south for about 35 miles, past Pinnacles National Park, then the Coalinga-Los Gatos Creek county road for about 14 miles to the BLM entrance sign, where unpaved Clear Creek Road turns off into the area; the BLM suggests four- or all-wheel drive with moderate to high clearance. Against the dust, it advises staying away on dry days, keeping the windows closed with the air on recirculate, washing the vehicle before heading home and laundering clothes separately, and it asks parents to think twice before bringing children. Collecting follows the BLM's general rule: reasonable amounts for personal use, never for sale, and not on developed recreation sites such as the campgrounds, on active mining claims or on the private land scattered through the area.

Clubs and places nearby

Where to buy gear nearby

Access

From Hollister take Highway 25 south for about 35 miles, past Pinnacles National Park, turn left on the Coalinga-Los Gatos Creek county road and drive about 14 miles to the BLM sign at the entrance; turn left on Clear Creek Road, an unpaved road through the area. Every vehicle needs a Clear Creek Vehicle Permit ($5, good for seven days, shown on the dash). Every person entering the Serpentine Area of Critical Environmental Concern, whatever the age, also needs a free one-day permit in their own name, five a year at most, issued only online on Recreation.gov with a reservation fee; the gate combination is printed on it. Inside the Serpentine area only highway-licensed vehicles may drive, on the designated routes, and only from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset; camping only at Jade Mill Campground. The BLM suggests 4WD or AWD with moderate to high clearance.

Technique

Hobby collecting under the BLM's rules: reasonable amounts of rocks, mineral specimens and semiprecious gemstones for personal use, never for sale. Not on developed recreation sites such as the campgrounds, not on active mining claims and not on the private parcels scattered through the area. Drive only on the open routes and stay out of posted or barricaded areas. Against the asbestos, the BLM advises avoiding dry or dusty days, keeping windows closed with the ventilation on recirculate, washing the vehicle before going home and laundering clothes separately; children are most at risk.

Sources