Marble Mountain Rock Collecting Area (Trilobites)
Public area set aside for recreational collecting
Native material: you search the natural ground on site.
Season: Best from October to April. Summer heat in this part of the Mojave Desert is dangerous.
Vertebrate fossils (bones, teeth) have been found here.
Collecting them on public land requires a federal permit. If you find one, leave it in place, take a photo and note the GPS position, and report it to the local Bureau of Land Management field office. Your report may lead to an important discovery.
One of the classic Cambrian trilobite sites of the western United States: a greenish shale about 515 million years old, full of the heads of early trilobites. The BLM lists it as a rock collecting area, where you may collect a reasonable amount of invertebrate fossils and rocks for personal use, free and without a permit, with hand tools only. Most finds are single trilobite heads: complete trilobites are rare. The area is inside Mojave Trails National Monument, whose management plan is still being prepared: check with the BLM Needles Field Office for the current rules before you go. There is private land around the Marble Mountains: collect only on BLM land.
Make a weekend of it
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.
Clubs and places nearby
- Chambless Rock Collecting AreaFree public dig · 4 mi
- Flattop Mountain Rock Collecting AreaFree public dig · 42 mi
- Savahia Peak Rock Collecting AreaFree public dig · 52 mi
- Lake Havasu Gem and Mineral SocietyClub · 64 mi
- Havasu Gold SeekersClub · 65 mi
- Wiley Well District Geode BedsFree public dig · 84 mi
Where to buy gear nearby
- Havasu RocksShop · 64 mi
- Bear's Archery, Guns and ProspectingShop · 65 mi
- T-Rocks in QuartzsiteShop · 92 mi
- Gem World (Quartzsite)Shop · 92 mi
Access
From National Trails Highway (old Route 66) at Chambless, take Cadiz Road south for about 4 miles, turn left on BLM route NS376 for about 1 mile, then left on BLM route NS374 for about half a mile: the collecting area is on both sides of the road (directions from the BLM). Dirt roads: carry plenty of water.
Technique
Split the shale layer by layer along its natural planes with a chisel and a rock hammer, and look through the loose pieces left by earlier visitors: they often hide good heads. Wear safety glasses and wrap your finds in paper for the trip home. Bones and teeth are not allowed: only invertebrate fossils.