Garnet Hill Rockhound Area
The Ely District's only designated rockhounding area, known worldwide for garnets
- What you find
- Almandine garnets, dark red, in pink to grey rhyolite or loose in the drainages
- Official name
- Garnet Fields Rockhound Area, 1,280 acres, designated in 1970
- Tools
- A rock hammer, or just your eyes on the ground and in the washes
- Fee
- None
- Getting there
- US 50 west of Ely; graded road 3.1 miles from just north of the Ruth turnoff
- Vehicles
- Passenger cars are fine; the road is winding and steep; no RVs or big trailers
- Facilities
- Four picnic sites with grills, a group barbecue area, an accessible restroom
- Camping
- Two informal spots for tents or small campers; no water
- Elevation
- About 7,000 ft
Public area set aside for recreational collecting
Native material: you search the natural ground on site.
Season: Year-round, weather permitting. The site is at about 7,000 feet and has no water.
Make a weekend of it
8 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 Garnet Hill Rockhound Area
Garnet Hill is the only designated rockhounding area in the Bureau of Land Management's Ely District, and collectors come from around the world for its garnets. Its official name is the Garnet Fields Rockhound Area: 1,280 acres in the Egan Range a few miles northwest of Ely, set aside on 22 December 1970 to keep the land public for recreation and scientific study.
The stones are almandine, an iron and aluminum garnet named after Alabanda, an ancient town in Asia Minor. Their iron makes them dark, from brownish red to deep red, and the BLM notes that they also carry some manganese. They grew as single crystals in small cavities, called vugs, in pink to grey rhyolite, a volcanic rock. Weathering frees them and washes them downhill, where they gather in low spots and gullies much like gold in a placer.
There are two ways to look. The easy one is to walk the surface and the drainages slowly, scanning for dark stones; a 1995 BLM fact sheet points to the canyons south of the hill and suggests parking at the large pullout on US 50, about 5 miles from Ely, then hiking up the drainage beside it. The harder way is to break rhyolite that shows quartz-lined veins or cavities and see what is inside. Garnets are hard but brittle and can shatter like glass, so a crystal is best left in its rock or eased out with a stout pocket knife. The same sheet says fresh pits a short way east of the parking area are easier to work than the rubble left by earlier diggers, and that the southwest summit of the ridge, at 7,339 feet, has been reported to give better stones.
Most of the garnets have natural flaws, yet in the BLM's words most people leave happy with what they found. A rock hammer is all the gear needed and there is no fee; as elsewhere on BLM land, what you take home is for your own collection, not for sale or barter.
From Ely, head west on US Highway 50 and turn right onto the graded access road a quarter of a mile north of the Ruth turnoff; the parking area is 3.1 miles in. The road suits ordinary cars, though it is winding and somewhat steep, and the BLM advises against RVs and large trailers.
The site has four picnic sites with grills, a group barbecue area and an accessible restroom, plus two informal areas for tents or small campers. There is no water at all, so bring your own. From the hill there is a wide view over the huge open-pit copper mines at Ruth.
Clubs and places nearby
- Fossil MountainFree public dig · 84 mi
- A New Dig FossilsPay-to-dig · 89 mi
- U-Dig FossilsPay-to-dig · 90 mi
- Searle Canyon Red Beryl & Topaz MinePay-to-dig · 99 mi
- Solar Wind Bixbyite & Pink Topaz MinePay-to-dig · 106 mi
- Maynard's Topaz & Red Beryl MinePay-to-dig · 106 mi
Access
From Ely, drive west on US-50. A quarter mile north of the Ruth turnoff, turn right onto the graded access road and follow it 3.1 miles to the parking area. Passenger cars can make it, but the road is winding and fairly steep: RVs and large trailers are not recommended.
Technique
Hand tools only. Break the light-colored rhyolite with a rock hammer and look for garnets in the small cavities, or walk the surface and the drainages for loose dark stones that have weathered out. Most garnets are not gem quality, but nice crystals turn up. Personal collection only, in reasonable amounts.