Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Rockhounding Tips, Maps, Trips Etc. => Topic started by: Redwilder on June 09, 2015, 02:23:23 AM
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Hello All! So, my summer roadtrip frenzy for rocks is about to begin. One major roadtrip may turn into a major major sort of roadtrip. At the end of july, i am planning on going back to one of my fav areas in the Lolo area for a rockin time hunting for purdy rocks before heading to Clinton, MT for Testy Festy where it will be...well...it will be nuts! After that, I am thinking that i will head to Sturgis for the heck of it...but rockhounding along the way and around Stergis as well. This route will take me through Montana along the highway through Miles City and over to Glendive where i will make a turn to head to Dickenson, ND for a couple of days. Then i will drop down to Sturgis for several days. Afterwards, I will head my way back to Lolo for a few days before heading home.
However, if things work out really well in my favor for even more time off, I will extend my trip from Sturgis through Rapid City to Alliance Nebraska and down to the Burlington Co/Kanorado KS border. Then make my way to Colorado Springs where i hope to stay for several days. Work my way up to Cheyenne WY and/or Casper. After my Wyoming portion, head back up to Montana to Lolo for my final stay before heading back to Spokane.
The major stops would be Lolo, Clinton, Stergis, and Colorado Springs. All the other stops would be for two nights to allow about a full day and 1/2 of another day for hounding. I really could use some help in organizing my trip (either the shorter or the longer trip) into stops that a rockhound really should make. Stops that would allow me the best utilization of my time for quality material that would add to my personal collection as well as hopefully enough material to help defray the trip costs in the long run. I would sooo sooo appreciate any tips, ideas, book suggestions, public and or little known localities (if they are fav spots, please pm me-openly posting fav spots is both rare and a special privalege to be shared with). This nomadic rockhound would be one helluva puppy to have some help :-)
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If you manage to trip out this way, I'll have a hot meal waiting for you! :icon_sunny:
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Glendive is quite picked over by the locals but you can visit the Harmons shop and the badlands state park there is very nice. Not all that far away is the national grass lands where you can collect bubblegum agate. A good side trip from Glendive is out to Hell's Creek access on Ft. Peck reservoir where there are lots of fossils on the lakeshore wave benches.
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Away back in 1999 we went to visit kin in the Black Hills town of Lead and in the camp ground I found big chunks of black tourmaline called shoral that sure worked up in to some nice cabochons. It was in the gravel in the roadways of the RV park, even along side the highways there.
Also we stopped at the Walmart in Cheyenne and as I was waiting for the wife and kids to come back to the RV I was poking around in the landscape rocks and found some very nice pale blue agates in the gravel around the plantings, these too, worked up into very nice small cabochons.
This just goes to show you what one person considers treasure another considers something much less. Have a good trip through the top tier of the USA.