Lake Superior Agates

Hello, I am very interested in collecting Lake Superior Agates. I have been given many of them including eye and tube agates from the Lake Superior volcanic eruptions. I will have to agree with you DIGGER, "So many locations, So little time." I have been collecting rocks and gems ever since I was 5 years old and I am now 24. I am currently going into the jewelry/gemmology field this April but I just wish I could get the time to get out and go on an adventure. Anyway... Has anyone read the book, "The Lake Suerior Agate, by: Scott Wolter?" It's a wonderful book, although I am not sure whether the detailed localities of where to find them are still valid today. I would love to get a bunch of people who LOVE rocks to come with me and find some spactacular specimens. Anyone intrested in going, oh lets say this summer? I also had another question, please forgive me for talking too much. Is the ESWING tools for digging the best, or is other tools that you'd find in a regular harware store also cundusive to rockhounding? Believe me I think that ESWING would be better for the fact that they are manufactured for that pupose but couldn't there be some tools that would be found in a hardware store be o.k. too?

Hi
I am interested in collecting some agates this spring and would like to have some company if you are interested. I have no experience in agate collecting in the northern part of the state but would like to get started. I am from and also now live in Austin, mn but have lived in Arkansas for 5 years. Lots of quartz crystal , calcite crystal and smithsonite collecting there.If you send me your email address I will link you to my Hi5 , stumble on and flickr sites and you can see some of my minerals, old radios and cave photos.
Roger Kehret
rkehret42@yahoo.com

I have collected many agates from the Keeneenaw Peninsula. A favorite place of mine is the Great Sand Bay; a misnomer, since the "beach" consists of 30 - 50' of rocks. Take US 41 N from Houghton until you get to Ameek. Take a left on the main road going to the left (will take you to Lake Superior) this road eventually turns into M 26. You will be able to stay on this road all the way to the end of the peninsula. There are many, many places to pull off and pick rocks.

On the way back, take US 41 through the center ofthe peninsula. There are many abandoned mine dumps that are interesting to pick through. I can let you know more info if you want.
havermap@monashores.net

i live in webster wi. and was wondering if you got any good tips or hints of places to go picking near me. im recently relocated here from grand marais mn so i have been on the hunt down here now and things dont seem to be as easy.

Erica,

I've never hunted in WI; but I would think anywhere in WI along the Lake Superior shoreline would be good. MI rock collecting is good along the entire Lake Superior shoreline. I would email CaptPaul on this thread as he seems knowledgeable about the area. Good luck; let us know what you find!

Actually, not everywhere in WI would be good. You would have to see where the Rift comes on-land and goes through WI. Anything east of Ashland along the shore is ok, but better the closer to the MI border. You may also want to search the farm fields in WI for agates near the rift. Of course, always get permission to enter a farmer's field, but usually most will ablige and even be happy for someone to pick rocks out of their field........

Am going to be up North for a couple of weeks this summer. Last year I camped at Gooseberry Falls, and was with out luck in finding any agates. This year am camping in the Upper Pennisula right along the Lk Superior shore. Any tips on hunting in this area. Also, does anyone know if land outside just East of White Bear Lake might be a good place to look? My mother in law's house is on a small spring fed pond, and it's very rocky along the edge. Thanks!!!

Hi all,

I live in St. Paul and am also very interested in collecting LS agates this summer, hopefully both from local sites and up north. I haven't done this a lot, but have done a lot of research, including contacting the DNR for a list of gravel pits. I also have a friend up by Mille Lacs who is an agate dealer. It sounds like lots of people are interested, so contact me; let's get a group together and go hunting!

Hope to meet you soon,

Amy Thomas
uathomas@yahoo.com

Pam,

Any suggestions for locations around Grand Marais, MI?

Regards,
Nikhil

Nikhil, I posted a message to your question with suggestions on your other page.

Janice, depending on where your camping along Lake Superior you can find some good agates. In the UP, the best places are along the west and north shores of the Keweenaw, the Porcupine Mtns., and near Grand Marais, MI. There are other places as well, but are too hard to get to without proper gear and knowledge of the local trails. Of course, if your in the Keweenaw, your bound to find copper; it's almost impossible not to........

Good luck to both of you!!

Thank you for your post Paul. Actually, will be camping in the Porcupine Mountains, so I was thrilled to read what you wrote. I have a few agates I purchased off of Ebay, so I can show my kids, so they will know what they're looking for. Copper would be awesome to find, from a genealogical standpoint. My husband's great grandfather immigrated to the UP from Finland, and worked the coppermines, near Houghton. Thanks for the info! Jan

Not a problem!!! The Porcupines are an absolute beautiful place in the UP. If you can make it down to a beach with rocks, you should be able to find an agate. I would ask which mine near Houghton your great-grandfather worked in, but there are so many in the area it would be impossible to probably remember.

Hi: I was in Grand Marais,Mi. last June and the flies (look just like common house flies) were terrible. They were in swarms and actually took chunks of meat from my body. Are they out all summer, or is there a time period when I can go there and not encounter them? I walked on the shore and picked up lots of beautiful rocks ( think a few might be agates?). I love being around the lake shore and camping out. I live in Indiana so it is quite a distance to travel and I don't always have the time to go there. Any information about the flies would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Bill

They tend to be gone by August.

Hi,

Does anyone know if lake superior thomsonite is more valuable when still imbeded in its matrix or once its removed? I have some large football sized pieces I bought at a garage sale that have thomsonite peeking out of them. Should I try to break it apart and remove it, or is it worth more as it is?

Any info would be appreciated, I'm pretty new to rock collecting!

Thanks!

Andrea,

See my comment to your question in your thomsonite thread.......

I live 25 min west of Hinkley MN and my family and I are very sure that we found a 95 to 100 lbs Lake Superior Agate. We are trying to find someone that will look at it for us and also be honest about the rock. If you would happen to know someone that would be close by or be able to recommend someone we would be very grateful. We have run into one dead end after another and just happened across your posting on Mindat.org. Any info you could give would be great. Thanks. Chris R.

Chris,

My first suggestion to you might be to contact a local rock/mineral club or college geology department in your area and take it to them for identification. Another idea is to take a photo of your specimen and post it to our Identity Help forum (http://www.mindat.org/msgboard-11.html). We have a lot of people that are very knowledgeable in identifying specimens from photos and also quite a number of folks from the Great Lakes area (myself included) that might be able to identify it as well.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2009 10:22PM by Paul Brandes.

Well, you could go up to Moose Lake during Agate days or the state park up there (might want to phone ahead to make sure that someone would be there to help you).
[www.dnr.state.mn.us]

Hello Chris R.,
Easy answer and hopefully solution for you!
I am hoping you have found a giant agate! That size would be an amazing find! I am in NW IL and have been hunting them for 35 years. It is good hunting here on the 'ol Mississippi River. I have buckets of them of all sizes but not THAT big. It is too far south for them to survive size-wise from the pounding they receive in the glacier/river transport.
Here's what you do:
Hose it off with the garden hose and scrub it with a scrub brush so it is clean.
Put it outside (preferably in the sun) and take pictures of the different sides WHILE WET.
Put a ruler or tape measure beside it for size reference in the pictures.

Just make sure your pics are clear and clean. Blurry will do no good!

Post a couple of the pics to me at joostenryk@mchsi.com
I am confident I can verify for you whether it is an actual agate or a different type of stone. I am very familiar with what shows up in the MN--WI--IA--IL river aggregates.
If posting the pic to my email is easier, then I'm glad to help out.
Very Sincerely,
John O