Lake Superior Agates

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for places to go hunting for Lake Superior Agates and people who might like to collect agates with me. I am located in Prescott, WI, just east of the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN metro area. I have found a few sites in the area but I am looking for something new and someone to share my enthusiasm.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ryan

I have heard of a number of glacial gravel pits yielding some nice Superior agates, but the best I have heard of in recent years have come from scuba collecting the near shore lake bottom in gravelly shore areas. It also is sparse but not as many collectors doing this method, so may yield offshore "gold" in areas whose shores were previously known as good collection areas.

I'm originally from the UP of Michigan so LS Agates were literally in my backyard. Anyways, practically anywhere there is rock along the Lake Superior shoreline you have a chance of finding agates. However, the best places are where you can find a fissure jutting out into the Lake, especially in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Another popular method is to find a basalt flowtop that has weathered as well. I know the guy that collects agates offshore and he has recovered some spectacular specimens, again, from where a fissure or flowtop exposes itself on the lake bottom. There are also a few gravel pits in the Duluth area that have yielded some nice agates as well.

Good luck in your hunt for the elusive Lake Superior agate.......

I am from Bay City,WI and have a few pretty good agate spots I would be interested in sharing w/ you.Perhaps we could check them out sometime.E-mail me if you would be interested.

Hey Melody,

Not sure what your e-mail address is, but I would be interested in collecting with you. You can contact me at ryan.badten@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Ryan

Ryan,

If you click on her name (in blue) it will link you to her e-mail.

Cheers.
Ian

The links are only available if you have registered and are logged in.

Melody N Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am from Bay City,WI and have a few pretty good
> agate spots I would be interested in sharing w/
> you.Perhaps we could check them out
> sometime.E-mail me if you would be interested.


I would love to take a trip to Lake Superior in a couple weeks. I already took some time off, but I've never traveled alone before and have no idea where to look. ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I live in Owatonna, MN and have wanted to venture up there for several years now.

Hi, Your best bet for picking up Lake Superior agates are at gravel mines and in farm fields. I do very well near Moose Lake Minnesota, and in the Twin Cities area. Unfortunately very few "Lakers" are found on the shores Lake Superior in Minnesota.
Fine quality painted eye agates are being mined in Michigan at this time they are just beautiful! If you are interested I know a guy who is selling a guide service to several Michigan gem locations.
A trip the the shores of Lake Superior in MN should include a stop at the several rock shops on hwy 61, at Two Harbors, Beaver Bay and up in Grand Marias. Thunder Bay amethyst can be dug at the fee mines just a couple hours North of the US border ... too much fun~! You may be able to find some fine thomsonite specimens on your trip as well. Happy Picking :O)

"so many locations ... so little time"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2007 05:44PM by DI66ER.

Speaking of amethyst....I've been to the Onterio Gem Mine N.E. of Thunder Bay a few times and picked up some very nice matterial from the digs and puchased some nice specimens in their shop as well.

I grew up in Silver Bay MN about 22 yrs ago and found alot of agates around that area in the creekes and streams. I have found some "Lakers" and copper in matrix last summer along Hwy 61 just outside of Silver Bay when they were doing road construction on that section of highway. Try and locate old/new gravel pits and get permission. There is some houseing construction going just east of town so look were they cleared the land and added fill( if you don't mind your shoes turning red from the iron oxide in the clay soil mix) Also check at the Agate shop in Beaver Bay they might be able to help with some places. Also there are a few old pits in Finland MN that have some agates,epidote(micro not real gemmy) and thompsnite(fragile) in them. If you have any questions send me an email.

We dug amethyst at the Blue Points Mine which is NW of Thunder Bay just off hwy 61. We watched one digger working at removing a specimen of around 600 pounds! We managed to dig quite a few small druzy crystal plates (jewelery size) some are included with iron oxides in a way that gives them a color of pink ... very striking!

Hello, my family would like to go collecting up in MN in Dulth Area for Lake Superiors Agates. We did it about 9 years ago, but since then I have heard a law has passed for the safety of the rockhound and for the property owners. Does anyone know what this law is called which we must take prior to setting foot in quarries? How long the course takes and the cost to go through this program? Does anyone have any suggestions on contacts? Would like to head to MN in late July or August 2007. I'm from Appleton WI area.

Hi,

I was just doing a search on WI agate collecting as we're planning a trip to visit family in north-central WI this summer. I'm trying to get one day of Lake Superior agate hunting in while we're there. Did you find a good locatoin? FInd any agates? If so, do you mind sharing? Thanks so much!

See also:
[www.uwfox.uwc.edu]

That looks cool, as does the annual agate days event in Moose Lake MN. Unfortunately we'll be in the area earlier, in late May.

ANyone have experience with the Carlton county gravel dump piles accessable with permission?

Thanks.

New Years Day the Travel channel had several hours of Cash and Treasure. One of the shows was about Lake Superior agate. If you look up the website for the Travel Channel you can check on what day and what time the Cash and Treasure shows are and they will list the places they will be visiting. Usually they repeat these shows often enough that you should be able to catch the ones that interest you.

Liesa Bowen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That looks cool, as does the annual agate days
> event in Moose Lake MN. Unfortunately we'll be in
> the area earlier, in late May.
>
> ANyone have experience with the Carlton county
> gravel dump piles accessable with permission?
>
> Thanks.


My family will be attending the agate days this year as well as doing rockhounding of this region. in order to enter any quarry in MN you need to take a course as well as have permission.

Here in Minnesota most of our gravel mines are posted "no trespassing" the large corporate owners are in no way interested in our desire to collect. The few pits that let me in are locally owned by real live people. There are always good locations to find agates really, they are here in their millions.

Good Luck Agate Finding!

My husband and I will be moving to MN soon and are interested in looking for agates. Your msg indicated a "course" might be necessary. We are beginners in this hobby and would be very interested in taking a course. Do you have any information about the course (where we can check)? Thanks!

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.