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GeneralPlease Help me find Geodes

20th Aug 2008 01:08 UTCAlexa Rose

Please tell me any good places for first time geode hunters in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Virginia. Thank you.

20th Aug 2008 01:25 UTCsteven garza

Dear Alexa;

You posted on McRocks, I answered, & YOU never came back to me. You want help, go back to your postings there, as well as others about geodes, & contact me through there. These guided trip are FRE (except you pay my gas) & cover S.IN & around the ft. Knox - Bardstown area. More info when you DO contact me.

Steve

20th Aug 2008 03:41 UTCAlexa Rose

??? You have me confused with someone this is the first time i have posted anywhere. There are probably a lot of people in this world with the same name. You should not assume anything, and be so rude.

20th Aug 2008 03:58 UTCKJC

Alexa-

Some nice Keokuk type geodes can be found in streams along the eastern Highland rim of Tennessee, particularly just east of Woodbury TN (in Hill creek where Hwy 70 crosses just east of town) and near Gainesboro, TN.

24th Jul 2009 14:02 UTCbob MORGAN (2)

ARE THERE ANY GEODES IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN OR DO I NEED TO GO TO SOUTHERN INDIANA?

24th Jul 2009 16:42 UTCEverett Harrington Expert

Hey Bob,

I live in SW MI, Dowagiac...where you at? There are geodes around here, they are small though. Mostly found in gravel pits like Moose Lake agg and Steve's gravel pit here in Dowagiac. The best places to look for them are at the crushers/washing plants at these gravel pits, it tends to sort the gravel by sizes, check the golf ball sized rock piles

KOR

E

24th Jul 2009 17:21 UTCbob MORGAN (2)

CASSOPOLIS.....SMALL WORLD EH? WHERE IS STEVE'S?

24th Jul 2009 17:38 UTCEverett Harrington Expert

HA! Yep, small world! Steve's is off Giddeon street here in Dowagiac by Dowagiac Steel Tank Co going out Wilbur hill road. Any gravel pits in this area will have geodes though, the one out by Fox and Shurte streets (if I remember correctly) has them too!!

my email is jesus_everett@hotmail.com if you'd like to get together for some hunting or even just talking about rocks!!

KOR

E

13th Mar 2018 20:58 UTCAlex Myers

Anyone know of a good place to find geodes in NE illinois? Looking to take the family geode hunting in the summer. I know there are a few quarries around the area but not sure if it's a good place or if they would let us look.

-alex

13th Mar 2018 21:37 UTCBob Harman

ALEX, There are no geodes in NE Illinois. The geology is not right. The closest area where collectible geodes can RELIABLY (!) be found is in West central Illinois, around the town of Hamilton. Also nearby around Keokuk Iowa and several sites in Clark County Missouri.

For novices, family friendly sites, there are several fee for collecting localities. Woodies Fabulous Geode Mine is one such site in St. Francisville Mo. Not only can you dig for them, there also is a shop. They will open any that you find or buy.

Enjoy your hunting. CHEERS.....BOB

13th Mar 2018 22:39 UTCDoug Daniels

Along those lines, most quarries now will not allow collectors in, unless with a club, and even then just maybe. If you have a club nearby, join it.... hopefully, you will then get into many places you can't as an individual. Then again, check to see how they are with field trips. If the club has nothing, don't bother.

14th Mar 2018 01:59 UTCJoel Herr

Alexa, if your geode hunting does expand to western-central Illinois, there are some fee for collecting locations right outside of Hamilton. Jacob's Geodes south of Hamilton was my very first geode 'harvesting' experience, and I've been hooked ever since. I believe he has upgraded his establishment since I have last been there, but when I went there the first time there was a sign on the door to put the fee ($18 per 5 gallon bucket - and a 5 gallon bucket is a lot of typical geodes) under the brick in the front seat of the blue old pickup across from the building... that is classic. Once you get to know the area, then you can ask around and there are other places to go. If you are visiting from out of state it is hard to go anywhere but established/fee places. Good luck.

15th Mar 2018 01:36 UTCJohn Oostenryk

Hi Alex!

Jacob's Geodes in Hamilton. $20 a 5 gal bucket. You want the 'light ones" they are hollow ;)- Been going there since 2006!

One of the Chicago area rock clubs has been doing an annual bus trip to Jacob's for number of years. (via Lizzadro)

Call (Gary) Jacob's. He can tell you which club if that sounds like option for you.

I know the Gary that Joel H mentions above, yup good guy, but the $18 and blue truck date Joel's last visit to 9? years ago, LoL. Lil different set up these days:)

Call to confirm he is around if you are going to go. Stop on the way in to let him know you are there. It is rude/awkward to be on someone's property without a head's up ;)-

Randy at StFrancisville MO, (see website-also a truck mudbog venue). Long time prolific site. Different price structure as to size vs wt times $.

But Actually- it is about same overall, though you do pay a bit more for BIG ones, which you cannot find at Jacob's.

I can absolutely tell you- NOPE! The open pit quarry operations in that region --either IA/IL will not allow entrance if asked and will prosecute if trespassing.

Don't do it!

Annual Geode Fest is going to be bit different than the 14 prior years. (SEE EDIT/UPDATE posted two replies below on 4-21-2018 about Geode Fest )

Mike Shumate has retired from organizing and running it (via the Hamilton IL location in Late Sept and always an Excellent Time! I was at the last five years events ~ vendor/cracker/hunter~ and had a blast rain or shine. Have made a bunch of good friends and aquaintances going there...

City of Keokuk agreed to take it over for 2018. Hopefully- it will proceed as prior with plenty of sites to visit.

Only expected change is where they will hold it at? Somewhere in Keokuk. That is expected as a positive change- as event had pretty much outgrown the prior venue (Chaney Boatramp). (overall parking too few and convoy exits were tricky).

Stay tuned for how plans shape up over Summer.

~JO:)

19th Apr 2018 15:52 UTCJoel Herr

BTW, if you want to see what the blue pickup looked like, you can use Google Maps, zoom in on Jacobs and go to street view and work your way into their access road a bit - you go straight south out of Hamilton, IL on 14th St, which turns into county road 850 or state highway 96 - as you zoom into that area just south of Hamilton on Google Maps, Jacobs Geode Shop and Mine pin should show up on east country road 1220. The view was from 2012, so not quite 9 years ago. If we are dealing in rock-time, I've been there quite recently in fact.

They say the cold weather might finally break in the mid-west so hopefully happy hunting to all.

21st Apr 2018 06:50 UTCCecil Cosse

Since you didn't specifically mention Mississippi in your post, I will tell you that there WAS a spot where you could collect geodes, petrified wood, fossils, etc. near Yazoo City. But, the last time I went there in like 1993 the rocks in the creek were all removed by machinery. All the material was simply gone, dug out by someone for gravel. The rocks at this point in the creek were the biggest in the area with by far best material. It was a quite small area of, I would say, a couple acres. We had to walk a long distance in the creek to get there, which was brutal in the hot summer months. Eventually, I got a topo of the area and discovered there was a road right there on the far side of the creek and a tad down stream. How many hours had we spent all those years walking in that dreadful summer heat.

22nd Apr 2018 04:51 UTCJohn Oostenryk

An UPDATE(Edit) from my recent post on this thread (above) regarding Geode Fest for 2018.

I spoke with Kirk Brandenburg yesterday. He is heading the (City of) Keokuk small committee, that will be running the event now.

He was part of longtime volunteers helping Mike run it in past, so he understands well the fun scene this event has been.

He said they decided to CONTINUE this year to run it from the Chaney Creek Boat Ramp just N of Hamilton, IL as in prior years.

They have a couple small changes they think will help the guided trips exit better, etc, but fees and general setup will be same as before.

He indicated an Info package will be going out very soon to the folks who have helped plan/run the 'Fest in past. (basically vendors/volunteers/guides)

This is to verify/update new contact info, present the couple small changes they came up with, and be available for response input.

Was glad to hear they have been proactive and are already getting the ball rollin for 2018.

See ya all in Sept!

~JO:)

22nd Apr 2018 15:59 UTCCaroline Alise Erps Erps

Where are the best geodes in Colorado?

22nd Apr 2018 17:44 UTCBob Harman

CAROLINE, There was a thread on this Mindat website, started in 2004 with about 12 - 15 responses that had its last response in 2016 about this very subject. With a bit of searching you will find that thread to read thru. A number of the responses got off the specific subject of Colorado geodes and a number of those responses were repetitious, but there was some info to be found. Here are some generalities.

Geodes in the western US are largely of igneous origin and colloquially called thundereggs.

Colorado sites where COLLECTIBLE thundereggs can RELIABLY be found are few and far between.

Most sites are either on "no collecting" lands, under claim, or private property lands so lands open to public collecting are very few and far between.

Be wary of anecdotal reports or those saying "I haven't been there recently" as some formerly collectible sites are now off limits or extinct.

Cousins of geodes such as septarian nodules or barite containing concretions can also be found but some of these sites are also under claim.

The Wolf Creek Pass area was mentioned so maybe there is something to be found there.

Colorado is a very large area so you must be properly equipped and dressed to get to any off road collecting site.

I urge you to join a local club. They might have some helpful members or a field trip that might interest you.

Bottom line is that for casual collectors or novices, there is not much open for public collecting of COLLECTIBLE geodes and their cousins on a RELIABLE basis.

CHEERS.......BOB

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