Where to find geodes in missouri

Here is a map to help you find this awesome rock ranch! Tell us about your experience in the comments below. During these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind and consider adding destinations to your bucket list to visit at a later date. Sheffler Rock Shop is in the middle of nowhere but the sparkling geodes that you can bring home make the trek so worth it.

The exact address is RR When fresh or tested on a streak plate, galena is opaque and a bright metallic gray. Galena can be found as a cubic, octahedral, or dodecahedral crystalline structure or a combination of these. There is historically evidence to support the use of galena as far back as BCE as lead beads. Galena was also used in Ancient Egypt in cosmetic eye kohl. Galena is often mined in the Bootheel area of Missouri located in the Southeast. Galena was once often found in and near Joplin, Missouri.

These once productive mines are now closed and it is very difficult to find specimens in this area now. Barite is a heavy non-metallic mineral. It generally comes in white, gray, or blue-gray coloring. Historically, Missouri has been a large Barite producer. Barite has been used in the past as a paint pigment, a source of barium for chemicals, and as a filler in rubber, textiles, and plastics.

The most common specimens of Barite that you may see for sale are bladed and opaque. Smaller crystals have also been found in Morgan and Moniteau Counties. Photo: Baryte, Calcite by Robert M. Keokuk geodes are found in the north-eastern most corner of Missouri. They can also be found in Iowa and Illinois. These geodes get their name from the Iowa city of Keokuk, located at the center of the collecting area. These geodes can be found easily in this area where they often wind up in stream channels where water has eroded the rock.

In a Keokuk geode, you can usually find beautiful white quartz crystals. The outer wall of these geodes is made up of chalcedony. When you find a keokuk geode it is not uncommon to find other minerals inside your geode. Pyrite, dolomite, and kaolinite have all been found inside keokuk geodes. Things like coal, granite, limestone, and sandstone can be found throughout the state.

Coal is a sedimentary rock that will burn. The Shepherd of the Hills Expressway Roadcut is also another place you should look into. You may find quartz crystals, malachite , chalcopyrite, and even hematite. Stockton, Missouri is an incredibly quiet and small city. Expect to come across druzy crystals, pyrite , and even sphalerite. Many rockhounders completely destroyed valuable stones by being too aggressive with their tools. Dedicated rockhoundss may have already heard of Lincoln, Missouri.

You could find mozarkite along streams, ditches, fields, and the road cuts around Lincoln. You could find this area south of Sedalia on HWY You could also find mozarkite at Harry Truman lake west of Lincoln.

You can also easily find mozarkite around Lincoln on boulders. This is why you should bring safety glasses and gloves along with you. Sometimes, even veteran rockhounds can forget some very important tips. Here are some things that you should always remember when going rock hunting! No matter how promising a certain area looks, under no circumstance should you try digging on private property without permission.

The guidelines are mostly concerned with the amount of collecting, the type of collecting, and the method of collecting. Through quite a bit of research and cross-referencing of available literature, I have compiled this list of some prospective locations in Missouri which I would recommend to people looking to do some rockhounding.

These are mostly comprised of old mining prospects, washes, streams, and historically known rock and mineral collecting sites. Please remember that rock collecting locations are constantly changing. Specimens may become depleted from other collectors, the location may have been built on or altered, locality information in literature may be inaccurate, and property ownership may have changed hands.

Joining up with a local rockhounding club for a group trip can often get you access to otherwise off-limits locations like privately owned mines and quarries. There are many rockhounding clubs in Missouri so you can most likely find one you like nearby. Though there are many locations listed here, this list is far from exhaustive.

Be safe, never go underground, and make sure to get permission from the landowner to search for and collect specimens.

You can also find very cool spetarian nodules containing aragonite, calcite, and celestite in the area of Sugar Creek. Northeastern Missouri is arguably the best part of the state for rockhounding, most notably for the world-famous Keokuk geodes which are prevalent near the Iowa border.

The extensive and impressive road cuts in the St. Louis area are also loaded with interested rocks and minerals while being fairly easy to access. And, of course, the gravels of the Mississippi River are always a go-to spot for agate hunting.

Southwestern Missouri is home to many old mines and large quarries which if you can gain permission and access provide countless opportunities to find a wide variety of interesting rocks and minerals including barite, calcite, galena, pyrite, and quartz. To find this unique and desirable rock you can try searching almost anywhere along the western slopes of the Ozark Mountains. Southeastern Missouri is dotted with hundreds of old mines and quarries which have been known to produce myriad mineral varieties including pyrite, azurite, malachite, quartz, and galena.

As with the rest of the state, the gravels of local streams and rivers are great places to search for quartz family minerals like agates and petrified wood.

As always, before venturing out to a mine, quarry, or any collecting site make sure to get permission to collect there. Geodes are some of the most popular rocks sought by rockhounds all over the world, and Missouri is no exception. In fact, Missouri is one of the best states in the U. These geodes form in cavities in the rocks when mineral-laden water precipitates through the voids and leaves its minerals behind. Over time this slow deposition of various minerals causes the walls of the cavity to become lined with crystals.

Most of the geodes found in Missouri will be lined with quartz, aragonite, barite, calcite, fluorite, malachite, pyrite, or sphalerite. Check out my article about how to identify a geode. There is nothing quite like uncovering a quartz crystal with a perfect termination or finding a beautiful agate that has been waiting in a river bank for you to come along and take it home.

The diverse and complex geology of Missouri means that there are plenty of locations across the where you can find crystals and gemstones. There is a nice variety to be found as well, many of which I have mentioned above. Particularly of note are the Lake Superior Agates see the next section below which can sometimes be found in glacial deposits left over from the last ice age.

Agates are some of the most commonly sought-after and collected rocks by rockhounds all over the United States. They come in nearly every color and display many interesting patterns that make each specimen something entirely unique and fun to find. Missouri is home to several amazing varieties of agates and has no shortage of locations in which they can be found.

One of the most common questions rockhounds have is whether or not they are allowed to collect at a certain location. The ownership and status of land can and does change frequently, making it impossible to document accurate information for every location on this page.

However, I have compiled a list of resources here so that you may investigate and obtain permission for any locations found here or elsewhere for yourself.