Utah Fisherman: Dugway Geode Beds

Saturday morning we packed up the kids, assembled a hunting party and set out on a treasure hunting expedition. Our destination was the Dugway Geode Beds approximately 50 miles west of Faust on the old pony express trail. The weatherman forcasted a 20% chance of rain but two hours into our journey we wondered if he meant there was a 20% chance that the rain would eventually let up. The ride out was wet and muddy but as we passed Simpson Springs and approached the final descent toward the beds the rain subsided and the sun broke through the clouds presenting us with the perfect rock hounding weather.

Up until this point the showers definitely played a part in thinning the crowd on what would have been a crowded memorial day weekend. There were plenty of visitors but not so many that we were unable to choose a promising location to dig in one of the large quarries.

As we arrived I was informed that the main rock quarry that we had used so many times in years past had now required a permit at a $30 fee. We eventually found a BLM dig site further to the southwest and open to the public. Normally I buy into the philosophy "you get what you pay for," however, I was doubtful this saying applied to rocks.

Over the last couple of years I have lost track of the number of times I have had to tell my kids "don't play with my tools" and "stop digging in the dirt". Today the rules did not apply. We gave each of the kids a hammer and a shovel and encouraged them to get as dirty as possible.

Kristian and I started in search of the magical layer of dirt. In years past we were able to find the bulk of our specimens in the same geographical layer of dirt and clay. It took some time but we eventually started finding geodes. We were finding less than previous visits but this new dig sit was yielding higher quality crystals.

There was a thick layer of red composite containing lots of rock and crystals. This seemed like a good place to start but there was no way to excavate the fragile stones without shattering them to pieces. We eventually found a layer of what seemed to be white clay just below this red layer about 8-10 feet under the surface of the ground. In this layer you can carefully scrape the clay from around the geode until you are able to remove it from the surrounding sediment. It is important to take your time once you identify a geode. On a few occasions I lost patience and tried to force out a large stone only to have it break into several pieces revealing large gorgeous crystal.

Shelley became quite adapt at hammering the geodes open in such a way that they fell into two halves. This is a talent that I have yet to master. Many geode hunters take the stones home whole and cut them open using a tile or concrete saw. This method is much better for producing beautiful pieces but you do end up bringing back a lot more rock that may not be keeper quality.

The day proved to be a productive adventure, exhausting the kids but fulfilling our yearnings for buried treasure. We brought back over 40 lbs of geodes and a great adventure story to tell friends and family.