Free Sources for Decorative Rocks

I've been looking for a cheap (or free) source of decorative rock to use as boulders for the base of my waterfall. For those of you who live in Arizona, I'd like to tell you about "rock hounding" through the U.S. Department of the Interior, Arizona Office of Land Management.

Arizona has four locations open to anyone looking for free rocks:

* Virgin River Recreation Area - Located on Interstate 15 (Exit 18), 16 miles NE of Littlefield, Arizona.

* Burro Creek Campground - Located 1 1/2 mile off U.S. Hwy. 93, approximately 60 miles NE of Wickenburg.

* Black Hills Rockhound Area - From the intersection of Highway 70, east of Safford, travel 10 miles north on Highway 191 to Black Hills Rockhound Area. Follow the dirt road 2 miles to the center of the rockhound area.

* Round Mountain Rockhound Area - From Highway 70 east of Safford approximately 50 miles, travel into New Mexico to just beyond milepost 5. Take the dirt access road on your right for 12 miles, following the signs to the Rockhound Area.

The law states that an individual may collect up to 25 lb. of rock per person per day, up to a total of 250 pounds per year. These limits are for personal use only and include mineral specimens, common invertebrate fossils, semiprecious gemstones, petrified wood, and rock. Collectors are not allowed to pool their collection limits to remove a boulder or piece of petrified wood in excess of 250 pounds.

Since the Black Hills area is only about 15 miles from where I live, I drove into this area and soon found myself in decorative rock heaven. I found igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock along with petrified wood, quartz, azurite, malachite, selenite and calcite.

What to choose? What to choose? So many choices and such a small weight limit. In the end, I took a watermelon sized pink granite boulder with quartz crystals and a small piece of petrified wood. Since I didn't have a scale with me, I had to estimate the weight ... but since the Black Hills area is fairly close, it won't be terribly inconvenient for me to head back at another time.

If you live near Federal land, you might check with the Department of the Interior to see if you're allowed to rock hound in your area.

Sadly, states like Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Texas have an advantage over other places - largely because our desert environments are conducive to looking for rocks.

Chef Dave

Man, you are lucky. My cousin lives in Arizona but that does me no good. I will conduct an investigation around here to find out if we can rock hound.