Southern Rockhounds, I need your help!

[calamitan]

Hello TN!
Me and my friend are taking a road trip from Michigan to Tennessee and Kentucky. We will be staying in the Gatlinburg area but are looking for some places to rockhound nearby. Does anyone know of any good spots?

We have a pretty wide radius that we'd be willing to travel. I'll probably go as far as northern Alabama, Central/Southern Kentucky, and all over Tennessee or WV. We're mostly interested in finding agates/geodes but, hey, you guys are the experts, and we'll take anything we can get pretty much!

Thank you!

 

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[TheOculus]

Sounds like a great trip! You're in a geological hub in this area. Here are a few spots you might want to consider that are great collecting spots:

The Hogg Mine - LaGrange, Georgia (Aquamarine, Beryl, Rose Quartz, and Tourmaline)
Crabtree Emerald Mine - Little Switzerland, North Carolina (Emerald, Beryl, Dravite Tourmaline, etc. The ONLY public, Emerald collecting area in the U.S.!)
Sharpes Emerald Prospect - Hiddenite, North Carolina (Smoky Quartz, Mica, Beryl)
Cherokee Ruby & Sapphire Mine - Franklin, North Carolina (Ruby, Sapphire and more)
Propst Farm - Maiden, North Carolina (Ruby & Sapphire)
Graves Mountain - Lincolnton, Georgia (Turgite, Rutile)
Jackson's Crossroads Amethyst Mine - Wilkes Co., Georgia (World class Amethyst)

These are some of the most popular collecting areas in Appalachia. Do a quick search on any of them to find info and directions. This is off the top of my head and I'm sure I can add more to it. Old Agate collecting areas are mostly closed down in Tennessee but there are many places they can still be found! Kentucky Geodes/Agates are exceedingly difficult to collect from and I hope someone on here can help you with that. -Oculus

 

[calamitan]

Sounds like a great trip! You're in a geological hub in this area. Here are a few spots you might want to consider that are great collecting spots:

The Hogg Mine - LaGrange, Georgia (Aquamarine, Beryl, Rose Quartz, and Tourmaline)
Crabtree Emerald Mine - Little Switzerland, North Carolina (Emerald, Beryl, Dravite Tourmaline, etc. The ONLY public, Emerald collecting area in the U.S.!)
Sharpes Emerald Prospect - Hiddenite, North Carolina (Smoky Quartz, Mica, Beryl)
Cherokee Ruby & Sapphire Mine - Franklin, North Carolina (Ruby, Sapphire and more)
Propst Farm - Maiden, North Carolina (Ruby & Sapphire)
Graves Mountain - Lincolnton, Georgia (Turgite, Rutile)
Jackson's Crossroads Amethyst Mine - Wilkes Co., Georgia (World class Amethyst)

These are some of the most popular collecting areas in Appalachia. Do a quick search on any of them to find info and directions. This is off the top of my head and I'm sure I can add more to it. Old Agate collecting areas are mostly closed down in Tennessee but there are many places they can still be found! Kentucky Geodes/Agates are exceedingly difficult to collect from and I hope someone on here can help you with that. -Oculus

This list is perfect, thank you so much Oculus! I'm sure you'll find us at at least a couple of these next week. Be sure to check back, I'll be posting whatever we find!

 

[TheOculus]

You're welcome! All of these sites are native material. No salted mines, foreign specimens. I wish you luck and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!