The area mines situated in this region are abundant in minerals, gemstones, and crystals. Cave-in-RockĬave-in-rock is among the best southern Illinois rockhounding locations. Some of the best sites in southern Illinois include Fayville, Mississippi River, Cave-in-Rock, Minerva Mine, Rosiclare, Sparta, Edwards County, Thebes, and Elizabethtown, among others. Southern Illinois is richer in rockhounding locations and the things that you may find that the northern region. Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Rocks and Minerals (National Geographic Kids).Gemstone & Crystal Properties (Quick Study Home).Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals.At the Hamilton Quarry, the top strata, you can also find sphalerite, calcite, pyrite, and marcasite geode specimens.īTW: Do you want to know more about rock and mineral identification? The books listed below are the best ones you can find on the internet (Amazon links):

The gravels south of Keokuk Bridge are also famous for their geode specimens. In the area gravels, explorers might find agate, jasper, and chalcedony geodes.

Hamilton is also among the best rockhounding locations in northern Illinois. Some of the things that explorers might find are calcite, bornite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite specimens. In the North Aurora area, rock collectors might head to the Conco Quarry and try out their luck at finding various mineral specimens. Here, in the area gravels, enthusiasts might find Tully monster fossils, which are the official state fossil of Illinois, plant fossils, and/or other invertebrate fossils. Terre Haute is an amazing place in Illinois to find various types of fossils, mostly Mazon Creek fossils. Here, you can find calcite geodes, pyrite geodes, chalcedony geodes, sphalerite geodes, and even quartz containing geodes.

The Spillman Creek is another abundant geode area in Illinois where beautiful, and big geode specimens can be found. Some geodes contain aragonite, others barite, calcite, and you can even find goethite geodes, pyrite, quartz, selenite, and other varieties. The exposures in this creek are amazing! You can find an extreme diversity of geodes. Let’s take a look at some of these sites and see where exactly you should go rockhounding, and what you might find! Crystal Glen CreekĬrystal Glen Creek is among the best rockhounding locations in Northern Illinois. Some of the best rockhounding sites in Illinois are the Mazon and Mississippi Rivers, Hamilton, Crystal Glen Creek, Spillman Creek, Terre Haute, North Aurora, Galena, Fayville, Thebes, Cave-in-Rock, Minerva Mine, Rosiclare, McKee Creek, and Sparta, among many other places. Best Rockhounding Sites in Illinois Best Rockhounding Sites in Illinois

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