 |
Hidalgo County's great diversity in minerals makes it very popular with rock hounders from all over the country. Mild weather year-round, affordable hotels and campgrounds, and friendly locals make for a rock collector's dream.
The Summit site, located in the foothills of the Peloncillo Mountains between Lordsburg and Duncan, AZ, is probably most famous for its opals and fire agate. Easily accessible off Highway 70, Summit also offers the mineral collectors opportunities in finding chalcedony ("desert roses"), as well as other related minerals.
Throughout the Pyramid Mountains south of Lordsburg can be found specimens of bornite, lead, linerite, azurite and many other minerals. The former mining towns of Valedon, Pyramid, and Shakespeare (now a preserved ghost town) are examples of former towns that owed their existence to mining in the Pyramid Mountains. Most mines in this area produced lead, copper, and gold.
At the Apache Mine, located southeast of Hachita, can be found a wide array of interesting specimens. Azurite, chrysocolla, malachite, calcite, turquoise, fluorite, pyrite, and garnet are some examples of what can be found in this mineral-rich area.
Other sites popular with rock hounders are the Coronado National Forest in the extreme southern end of the county, famous for its geodes and Apache tears, Skeleton Canyon, known for its agates and rhyolite, Granite Gap, with its fields of quartz and abandoned lead, zinc, and silver mines, and Redrock, known for its fine specimens of ricolite.
For many years, Lordsburg was the site of the annual Rockamania event, a gem and mineral show that was extremely popular with rock collectors from all over the country. Held each February for three weeks, Rockamania offered free camping as well as mineral sales, lapidary lessons, and guided field trips. Due to Rockamania's organizer moving from the area, the event was reluctantly cancelled. However, many of the Rockamania regulars still return every year to continue their quest for minerals, proving Hidalgo County's reputation as one of the best places for rock hounding in the southwest.
|
