randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 8, 2016 15:37:31 GMT -5
Hey there rockhounds! I'm originally from Michigan & moved to South Dakota a year ago October. My kids and I are loving all the new rocks we are finding here and anxiously awaiting our current batch to finish tumbling. We collect rocks as a hobby and we don't sell any of our findings. We try to collect 3 of everything so we each have our own collection. We have been out many times in search of a Fairburn to add to our collection and have had no luck. If any of you experts in Fairburn rockhounding would like to show my family and I the ropes, I wouldn't turn it down! I'm happy to have found this site and look forward to all I will learn from all the information that's been posted!
~Randi
|
|
|
Post by Jugglerguy on Nov 8, 2016 16:39:04 GMT -5
Hi Randi,
Welcome from your home state of Michigan! I've never rock hounded in another state, but it sounds like fun. Are fairburns as difficult to find as Lakers?
|
|
|
Post by jakesrocks on Nov 8, 2016 17:27:54 GMT -5
Welcome aboard from another SD transplant. Sounds like you live out towards Rapid City. I'm way up in Aberdeen.
He doesn't come on here often, but Bob Morgan / sdgoldpanner live in Rapid City & has lots of luck finding Fairburns. If you want to send him a PM on here, I'll catch him on Facebook & tell him to check his mail.
Don
|
|
|
Post by tims on Nov 8, 2016 20:00:11 GMT -5
If you're near / in Rapid there are several good fairburn type agate beds near you. Fairburn itself might be the hardest for finding good ones as it's so picked over. Railroad Buttes is another really popular spot, and Indian Creek which i just found out about is supposed to be good pickings. I really want to get over there before it gets cold but it's a few hour trip for me from NE Wyoming.
Welcome and Good Luck!
|
|
|
Post by accidentalrockhound on Nov 8, 2016 21:37:00 GMT -5
Hello and welcome , me and my family love SD.we try and make to custer state park every other year, like tims said railroad buttes was my first small Fairburn find but found corals and agates and petrified wood, grasslands is another spot we go to have found 2 small fairburns bubblegum agates colorful prarie agates pillar coral petrified wood found all in the immediate area family friendly, when you go deeper into the agate beds you have to be careful rain and super sticky mud that don't let go,there is a fantastic rock shop in custer Ken's minerals and trading post, one of our favorite spots visit.ken has since passed away but his wife and daughters I belive still run it also another rock shop down the street a bit, if anything else you can see fairburns agates there to help familiarize yourself with be for you head out? Good luck becareful but most of all have fun!
|
|
|
Post by paulshiroma on Nov 8, 2016 21:59:39 GMT -5
Hi Randi! Welcome to the forum!
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
|
Post by Fossilman on Nov 9, 2016 10:08:53 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Randi,it's it a great place to hang your hat!
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 11, 2016 22:48:19 GMT -5
Hi Randi, Welcome from your home state of Michigan! I've never rock hounded in another state, but it sounds like fun. Are fairburns as difficult to find as Lakers? Yes, haha. I've gone out may times now looking and have not found one yet. Fingers crossed I find one tomorrow! Got a few new locations to try out.
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 11, 2016 22:51:14 GMT -5
Welcome aboard from another SD transplant. Sounds like you live out towards Rapid City. I'm way up in Aberdeen. He doesn't come on here often, but Bob Morgan / sdgoldpanner live in Rapid City & has lots of luck finding Fairburns. If you want to send him a PM on here, I'll catch him on Facebook & tell him to check his mail. Don Thanks! I appreciate that. I may take you up on that, I am headed out to try again tomorrow, If I get skunked again, I will let you know! I live in Wall so yes, I am near RC. I am loving it here!!
|
|
|
Post by jakesrocks on Nov 11, 2016 23:18:46 GMT -5
The fields around Wall have been known to produce Fairburns too. Especially the south side of the highway. Check in & around those gravel road ditches. Any property that isn't fenced or posted, check large exposures of gravel. It's cool enough now that rattlers shouldn't be a problem, but be careful where you step or reach in warmer weather.
Even the best of Fairburn hunters sometimes go for days between finds, so don't get discouraged. One really nice Fairburn cam make it all worth the effort.
If the water is down, check the banks & gravel bars along the Cheyenne River, but be careful not to stray onto reservation land unless you can claim Indian heritage.
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 11, 2016 23:35:32 GMT -5
If you're near / in Rapid there are several good fairburn type agate beds near you. Fairburn itself might be the hardest for finding good ones as it's so picked over. Railroad Buttes is another really popular spot, and Indian Creek which i just found out about is supposed to be good pickings. I really want to get over there before it gets cold but it's a few hour trip for me from NE Wyoming. Welcome and Good Luck! I've done a day at both RRB & Indian Creek with no luck but I do plan on going back and trying again!! Lots of area to cover out there and just not enough time in a day, lol. Is there anything neat or worth hounding in the Eastern side of WY? I spend a lot of time in Gillette as my husband and I both have family there.
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 11, 2016 23:43:30 GMT -5
Hello and welcome , me and my family love SD.we try and make to custer state park every other year, like tims said railroad buttes was my first small Fairburn find but found corals and agates and petrified wood, grasslands is another spot we go to have found 2 small fairburns bubblegum agates colorful prarie agates pillar coral petrified wood found all in the immediate area family friendly, when you go deeper into the agate beds you have to be careful rain and super sticky mud that don't let go,there is a fantastic rock shop in custer Ken's minerals and trading post, one of our favorite spots visit.ken has since passed away but his wife and daughters I belive still run it also another rock shop down the street a bit, if anything else you can see fairburns agates there to help familiarize yourself with be for you head out? Good luck becareful but most of all have fun! Thanks! I will definitely check those rock shops out! My kids and I already have a large collection of bubblegum agates and a few prairie agates. I can't wait to find some of the colorful prairie agates!
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 11, 2016 23:52:00 GMT -5
The fields around Wall have been known to produce Fairburns too. Especially the south side of the highway. Check in & around those gravel road ditches. Any property that isn't fenced or posted, check large exposures of gravel. It's cool enough now that rattlers shouldn't be a problem, but be careful where you step or reach in warmer weather. Even the best of Fairburn hunters sometimes go for days between finds, so don't get discouraged. One really nice Fairburn cam make it all worth the effort. If the water is down, check the banks & gravel bars along the Cheyenne River, but be careful not to stray onto reservation land unless you can claim Indian heritage. Thanks! I have been Googling a lot on where public access is on the Cheyenne but haven't found much online. I was hoping to find public access in Wasta since thats the closest to where I live. I will have to just go drive around sometime and look to see if there is some. All those I've asked so far hunt the Cheyenne on private property. I've seen a few posts on Facebook of some guys finding Hill's Amethyst and I've read that you can find Garnet too. Have you heard of anyone finding those? My son and I really want to find some for our collection now that we've read/seen it's possible. Thought, how neat would it be to find our birthstones naturally without buying from a store!! If I don't find any Fairburn's by next summer, then I will have to grab a bucket of Petoskey Stones from back "home" (MI) to bring back to barder with, lol!
|
|
|
Post by tims on Nov 12, 2016 6:39:00 GMT -5
You probably take the interstate to gillette? Hiway 16 from custer to upton is my usual stomping ground. I usually hit nearby shale prairie that are abundant with marine fossils (ammonite, baculite, clams, belemnite, shark teeth etc). These are found in different spots all around newcastle, upton and osage. You also see alot of chert and some jaspers, quartz and flint. There's a spot near custer to pick up garnet to your heart's content, plus teepee canyon and other well-picked but productive spots to find a variety of hills agates. Almost any of the forest service roads that wind through the hills proper will be littered with jasper, quartz, calcite, and the occasional agate, just be careful to stick to non-prohibited public land.
|
|
|
Post by jakesrocks on Nov 12, 2016 10:45:24 GMT -5
Again I point you to Bob Morgan, sdgoldpanner. He's hiked those hills & knows many gemstone & gold panning locations. He's getting old & slowing down like me, but he still loves to get out & hunt rocks. If you decide to contact him, let me know & I'll make sure he comes here to check his inbox.
If I can catch her on facebook, I'll ask another friend where public access to the Cheyenne is. The river is public land. Private land only extends to the banks above the river.
|
|
|
Post by drocknut on Nov 12, 2016 11:45:34 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from Arizona.
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 12, 2016 22:02:21 GMT -5
You probably take the interstate to gillette? Hiway 16 from custer to upton is my usual stomping ground. I usually hit nearby shale prairie that are abundant with marine fossils (ammonite, baculite, clams, belemnite, shark teeth etc). These are found in different spots all around newcastle, upton and osage. You also see alot of chert and some jaspers, quartz and flint. There's a spot near custer to pick up garnet to your heart's content, plus teepee canyon and other well-picked but productive spots to find a variety of hills agates. Almost any of the forest service roads that wind through the hills proper will be littered with jasper, quartz, calcite, and the occasional agate, just be careful to stick to non-prohibited public land. Awesome, Thanks!! Do you know where the best location is near Custer to find the garnet? I've only lived in SD a year and only been to Custer a few times. I love it there, just always had something going on up until about a month ago. Now, my weekends have free'ed up a bit. My son and I would really love to find some! I will make sure to add HWY 16 to my list of places to look, I truly appreciate all this advice and help from all you guys here! Thanks again!!
|
|
randijo55
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2016
Posts: 13
|
Post by randijo55 on Nov 12, 2016 22:12:11 GMT -5
Again I point you to Bob Morgan, sdgoldpanner. He's hiked those hills & knows many gemstone & gold panning locations. He's getting old & slowing down like me, but he still loves to get out & hunt rocks. If you decide to contact him, let me know & I'll make sure he comes here to check his inbox. If I can catch her on facebook, I'll ask another friend where public access to the Cheyenne is. The river is public land. Private land only extends to the banks above the river. So funny thing... After you mentioned Bob, I had to go check my gmail account because it sounded familiar. Sure enough, I had emailed him from my gmail account to the email address on his website (I can't think of the name of it right now) and he had responded. I checked out Weta today. Wow there were a lot of people out there hounding!! I thought with it being opening day of deer season, it would be the perfect day to go! HAHA, wrong! We searched a few areas today for about 7 hours but my kids started complaining about wanting a bathroom and more food since they ate all we packed, lol, kids! All we found today was some neat bubblegum agates. I have one other spot I really want to check out that Bob mentioned in his email. I'm going to keep on hounding, even if I don't find any Fairburn. The kids and I sure do enjoy it! My son, who will be 8 in January, has this thing for rocks and finds the weirdest things. He sure has an eye for petrified wood though, he is so facinated by it!
|
|
|
Post by tims on Nov 12, 2016 22:19:05 GMT -5
Just west of custer on the north side of the highway is North Pole Road. Within the first couple of miles there are several turnoffs to the east (right) and that general area is garnet rich. High slate ridges with embedded garnet in the slate that erodes down into all the low areas. I like taking the 2nd right, it's pretty rough rutted dirt but you can start picking garnet almost immediately from the intersection with the gravel. Grab a bucket of dirt anywhere in there, take it home and you'll pan out a handful of garnet. I usually just crawl the dirt road on my hands and knees and pick them If you see anything that looks like a shiny facet pick it up, often just one facet will be exposed and it looks tiny but pluck it out and find a nice little garnet. If you run into santa or rudolph you went too far.
|
|
|
Post by jakesrocks on Nov 12, 2016 23:23:34 GMT -5
Glad that you & Bob managed to talk. He's a heck of a nice guy. If you get an offer for him to take you to one of his favorite hunting spots, by all means accept the offer if you can. He lost his wife a couple years ago & gets lonely. He loves any sort of company he can get, & can tell you more about Fairburn collecting & the Black Hills than most people can, so listen carefully to him.
I think I know who at least part of the folks you saw out at Weta were. The gal I mentioned earlier & 3 others headed out there early this morning from Pierre. She would have been a tiny woman with black hair & lots of tattoos. She's awfully nice. Loves kids, dogs & fairburns, and is another wealth of info. If you run into her out there one day, I must warn you to cover your kids ears cause she cusses like a sailor. She means no harm by it. It's just her line of work that has rubbed off on her. (She owns a casino in Ft. Pierre). Her name is Lori. If you run into her, tell her east river Don says Hi.
Wish I could get out there to collect, but at my age the 6-1/2 hour drive kills me.
|
|