South Dakota rock hunting

Wondering when you are going to SD? I'll be there May 30, and again July 26th. At Wall, stop in at the visitor center, they may tell you of some good areas, on public land. A place called Railroad Buttes is supposed to be pretty good, but it depends on the weather too--if it is wet/snow/rain you can't get back there from what I've heard. Try 'Western SD Rock Hunting Sites on the net, I think that is where I got the info from. If not, I have the info and will share what I've got.
Also, I plan on trying my luck in Tepee Canyon, for agates, near Custer.

Fairburned--thanks much!!! Will give all a try. I usually camp near Rushmore, will make day trips out for rocks. Hope yer weather don't kill me, believe me, it's tried!! A few years back, Badlands going out on 44, 120 degrees. About died. Two years ago, cripes, got up and there was FROST on the camp buildings, 29 degrees. Both extremes during the Rally, you just never know----

Yea we get extreme weather,seems like the rally has at three seasons you just don't know which ones.Rock hunting on sunday started at 30 degrees and it warmed to 65.Many of the spots are on gravel or dirt roads.......if you need more info let me know.

Hi -- We have done this for the last several summers. My main source was the Mineral Trails midwest-Prairie states guide, which has been amazingly accurate on the sites it covers, though it doesn't cover a great number of them. It also gives a bit of an overall picture of an area. I also bought "Earth Treasures volume 3: The northwestern quadrant" -- this book is amazingly detailed and it is helpful to put the two sources together -- helps in planning trips. Our big find was the Weta agate beds which was a really fun and very lost trip -- the maps we had didn't match the tracks through the desert, and we were looking at the badlands from the south which was just awesome. The car thermometer was hitting 112 in a hurry. Be careful about that!! Since we were doing this on the way in from the east, we couldn't go to the National Grasslands office in Wall without backtracking, and that is way way way the best place to start. They will tell you exactly where to go if you give them any specifics, they can tell you if anywhere is closed, and they could have given us actual directions to the Weta beds! In addition to that, we picked up garnet in schist from a site west of Custer going towards Jewel cave and tried to find Tepee Canyon agate, but I have the impression that's mainly on private land now.
My other main source, of course, would be Shawn, who loves to talk rockhounding in the area. Comments about the French Creek beds haven't been as positive as some of the others. The really huge one is just south of the NP on the E/W main road, just east of an unpaved N/S road through the badlands and then turning north through one of a couple gates through the fence. I'm blanking on the name, for the moment, but the rangers will direct you there. IIRC the turnoff is even marked "agate beds." This place will blow your mind.
Also, keep an eye on all parking lot and roadside gravel. There was some of the best driveway gravel around that I've ever seen.
Keep reading, there's lots, lots more. The badlands rock was far and away the best tumbling rock I've ever picked up. It's absolutely breathtaking with a lot of pet wood.

I have received some rocks from a fellow in SD, he has in the past sold items on E-Bay...(masterblaster-boomboom)...he stops during the warmer weather months...

He is located: rockshop@gwtc.net

Terry Spring
PO Box 189
Custer, SD 57730

I think he and his dad run this business...He probably will hedge on exact locations but might give a general good lay of the land in SD..

All these where found on forrest service land with in 100 yards of a road.most of these came from surface hunting...thanks.

Hi -- I finally got out a book to get some names right. We went to the Conata agate beds, it's just south of Badlands NP and west of Interior on 44. Rocks that go on forever. The Weta rock beds were even better and are remote enough not to be as picked over. It was fairly tricky to find. We took the Kadoka exit from I-90 and weren't too impressed with the Kadoka beds. We fumbled our way from there to the Weta beds further south near the White River. The next day at the National Grasslands office in Wall, they were impressed we'd found it. Maps weren't accurate. The rangers there are very helpful with directions and also road conditions, they'll let you know if you need a high clearance vehicle or whatever. The Fairburn I found came from Conata & there was amazing pet wood.

The fires that happened 7 years ago were they the ones that happened in the Custer site too? Or did that happen further back? I just remember reading an article in National Geographic about the excavations of Custers Last Stand went so much better after fires swept the grasslands. They burned just the grass a left everything else untouched..almost. The pictures were fantastic showing even the pocket money of the troops that were untouched by the fire. Amazing.

Cool tool for mapping...The fire was called the Hell Canyon fire.The Custer battle is north of this area.