lapidopterix
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 216
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Post by lapidopterix on Nov 19, 2008 16:49:12 GMT -5
I'm going to Sonora, California next week. Does anyone know any good collecting spots in the Gold Country/Foothill area?
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Post by Woodyrock on Nov 20, 2008 14:37:15 GMT -5
Stony Creek, the creek that feeds into Black Butte reservoir which is west of I-5 near Chico has jasp/agate material that is very similar to Stone Canyon material, but it is found in red, oranges, yellows., and a bit of green I do not know where Sonora is in relation to Chico, but I think it is the way. At any rate, Stony Creek is about three hours south of the Oregon border.
Oh, the material ranges in size from pebble to that will not fit in the truck.
Woody
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lapidopterix
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 216
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Post by lapidopterix on Nov 20, 2008 17:28:00 GMT -5
Chico is about 4 hours from Sonora. Probably to far for this trip but I'll make a note of it for the future. There are several places in northern CA and southern OR I want to check out, hopefully next year I can take a week or so and head down there.
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Nov 23, 2008 2:35:36 GMT -5
There is a pretty good rock shop near Sonora but this dang early-onset-alzhimers  is striking again and I cant' recall the name. No wait, it is in Mariposa? Ohhhh :head-into-brick-wall. Quick google search didn't help either; but, it did remind me: The California State Mining and Mineral Museum < www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=588> is in Mariposa. Mariposa isn't terribly far from Sonora I believe. Hopefully Mel will chime in! |
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Post by Michael John on Nov 23, 2008 5:27:14 GMT -5
CALAVERAS COUNTY
AREA:
Hughs Mine - good Azurite, Malachite
Morgan Mine - Altaite
Railroad Flat - Alunite crystals
Robin’s Ferry, the Frenchwood Mine - Altaite, Calaverite, Petzite, and other Tellurides.
ALTAVILLE - E 5-6 mi., on Janokis Ranch, as good crystals Diaspore,with Chlorite on Chromite.
ANGLES CAMP - area mines, widespread:
(a) Keystone, Lancha Plana, Union mines - Chalcopyrite
(b) Milton, E 9 mi. and NE 10 mi. at Wright Ranch in Salt Springs
Valley
(c) 5 mi. SE of Valley Springs and 4 mi. N of Copperopolis on Rd. to Milton
(d) too many other area occurrences to list - Chromite; N 7 mi. in Quartz exposures as good crystals, Epidote.
BALD POINT (on the Mokelumne R.), as large crystals, Epidote.
CAMPO SECO area - Boothite (crystal, massive).
CARSON HILL area mines - Ankerite, Hornblende
Melones, Morgan, and Stanislaus mines - Calaverite
T. 2 N, R. 13 E, at Stanislaus mines in large masses - Altaite (with Calaverite and Hessite), Melonite & Native Tellurium.
COPPEROPOLIS area mines - Azurite, Bornite, Brachanite (as druses), Chalcopyrite & Malachite.
GARNET HILL, just above confluence of Moore Cr. and Mokelumne R. - Epidote, Andradite garnet, Quartz & Idocrase.
MOKELUMNE HILL (District): S of the hill 2½ mi., and Eclipse, the Infernal Mine and other area mines 3 mi. S of the hill - Gold, Rock Crystal.
SAN ANDREAS: E ½ mi., the Ford Mine, on the 300-ft. level - Allanite; N 1 mi., the Golden Gate mine - Ankerite.
SHEEP RANCH, SE 2 mi., in NW¼ NW¼ Sec. 22, T. 4 N, R.14 E, on the Hauselt Patent - cobaltiferous Arsenopyrite.
VALLECITO, just W, on Rd. to Angels Camp, large masses - Hornblende.
VALLEY SPRINGS: 1 2 mi. N of Marie Costa ranch on Paloma rd. (fee) - moss agate, petrified wood; 2 E on Hwy. 26 to Hwy. 12, then S to Hogan reservoir rd. to Hooten ranch in hidden valley (fee) - agate, opal; 3 Hwy. 12 E then N a block and 2 mi. to turnoff S to Snyder ranch (fee) - blue dendritic opal.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 23, 2008 10:45:06 GMT -5
The Mineral Museum in Mariposa is certainly a good place to visit. Mariposa County is full of good jasper and mineral locations but all are out in the boonies and mostly on private property with little chance of access. Most the gold country mines are posted due to the chance of falling into a open mine tunnel in the brush. Also Mariposa County is very mountainous and even short distances can take a long time to travel to and demand knowledge of local landmarks and a four by four high clearance vehicle. In short, the mother lade country has lots of great stuff but it's all darn hard to get to without a guide and local contacts......Mel
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Post by Michael John on Nov 23, 2008 16:26:15 GMT -5
Possible alternate plan: take a fishin' pole and go up to Lake Sabrina (stocked with trout, rainbows if I remember correctly), which isn't too far from there. You'll need to get a fishing license before you go up there (there ARE Rangers who walk around checking licenses there), but you can buy a 1-day for next to nothing. It's not rockhounding, but it's one of the most beautiful places you'll ever lay eyes on, and the fish is GOOD eatin'!
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Nov 24, 2008 11:24:08 GMT -5
If you were to drive down from Oregon, I'd say the Stoney Creek jasper would be a reasonable detour, but if you are flying into Sacramento, you pretty much are left with the Calavaras county locations Michaeljohn listed above.
Lake Sabrina is right out- well most likely anyway, as it is well over 4 hours drive from Sonora when Tioga Pass is open (which it is not right now), when the mountain passes are closed, Lake Sabrina is too, but the route to get from Sonora to Lake Sabrina is 7 hours via lake Tahoe or 9 via Ridgecrest.
If you find yourself in Bishop in the summertime, Lake Sabrina is a really pretty place and a short trip up into the mountains
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casualguy
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2007
Posts: 5
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Post by casualguy on Nov 25, 2008 22:38:17 GMT -5
You guys are right on that Stoney Creek jasper, I was out there a couple times this summer and collected probably a couple hundred pounds of the yellow and red. Found what looks like petrified wood as well. Anybody do any collecting in Northern Nevada....I have a couple of good spots out the 80 corridor for petrified wood, agate, jasper.
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lapidopterix
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 216
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Post by lapidopterix on Nov 26, 2008 1:38:50 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. I'm going to try to check out a couple of those spots, maybe Copperopolis and Mokelumne Hill. Stony creek sounds good but there's no way I can stop with two babies and my wife. We're doing the drives one day each way, so yesterday I spent 14 hours in the car with a 1 and a 3 year old. It actually went pretty well with no major tantrums until hour 12 or so. Tomorrow I'm going out in the woods around Columbia. I'll post pictures if I find anything interesting.
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88pathoffroad
spending too much on rocks
Oregon ROCKS!
Member since August 2008
Posts: 305
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Post by 88pathoffroad on Nov 28, 2008 15:46:02 GMT -5
I'm actually IN Chico right now. Any good areas to look at in or close to town? Stony Creek/Black Butte is probably an hour's drive away and I'm here to see family, so taking a whole day to rockhound would probably be frowned upon.  I Googled Stony Creek... www.dragonsayeauctions.com/112357,auction_id,auction_details "Outstanding Stony Creek brecciated Jasper slab. It comes from west of Orland California, out on Stony Creek. Cab it out, or Polish it out for a beautiful specimen. I hunt for the red/black out at stony creek, but even on a good day I usually only find a piece or two, out of a whole day of hounding on the river bars." Doesn't sound too promising for a guy that's never been there.  |
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Nov 30, 2008 3:32:33 GMT -5
Well I went there (Stony Creek/Black Butte Res.) today, biggest issue is access, nearly everywhere is posted as being private and no trespassing. But I did manage to get to the riverbed just above the (now almost dry) reservoir,  Walked up and down that gravel bar for a while- less than an hour, and picked out about 10 lbs, not all of it is the primo stuff, but I think I got a good couple of tumble loads and probably a few good cutters as well.  I think before next time I want to try to find out who to ask for permission to drop in a few miles up river |
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Dec 1, 2008 1:27:00 GMT -5
Very interesting Rally. I know that several of the foothill Gem & Mineral Societies have regular collecting trips to that area but I've not yet been able to attend one.
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deedolce
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2006
Posts: 1,828
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Post by deedolce on Dec 1, 2008 3:48:44 GMT -5
Nice haul, Rally! Make sure and share the slabs and cabs! |
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88pathoffroad
spending too much on rocks
Oregon ROCKS!
Member since August 2008
Posts: 305
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Post by 88pathoffroad on Dec 1, 2008 12:11:09 GMT -5
Very nice! I'm back home in Salem now. All I was able to scratch out was about 5 pounds of white crushed quartzite and some generic maroon jasper. Ah well. Another time.
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Dec 1, 2008 18:58:57 GMT -5
Very interesting Rally. I know that several of the foothill Gem & Mineral Societies have regular collecting trips to that area but I've not yet been able to attend one. I expect they go to more or less the same place I was, this is on the north side of the Stoney Creek inlet to the lake where there is a little recreation area, it was a bit of a hike from where I parked, and I just looked over that closest gravel bar, I left a few nice pieces that were too big to carry, and as you can see, some more time and getting a little wet would have afforded access to a lot more gravel and probably yielded a lot of nicer material.  I did drive all the way around the lake and just above there everything is pretty well fenced and posted. You can see the little tail of a track where I looked at coming down (east) from where Stoney Creek (from the south) meets up with another creek and heads East, there was a small Indian Rancheria I passed through there but I got turned around at a gate.  There has got to be a lot of good hounding along the 7 miles between there and the res, but its going to take some doing to figure out who to talk to about access permission(s). |
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Post by Woodyrock on Dec 3, 2008 1:58:13 GMT -5
We stopped by Stoney Creek for a couple of hours just before Thanksgiving on our way south, and hauled out about a hundred pounds of material, with almost no two alike. We will certainly stop here when coming down I-5. There is so much variation in this material, it looks like a giant batch of Christmas hard candy! A whole day here would take some serious high grading....or a big truck.
Woody
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lapidopterix
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 216
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Post by lapidopterix on Dec 5, 2008 2:07:26 GMT -5
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DeanW
has rocks in the head
Member since December 2007
Posts: 721
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Post by DeanW on Dec 5, 2008 2:30:05 GMT -5
Thanks for those maps rally! This thread is now gonna be bookmarked!
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Post by bobby1 on Dec 5, 2008 13:34:11 GMT -5
About 25 years ago when we were boating on Black Butte reservoir we went looking on Stony Creek well above the reservoir for some Jasper. My freind and I rode our smaller street bikes around to well above the reservoir to drop down onto the creek. Just as we left the highway we came upon an Indian reservation. It was about a block square in size. It was the Flat Head Indians (or something like that). A rather depressing place, junk cars, wheely skid marks all over the pavement, burned out shell of a church, etc. As we got through the reservation we came upon a farmhouse right out of the movie Deliverance. I walked past the herd of large barking dogs up on the porch and knocked on the screen door. A teenage girl looked out through the screen at me but said nothing. Finally her mom came to the door and said "hello". I asked her if we could get permission to go across the pasture to the creek to rockhounding. She said "sure". We went to the creek and spent about 30 minutes but found nothing of consequence.
If you want an interesting experience, try this trip.
Bob
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is striking again and I cant' recall the name. No wait, it is in Mariposa? Ohhhh :head-into-brick-wall.
Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
Nov 15, 2024 17:44:51 GMT -5
