![]() Please remember that rock collecting locations are constantly changing. The most commonly found minerals in New Jersey are: While you will likely need a lot of luck and determination to find some of the rarer minerals of New Jersey, there are plenty of beautiful and collectable varieties that you will likely be able to find with relative ease. The unique geology of the northern part of the state has created a breeding ground for high-quality gemstones and minerals that are sought by rock and mineral collectors all over the world. Hundreds of mineral varieties have been found in New Jersey, many of which were first identified there. New Jersey boasts a variety of rocks and minerals that is unmatched almost anywhere in the world. The Palisades – The Palisades are famous for their rock and mineral production, including beautiful banded agates, amethyst, opal, and quartz crystals.Snake Hill – Search all over the area in gravels for banded agates.Bergen County – Nearly all basalt and diabase outcrops and exposures in the county have the potential to contain agates, amethyst (crystals, geodes), Carnelian.Try digging at least two feet into the soil and gravel to have the best shot at exposing them. Stirling– The brooks and streams all around the town of Stirling can contain high-quality carnelian.The best area to search is near the town of Wayne. Pompton River – Check out the gravels and sands of the Pompton River to find gemstone quality specimens of a wide variety of minerals.Check out the nearby mining museum while you’re there for a world-class display of fluorescent minerals. Hundreds of mineral varieties are present in the area and include fluorite, franklinite, ad magnetite. Franklin Furnace – This old mine (and the entire surrounding mining district) is one of the most significant and famous gemstone producers in the United States.You can often find ‘Cape May Diamonds’, fossils, and even petrified wood in the beach gravels. Manasquan Beach – The ocean beaches near Manasquan and extending south along the coast are a great place to rockhound.This region is famous for fine gem-quality amber specimens but you can also hope to find jasper and banded agates. Burlington County– The sands, gravels, and marls all across Burlington County make for great rockhounding, but particularly near the Delaware River and its tributaries.There is a quarry occupying much of the area, but you will likely have the most success searching on the north side of the mountain. Pennington Mountain – This area is well known for producing a wide variety of gem-quality minerals.You can also find various colors of chalcedony at Higbee Beach. These are actually quartz crystals that have weathered out of the mountains and made their way to the ocean via the Delaware River. Higbee Beach, Cape May – A great place to spend a day doing some rock picking, Higbee Beach and other beaches near Cape May are famous for their ‘Cape May Diamonds’.The top 10 rockhounding sites in New Jersey: This article will dive deeper into the many great rockhounding sites across the state, but I’d like to highlight a few standouts here. New Jersey is particularly famous for the gemstones produced from its basalt and diabase outcrops. The best places to rockhound in New Jersey are ocean beaches, old quarries, the dumps of historical mines, gravels of streams and rivers, and the debris at the base of rocky exposures and outcrops. Southern New Jersey is particularly notable for its amber and ‘Cape May Diamonds’ which are actually weathered quartz crystals that wash up on ocean beaches. Particularly in the northern and central part of the state, almost any rocky outcrop, exposure, or gravel pit has the potential to produce interesting rocks, minerals, or gemstones. The superior quality of specimens is nearly matched by the sheer number of viable rockhounding sites. Dozens of rare minerals were first identified in New Jersey and, to this day, some of them can only be found here. for rockhounding, with a long history of producing high-quality gemstones and mineral specimens. New Jersey is one of the best states in the entire U.S. ![]()
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