What is Reddit's opinion of Rockhounding Virginia: A Guide to the State’s Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series)?

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A list of gem/mineral clubs in Virginia and in North Carolina. I'm sure that other /r/rockhounds will back me up when I say that joining a club is a great way to meet people who know where to go to find the goods. Clubs also often go out on field trips periodically.

Your state's Department of Mines has a lovely little handout (PDF) with some basic info on rockhounding in your state, with a lot of references for further reading, as well as contact info for various agencies which may have more information.

A list of upcoming mineral shows. Unfortunately, you just missed one in Fairfax a couple weekends ago, but there may be another one near you earlier in 2017. There's one scheduled for March 17-19 in Asheville (scroll down), if you're up for the drive. It's another solid place to meet some folks who might give you some pointers, and a great place to get your mitts on some cool specimens you probably won't be able to collect in person.

GatorGirl's list for general-interest geology stuff in Virginia and in North Carolina. You might cut your teeth on one of the sites listed at the bottom there before venturing out on your own, especially if you're new to rockhounding.

Robert Beard's <em>Rockhounding Virginia</em> purports to give site details, although I'm not personally familiar with the book. Michael Streeter's <em>A Rockhounding Guide to North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains</em> also seems well-received on Amazon. That one states that its site reports include GPS coords, which is awesome -- it sucks getting lost in the back country trying to find a hidden site! Your local library may have a copy of those books or others.

Here is the full Mindat page for finds listed in Virginia and the page for North Carolina -- towards the bottom, you can select a specific county to narrow things down a bit. Mindat's pretty comprehensive and often has great pictures to help you know what to look for when you hunt, although many of the specimens were collected from private land or closed sites.

And here is the Forest Service's guidelines for rockhounding and gold panning in National Forests in North Carolina, if any of your travels lead you there. Virginia's rules are probably similar (again, see the Department of Mines PDF for basics and agency contact info), but you should inquire locally to be certain. Be aware of the local laws and always keep the Code of Ethics in mind!

Happy hounding! And be sure to post your best finds here, especially if you make it over to Chalk Mountain, NC -- I have some awesome pieces from that locality in my collection.

Can't say I know much about Virginia - but theres a pretty good book series for rockhounds state by state that will give you some good starting reccomendations: https://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-Virginia-Guide-States-Sites/dp/1493028529.

Mindat can be a bit more complicated to navigate but is also a good resource: https://www.mindat.org/

Looks like Viginia DMME is a good resource for local collection types: https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/dgmr/minerals.shtml. If you Google "virginia dmme rockhounding" they also have a PDF I'm not able to grab a link to that has some footnote with links to the local park service places for details on collection limits/permits.

Also worth noting how to check if a claim has been staked somewhere on public lands so you don't collect on someone else's spot.

I'm not local, but here are some resources you may look into:

A list of gem/mineral clubs in Virginia. I'm sure that other /r/rockhounds will back me up when I say that joining a club is a great way to meet people who know where to go to find the goods. Clubs also often go out on field trips periodically.

Your state's Department of Mines has a lovely little handout (PDF) with some basic info on rockhounding in your state, with a lot of references for further reading, as well as contact info for various agencies which may have more information.

A list of upcoming mineral shows. According to that list, there's one coming up in Fairfax on 19-20 Nov. That's another solid place to meet some folks who might give you some pointers, and a great place to get your Christmas shopping done!

GatorGirl's list for general-interest geology stuff in your state. You might cut your teeth on one of the sites listed at the bottom there before venturing out on your own.

Robert Beard's <em>Rockhounding Virginia</em> purports to give site details, although I'm not personally familiar with the book. Ideally, you want a book with a good map and/or GPS coords -- it sucks getting lost in the back country trying to find a hidden site! Your local library may have a copy.

And here is the full Mindat page for finds listed in your state -- towards the bottom, you can select a specific county to narrow things down a bit. Mindat's pretty comprehensive and often has great pictures to help you know what to look for when you hunt, although many of the specimens were collected from private land or closed sites.

Happy hounding!

EDIT: Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention the Smithsonian's geology collection! It is N-V-T-S nuts! Definitely worth a visit if you're not too much of a schlep from DC.