513 mapped agate spots across 61 regions in 5 countries. Pick a region for its local guide, or browse every spot by country below. Agate is one of the most popular rockhounding targets in the United States. It is a banded form of microcrystalline quartz that forms in volcanic gas pockets, sediments, and fossil wood. Field hunters look for translucence, color contrast, and rind texture in the gravel of dry washes, beaches, and ranch country.
Where to find agate
The best places to find agates in the United States are Oregon's coast beaches and high desert, the Yellowstone River gravels of eastern Montana, Wyoming's Sweetwater country, the desert washes of New Mexico, Arizona, and West Texas, and the Lake Superior shoreline. Hunt gravel bars, beaches after winter storms, and dry washes where agates weather out and tumble free.
Map showing where to find agate, with 513 mapped spots
The Pacific Northwest: beach agates and thunderegg country
Oregon is the densest agate state in our dataset, and it hunts two ways. On the coast, winter storms strip sand off the beaches around Newport, Yachats, and Lincoln City and expose fresh gravel loaded with clear, orange, and banded agates; the season runs roughly November through March, and the best hunting is a falling tide after heavy surf.
Inland, the high desert east of Bend produces agate as nodules and thundereggs weathering out of old volcanic flows. Succor Creek and the Owyhee country on the Idaho border, the Ochocos, and BLM land around Prineville are the classic grounds, with fee digs like Richardson Rock Ranch filling in when public collecting is slow. Washington's ocean beaches and Columbia River gravels carry the same coastal agate habit north.
The northern plains: Montana agate, Sweetwater, and Fairburn
The Yellowstone River between Custer and Sidney in eastern Montana is America's great agate float trip: Montana moss agate washes out of the banks and collects on every gravel bar, and the riverbed is public below the high-water mark. Wyoming answers with Sweetwater moss agates on the BLM flats around Jeffrey City and banded material in the Wiggins Fork gravels near Dubois.
Farther east, the prairies carry their own named stones. South Dakota's Fairburn agate, the state gemstone, weathers out of grasslands south and east of the Black Hills, and Nebraska's northwest corner produces prairie and blue agates in the same style. These are walk-and-stare hunts: slow passes over exposed gravel after rain beat digging every time.
New Mexico's Rio Grande gravels and the Deming district produce banded and moss agate on open BLM desert, and Arizona scatters agate through washes across the state. West Texas around Alpine and Marfa grows the famous red-and-black plume agate, but most of it sits on private ranchland, so Texas agate hunting usually means a paid ranch day or the public gravel of the state's navigable rivers.
Utah rounds out the region with agate across its west desert BLM lands. Everywhere in the Southwest the method is the same: walk washes and slopes in low-angle morning or evening light and look for the waxy glow of chalcedony against dull country rock.
The oldest agates in North America eroded out of billion-year-old lava flows around Lake Superior and were spread south by glaciers. Minnesota made the Lake Superior agate its state gemstone, and the hunt there is public beaches along the North Shore, glacial gravel pits, and the Mississippi headwaters gravels. Michigan's Keweenaw beaches and Wisconsin's northern shoreline carry the same carnelian-red banded stones. They are a distinct enough pursuit that we keep a dedicated Lake Superior agate guide with its own mapped spots.
Oregon, New Mexico, Texas have the highest concentrations of agate in this list. Quality and access vary by area, so open the linked region pages for a detailed view.
How many agate rockhounding spots does RockHoundR track?+
513 mapped spots across 61 regions in 5 countries. The app keeps these on a map alongside your private finds.
Can I legally collect agate on public land?+
In the U.S., casual hand collecting of common rocks and minerals like agate is allowed on most BLM and U.S. Forest Service land, with daily and annual limits set by the local field office. National parks, most state parks, and tribal land are off-limits. Rules differ by country and region, so always check with the managing agency before a trip.
How do I identify agate in the field?+
A weathered agate often shows a frosted, dimpled rind. Wet a rough piece: translucence at the edge usually confirms agate.
Hunt agate on the map
Open RockHoundR to see these spots on a real map with public land overlays and trip-planning details.
