Where to Find Agate in Nebraska

Nebraska agate is best represented by the prairie agate of Sioux County, a banded brown and red chalcedony weathered out of Tertiary lake-bed silica. The Pine Ridge country and the Hat Creek drainage are the historical surface collecting grounds, with most ranch operators allowing access by arrangement. Smaller Fairburn-style agate (more typically associated with adjacent South Dakota's Buffalo Gap grasslands) turns up in northwestern Nebraska gravels. The Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is named for the agate-rich pebbles in its outcrop, but the monument itself is closed to collecting; the surrounding ranch country is where active hunting happens.