Where to Find Garnet in Utah
Utah garnet ranges from spessartine in the Mineral Mountains pegmatites to grossular-andradite in the Wasatch skarns. The Maynard claims in the Mineral Mountains near Milford produce well-formed spessartine dodecahedrons up to a centimeter, often on feldspar matrix. The Garnet Ridge diatreme in San Juan County yields purple chrome pyrope alongside diamond indicators, and the surrounding Navajo Reservation ground is closed to non-tribal collecting. Small almandine and andradite occurrences are scattered through Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City. Most Utah garnet weathers out clean and needs only a rinse to display.
Spot list checked against source data on April 1, 2026.
Map of 25 garnet collecting spots in Utah
Standout garnet spots in Utah
Hand-picked from the full list below, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Dugway Range
Juab County County
The Dugway Geode Beds are one of Utah's clearest geology-to-specimen localities: Miocene rhyolite cavities were eroded by Lake Bonneville and redeposited as diggable geodes in lake sediments. BLM lists the beds as a rockhounding hotspot, and UGS notes that the geodes commonly contain clear, purple, or pink quartz.
Topaz Dome Quarry
Juab County County
Topaz Mountain is Utah's defining gem locality, where amber topaz crystals formed in cavities of the Topaz Mountain Rhyolite and commonly bleach colorless in sunlight. The BLM identifies the area as a public rockhound recreation site, while the Utah Geological Survey documents topaz, red beryl, amethyst, garnet, bixbyite, opal, and hematite in the same volcanic field.
Best counties for garnet in Utah
Ranked by the number of mapped garnet spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
Every garnet spot we track in Utah
Sorted by county. Coordinates open in Google Maps.
