Where to Find Jade in California
California has 6 mapped collecting spots that report jade, spread across 5 counties. The largest share sits in Trinity County with 2 spots. 4 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.
Spot list checked against source data on April 1, 2026.
Every jade spot we track in California
Best spotTrinity RiverTrinity County, CaliforniaPublic access · Chalcedony, Gold, Jasper +2
Best spotHappy Camp Jade MinesSiskiyou County, CaliforniaPublic access · Jade, Gold, Serpentine +1
Best spotBig Sur areaMonterey County, CaliforniaPermission required · Jade, Nephrite, Serpentine
Ocean beach area (Big Sur coast)San Luis Obispo County, CaliforniaPermission required · Jade
Trinity River / Willow CreekTrinity County, CaliforniaPublic access · Jade
Unnamed Location (Jade)Mariposa County, CaliforniaPublic access · Jade
Standout jade spots in California
Hand-picked from the full list above, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Big Sur area
Monterey County
Big Sur is California's clearest public jade locality because sanctuary rules specifically allow loose nephrite collection in the Jade Cove authorized area below mean high tide.
Happy Camp Jade Mines
Siskiyou County
Happy Camp gives the top-10 list a Klamath Mountains jade and gold locality rather than another Mojave silica field.
Trinity River
Trinity County
The Trinity River is a north-state benchmark because it combines historic placer-gold country with Klamath Mountains metamorphic and ultramafic source rocks.
Best counties for jade in California
Ranked by the number of mapped jade spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
Before you go
Read the jade identification guide so you know what a keeper looks like in the field: Jade in the encyclopedia.
