Where to Find Jasper in Kentucky
Kentucky has 5 mapped collecting spots that report jasper, spread across 4 counties. The largest share sits in Lyon County with 2 spots. 5 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.
Map of 5 jasper collecting spots in Kentucky
Standout jasper spots in Kentucky
Hand-picked from the full list below, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Graves County
Graves County
Graves County, in the far-western Jackson Purchase, is the state's best-known source of gravel-pit agate, jasper and silicified wood. The material comes from Pliocene Continental (Mounds) gravels that cap the region, a very different geologic setting than Kentucky's Mississippian geodes and agates. Collectors also work the nearby Kentucky Lake shoreline for the same hard silica pebbles.
Kentucky Agate District (Jackson County)
Jackson County
Jackson County is a core producer of Kentucky agate, the banded red, black and gray quartz named the official state rock in 2000. The agate weathers from the Mississippian Borden and Renfro rocks of the Knobs into local creek gravels, and Jackson County shares the district with Estill, Powell, Madison and Rockcastle counties. Large tracts of the county fall within the Daniel Boone National Forest, which offers legal collecting where much of the district is otherwise private.
Eddyville
Lyon County
Lyon County, set between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake on the lower Cumberland River, is known for agate, chalcedony and jasper that collect in gravels and along the reservoir shorelines. The hard silica pebbles here are reworked from older Continental gravels, a different source than the geodes of central Kentucky. Eddyville sits between the two lakes, with river and shoreline access to the material.
Mount Vernon
Rockcastle County
Rockcastle County lies inside both the Kentucky Agate District and the Daniel Boone National Forest, a rare pairing of collectible geology and legal public access. Chert, jasper, oolite and geodes weather from the Mississippian section along the Rockcastle River and its tributaries, and banded Kentucky agate is documented from the surrounding Knobs. The navigable Rockcastle River adds gravel-bar collecting to the forest's open-collecting policy.
Best counties for jasper in Kentucky
Ranked by the number of mapped jasper spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
Every jasper spot we track in Kentucky
Sorted by county. Coordinates open in Google Maps.
| Spot | County | Minerals | Coordinates | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graves CountyKY 121 | Graves County | 36.6705, -88.5417 | Public | |
| Kentucky Agate District (Jackson County) | Jackson County | 37.4187, -83.9350 | Public | |
| EddyvillePort Authority Road | Lyon County | 37.0725, -88.0574 | Public | |
| Kentucky LakeForest Service Road 111-A | Lyon County | 36.9374, -88.1699 | Public | |
| Mount VernonHansford Road | Rockcastle County | 37.4449, -84.3227 | Public |
Before you go
Read the jasper identification guide so you know what a keeper looks like in the field: Jasper in the encyclopedia.
Jasper in Kentucky FAQ
Where can you find jasper in Kentucky?+
How many jasper spots are mapped in Kentucky?+
Is it legal to collect jasper in Kentucky?+
Where else to find jasper
More minerals to hunt in Kentucky
Hunt jasper in Kentucky with the map in your pocket
RockHoundR puts these spots on an offline map with BLM and Forest Service overlays, geology layers, and a log for your finds.
