Where to Find Quartz in Maryland
Maryland has 12 mapped collecting spots that report quartz, spread across 8 counties. 11 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.
Every quartz spot we track in Maryland
Best spotMallows Bay ParkCharles County, MarylandPublic access · Shark Tooth, Fossil, Quartz
Best spotOcean CityWorcester County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz
Bare Hills mining districtBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Actinolite, Malachite, Epidote +8
Baltimore CountyBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Copper, Quartz, Garnet +4
Dollyhyde CreekFrederick County, MarylandPublic access · Bornite, Pink Calcite, Covellite +2
Reed Mine & Walkens MineHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Chromite, Brucite, Quartz +2
FlintvilleHarford County, MarylandPermission required · Feldspar, Garnet, Mica +1
GraniteBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz, Garnet, Tourmaline +1
BeltsvillePrince George's County, MarylandPublic access · Hyalite Opal, Quartz, Silicified Wood
CastletonHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz, Tourmaline
HancockWashington County, MarylandPublic access · Fossil, Quartz
MarriottsvilleHoward County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz
Standout quartz spots in Maryland
Hand-picked from the full list above, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Mallows Bay Park
Charles County
Mallows Bay is best known for the Ghost Fleet, more than 100 scuttled World War I era wooden steamships now protected within a national marine sanctuary and visible just off the shore.
Ocean City
Worcester County
Ocean City's free public beach is Maryland's most accessible ocean rockhounding, where the surf sorts out clear and frosted quartz pebbles, sometimes called Cape May diamonds, that concentrate near the inlet at the south end.
Best counties for quartz in Maryland
Ranked by the number of mapped quartz spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
- Baltimore County3 spots
- Harford County3 spots
- Charles County1 spot
- Frederick County1 spot
- Howard County1 spot
- Prince George's County1 spot
- Washington County1 spot
- Worcester County1 spot
Before you go
Read the quartz identification guide so you know what a keeper looks like in the field: Quartz in the encyclopedia.
