Where to Find Topaz in New Hampshire
New Hampshire has 5 mapped collecting spots that report topaz, spread across 3 counties. The largest share sits in Carroll County with 3 spots. 5 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.
Map of 5 topaz collecting spots in New Hampshire
Standout topaz spots in New Hampshire
Hand-picked from the full list below, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Conway
Carroll County
Moat Mountain is one of only a handful of White Mountain National Forest sites where the public may dig for minerals, and it is the classic New Hampshire locality for smoky quartz and green amazonite feldspar weathered out of the Conway granite. Amethyst and rare champagne-colored topaz also turn up in the pegmatite pockets. The Forest Service maintains a marked trailhead with a free self-issued collecting permit.
Redstone
Carroll County
The Redstone quarries worked the Conway granite from the 1880s to the 1940s for its prized red and green building stone, and the waste piles still yield smoky quartz and the green potassium feldspar that tints the granite. An interpretive trail passes the abandoned derricks and cutting sheds. The land is now conservation property held by the State of New Hampshire and The Nature Conservancy.
South Baldface Mountain
Carroll County
The pegmatite ledges high on South Baldface Mountain carry smoky quartz, feldspar and biotite in the Conway granite, and the site is historically important as the source of a rare phenakite and topaz find first described in 1923. The collecting ledges lie above a false timberline on national forest land. Reaching them is a strenuous alpine hike rather than a roadside stop.
Best counties for topaz in New Hampshire
Ranked by the number of mapped topaz spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
Every topaz spot we track in New Hampshire
Sorted by county. Coordinates open in Google Maps.
| Spot | County | Minerals | Coordinates | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway | Carroll County | 44.0043, -71.1622 | Public | |
| RedstoneOuter Limits | Carroll County | 44.0195, -71.0968 | Public | |
| South Baldface MountainBaldface Circle Trail | Carroll County |
| 44.2103, -71.0517 | Public |
| Victor HeadOld Summer Club Trail | Coös County | 44.6435, -71.4102 | Public | |
| Ruggles MineRuggles Mine Road | Grafton County | 43.5895, -71.9924 | Public |
Before you go
Read the topaz identification guide so you know what a keeper looks like in the field: Topaz in the encyclopedia.
