Arkansas River at Great Bend: Agate & Jasper Rockhounding in Barton County, Kansas

Plan your visit

Generally open to casual rockhounding

County

Barton County

State

Kansas

Nearest road

Arkansas River Water Trail

Postcode

67530

Coordinates

38.34750, -98.77450

Coordinates are approximate. Confirm the exact ground in the RockHoundR app, where land overlays show which agency manages the area.

Land & collecting status

Generally open to casual rockhounding

Most public-tagged spots sit on BLM, U.S. Forest Service, or other federal land where reasonable hand collecting of common rocks and minerals is allowed. Confirm posted rules and active mining claims before you dig.

Access note: The Arkansas River is legally navigable; its bed below the ordinary high-water mark is state-owned, and Kansas law allows taking rock and gravel for personal, non-commercial use. Launch or wade in from a public access such as the Great Bend river put-in, and collect on sandbars without crossing private banks. Bar exposure changes with the water level.

Public-land rules vary by agency, season, and field office. The RockHoundR app pulls live BLM, USFS, NPS, and tribal overlays so you can see exactly which agency manages the ground at this spot.

Best time to visit Arkansas River at Great Bend

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: February to June. Typical highs run 91°F in midsummer and 42°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 18°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, GREAT BEND 3WNW station (3 mi away).

Geology at Arkansas River at Great Bend

This spot sits on Alluvium, mapped as sand, silt, and clay that formed within roughly the last 3 million years. Petrified wood typically travels as tough float, and worked gravels like these are exactly where weathered pieces tend to collect.

Mapped unit

Alluvium

Age

3 Ma to present (Pleistocene to Holocene)

Rock types

sand, silt, and clay

Elevation

1,870 ft

Geologic mapping via Macrostrat and the underlying state geological survey maps (CC BY 4.0). Bedrock at the surface can vary within a mapped unit.

Sources & verification

Spot details combine the public RockHoundR location dataset, normalized mineral labels, agency land-status checks in the app, and community submissions. Coordinates are approximate until verified in the field.

• Kansas Geological Survey
• Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks rules
• Cimarron National Grassland
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules