Updated August 2026
43 mapped spots for rock hunting and rock collecting across 13 counties. Maryland rockhounding is Miocene shark teeth on the Calvert Cliffs beaches and the Potomac shore at Purse State Park, Paleozoic and Precambrian minerals in the Piedmont from Harford County garnet and tourmaline to Bare Hills serpentine and Frederick County copper, and the state gem, Patuxent River stone, in the gravels of central Maryland.
The best rockhounding in Maryland is at Calvert Cliffs State Park in Calvert County (fossil, shark tooth), Ocean City in Worcester County (quartz), and Purse State Park in Charles County (shark tooth, fossil). In total, 43 mapped collecting spots across 13 counties produce quartz, fossil, and serpentine, each listed below with its land access.
Best spotMallows Bay ParkCharles County, MarylandPublic access · Shark Tooth, Fossil, Quartz
Best spotCalvert Cliffs State ParkCalvert County, MarylandPublic access · Fossil, Shark Tooth
Best spotDouglas PointCharles County, MarylandPublic access · Shark Tooth, Fossil
Best spotFlag Ponds Nature ParkCalvert County, MarylandPublic access · Shark Tooth, Fossil
Best spotPurse State ParkCharles County, MarylandPublic access · Shark Tooth, Fossil
Best spotOcean CityWorcester County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz
Bare Hills mining districtBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Actinolite, Malachite, Epidote +8Baltimore CountyBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Copper, Quartz, Garnet +4Funks Pond Recreational AreaCecil County, MarylandPublic access · Kammererite, Serpentine, Soapstone +4Rock SpringsCecil County, MarylandPublic access · Kammererite, Serpentine, Soapstone +4CardiffHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Garnet, Pyrite, Serpentine +3Chrome HillHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Smoky Quartz, Actinolite, Bronzite +3New WindsorCarroll County, MarylandPublic access · Azurite, Bornite, Calamine +3
Bear IslandMontgomery County, MarylandPermission required · Apatite, Epidote, Amphibolite +2Dollyhyde CreekFrederick County, MarylandPublic access · Bornite, Pink Calcite, Covellite +2Hunting HillMontgomery County, MarylandPublic access · Calcite, Diopside, Garnet +2Reed Mine & Walkens MineHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Chromite, Brucite, Quartz +2FlintvilleHarford County, MarylandPermission required · Feldspar, Garnet, Mica +1GraniteBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz, Garnet, Tourmaline +1BeltsvillePrince George's County, MarylandPublic access · Hyalite Opal, Quartz, Silicified WoodAshtonWashington County, MarylandPublic access · Serpentine, SteatiteCastletonHarford County, MarylandPublic access · Quartz, TourmalineElk MillsCecil County, MarylandPublic access · Beryl, GarnetFlintville (moss agate area)Harford County, MarylandPublic access · Moss Agate, JasperGaithersburgMontgomery County, MarylandPublic access · Serpentine, SteatiteHancockWashington County, MarylandPublic access · Fossil, QuartzKensington Mica MineMontgomery County, MarylandPublic access · Golden Beryl, MicaMatoaka Beach CabinsCalvert County, MarylandFee dig · Fossil, Shark ToothNorth Ferry PointAnne Arundel County, MarylandPublic access · Amber, FossilUnion BridgeCarroll County, MarylandPublic access · Pink Marble, Green MarbleBaltimoreBaltimore County, MarylandPermission required · Silicified Cycad WoodCatoctin MountainFrederick County, MarylandPermission required · CopperChesapeake BayCalvert County, MarylandPublic access · FossilClarksvilleHoward County, MarylandPublic access · MarbleFrederickFrederick County, MarylandPublic access · Pink FluoriteMagothy RiverAnne Arundel County, MarylandPublic access · PyriteMarriottsvilleHoward County, MarylandPublic access · QuartzMiddlesburgeCarroll County, MarylandPermission required · ChrysocollaMiddletownFrederick County, MarylandPublic access · StibnitePoint of RocksFrederick County, MarylandPermission required · PuddingstonePrince George’s CountyPrince George's County, MarylandPublic access · Petrified WoodSullivan CoveAnne Arundel County, MarylandPublic access · AmberWhite MarshBaltimore County, MarylandPublic access · AmethystRepresentative spot and material photos from locations in this state, shown where verified public image records are available.
Counts reflect how many spots in this list mention each mineral.
Notable areas: Calvert Cliffs shark teeth, Purse State Park Paleocene fossils, Harford County garnet and tourmaline, Bare Hills serpentine, and Patuxent River stone are the Maryland targets collectors travel for.
The Piedmont from Cecil and Harford counties through Baltimore, Carroll, and Montgomery counties is Precambrian and Paleozoic schist, gneiss, and serpentinite. The serpentine belt at Bare Hills and Soldiers Delight carried the chromite that made Maryland the world's chromium source in the early 1800s and still shows serpentine, deweylite, and magnesite; the Wissahickon schist to the east holds almandine garnet, tourmaline, kyanite, and quartz, and the Potomac gold belt around Great Falls in Montgomery County was mined into the 1940s. Frederick County's Catoctin metabasalt weathers to epidote and quartz and its old copper mines around New London left malachite and azurite. The Patuxent River gravels of Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Howard counties carry the red and yellow agate and jasper named Patuxent River stone. On the Coastal Plain the Miocene Calvert, Choptank, and St. Marys formations form the Calvert Cliffs and shed shark teeth, ray plates, whale bone, and shell onto the Chesapeake beaches, and the Paleocene Aquia Formation does the same along the Potomac at Purse State Park and Douglas Point. Ocean City's beaches turn up fossils in dredged renourishment sand.
Calvert Cliffs State Park allows hand collecting of fossils on its beach, and Flag Ponds Nature Park and the Bayfront beaches do the same under posted rules. The cliffs are closed and unstable; collect the wet sand.
Purse State Park, Douglas Point, and Mallows Bay Park for Paleocene shark teeth and Turritella shell on the beach at low tide. State park and county park beaches allow hand collecting.
Garnet, tourmaline, and quartz in the Harford County schists and creek gravels, serpentine and chromite minerals around Bare Hills, copper minerals in Frederick County. Mostly private; Soldiers Delight and the Great Falls gold mine are closed.
Red, yellow, and banded agate and jasper in gravel pits and river bars along the Patuxent. Pits are private; river access is at county parks.
Beach fossils are best from November through March after storms and at low tide, before the summer crowds; a falling tide after a northeaster is ideal. The Piedmont is best in late fall and early spring with leaf-off and washed ground. Summer heat and jellyfish make the bay beaches an early-morning job.
A sand scoop, a quarter-inch screen, a mesh bag, and a tide table for the beaches; knee boots in winter. A rock hammer, safety glasses, trowel, and hand lens for the Piedmont. Never dig into the cliffs, which shed slabs without warning.
Isaac Tyson's chromite mines at Bare Hills and Soldiers Delight supplied most of the world's chromium from 1808 into the 1850s. Great Falls gold was mined intermittently from 1867 to 1951. The Calvert Cliffs have been a fossil destination since the 1600s, and Patuxent River stone became the state gem in 2004.
Day-trip range. Each section lists the closest mapped rockhounding spots within about 150 miles of the city. Most are inside a 2 to 3 hour drive.
6 closest spots to Baltimore, MD.
6 closest spots to Hagerstown, MD.
6 closest spots to Cumberland, MD.
Geology rarely respects state borders. These states share mapped rockhounding country with Maryland, useful when Maryland is the start, not the whole trip. Each card links to the closest county across the line.
County pages are linked once we have at least 3 mapped spots for a focused guide with coordinates, mineral notes, and nearby spots.
Hand-picked standouts from the Maryland list, chosen for unusual mineralogy, documented public access, or both. Each card links to coordinates, access notes, and what to look for.
Top pickCalvert County
The cliffs here expose the Miocene Calvert Formation, roughly 8 to 18 million years old, one of the richest marine fossil beds on the East Coast.
Fossil, Shark Tooth
Top pickWorcester 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.
Quartz
Top pickCharles County
Purse State Park sits on the tidal Potomac where the Paleocene Aquia Formation, roughly 56 to 60 million years old, is exposed along the shore, making its teeth older than the Miocene material at Calvert Cliffs.
Shark Tooth, Fossil
Top pickCharles County
Douglas Point is one of the few Bureau of Land Management recreation areas in the eastern United States, protecting about 1,270 acres of Potomac River shoreline jointly managed with the State of Maryland.
Shark Tooth, Fossil
Top pickCharles 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.
Shark Tooth, Fossil, Quartz
Top pickCalvert County
Flag Ponds Nature Park fronts the same Miocene Calvert Formation as nearby Calvert Cliffs, and its Chesapeake Bay beach gathers fossil shark teeth, ray plates, and shell fragments washed down from the cliffs to the north.
Shark Tooth, Fossil
12 clubs in Maryland. Clubs run field trips, shows and workshops, and many trips go to private claims you can't reach alone.
Open the RockHoundR app to see Maryland on a real map with public land overlays, weather, geology, and your saved finds.
