Bear Island: Apatite & Epidote Rockhounding in Montgomery County, Maryland

Plan your visit

Permission required before collecting

County

Montgomery County

State

Maryland

Nearest road

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath

Postcode

22102

Coordinates

38.97403, -77.20274

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

Land & collecting status

Permission required before collecting

Requires landowner or agency permission before any collecting. Do not enter without explicit authorization.

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 Bear Island

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: February to December. Typical highs run 88°F in midsummer and 43°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 26°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, DALECARLIA RSVR station (5 mi away).

Geology at Bear Island

This spot sits on schist, mapped as mica gneiss that formed roughly 1000 to 510 million years ago. Metamorphic rock like this weathers into resistant float, and minerals that survive transport typically concentrate in nearby drainages.

Mapped unit

schist

Age

1000–510 Ma (Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian)

Rock types

mica gneiss

Elevation

140 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.

• Maryland Geological Survey
• Maryland DNR state park rules
• Calvert Marine Museum fossil guidance
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules