Picuris: Staurolite Rockhounding in Taos County, New Mexico

Quick details

Access

Permission required

County

Taos County

State

New Mexico

Nearest road

Camino de la Loma

Postcode

87553

Coordinates

36.19511, -105.70081

Geology at Picuris

This spot sits on Alluvium, mapped as unconsolidated alluvium that formed within roughly the last 129,000 years. Loose deposits like these are float-collecting ground: erosion keeps moving durable rocks and minerals into gravel bars, cutbanks, and washes.

Mapped unit

Alluvium

Age

< 1 Ma (Late Pleistocene to Holocene)

Rock types

unconsolidated alluvium

Elevation

7,330 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.

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.

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.

State guidance last verified: April 1, 2026

• Rockhound State Park — Collection rules
• BLM New Mexico
• New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules

Found at Picuris

Each chip opens all spots that produce that material; the encyclopedia link opens the full ID and field guide.

• StauroliteEncyclopedia →