Rochford: Gold Prospecting in Pennington County, South Dakota

Plan your visit

Confirm rules before collecting

County

Pennington County

State

South Dakota

Nearest road

South Rochford Road

Coordinates

44.09826, -103.77396

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

Land & collecting status

Confirm rules before collecting

Land status here is not confirmed. Verify with the managing agency before collecting, federal, state, and tribal rules differ.

Access note: BLM records active mining claims in this area. Collecting from inside an active claim needs the claim holder's permission.

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 Rochford

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: April to October. Typical highs run 78°F in midsummer and 35°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 1°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, ROCHFORD 2 WNW station (3 mi away), adjusted for elevation.

Geology at Rochford

This spot sits on ground mapped as Metamorphosed tuffaceous shale, tuff, and volcaniclastic rocks that formed roughly 2500 to 1600 million years ago. Gold in volcanic terrain like this is usually tied to old vein systems and the gravels that drain them, so nearby washes tend to carry the color.

Mapped unit

Metamorphosed tuffaceous shale, tuff, and volcaniclastic rocks

Age

2500–1600 Ma (Paleoproterozoic)

Elevation

5,980 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.

• BLM Montana-Dakotas rockhounding rules
• Buffalo Gap National Grassland
• South Dakota Geological Survey
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules