Moab Valley: Anhydrite & Carnallite Rockhounding in San Juan County, Utah

Plan your visit

Permission required before collecting

County

San Juan County

State

Utah

Nearest road

La Sal Loop Road

Coordinates

38.47711, -109.43864

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 Moab Valley

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: February to June. Typical highs run 96°F in midsummer and 40°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 18°F. Summer heat here is intense, so carry more water than you think you need and work the early morning.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, MOAB station (9 mi away), adjusted for elevation.

Geology at Moab Valley

This spot sits on Younger alluvial gravel deposits, mapped as gravel 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

Younger alluvial gravel deposits

Age

< 1 Ma (Late Pleistocene to Holocene)

Rock types

gravel

Elevation

5,010 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.

State guidance last verified: April 1, 2026

• BLM Utah, Rockhounding overview
• Utah Geological Survey, collecting guidelines
• SITLA, surface use rules
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules