Eastern Washington (Saddle Mountain, Beverly)
Petrified wood including Ginkgo wood (outside the state park), agate, and jasper in the Columbia Basin. Hot and dry in summer.
Rockhounding in Washington
Updated July 2026
92 mapped spots across 30 counties. Washington has good public access for agate, petrified wood, quartz crystals, geodes, and fossils. Saddle Mountain, Walker Valley, Hansen Creek, and the Stonerose fossil site at Republic are the names most rockhounds start with.
Where is the best rockhounding in Washington?
The best rockhounding in Washington is at Crescent Beach in Clallam County (agate, chert), Red Top Mt. and Teanaway Ridge in Kittitas County (blue agate geode), and Liberty in Kittitas County (gold). In total, 92 mapped collecting spots across 30 counties produce gold, agate, and jasper, each listed below with coordinates and land access notes.
Washington rockhounding photos
Representative spot and material photos from locations in this state, shown where verified public image records are available.
Map showing 92 rockhounding spots in Washington
Top minerals found in Washington
Counts reflect how many spots in this list mention each mineral.
- Gold22
- Agate21
- Jasper14
- Petrified Wood12
- Opalized Wood10
- Chalcedony9
- Carnelian8
- Geode7
- Quartz7
- Pyrite5
- Amethyst4
- Chalcopyrite4
Notable areas: Walker Valley geodes, Hansen Creek quartz and amethyst, Saddle Mountain petrified wood, and Stonerose Eocene fossils are common Washington targets.
Geology behind Washington rockhounding
Eastern Washington is largely covered by Miocene Columbia River Basalts, which buried and silicified forests now collected as Saddle Mountain and Beverly petrified wood. The Cascades expose altered volcanics with quartz pockets and geodes, including Hansen Creek and Walker Valley. In the northeast, the Republic lake beds at Stonerose produce Eocene plant and insect fossils.
Best regions to focus your search
Western Cascades (Walker Valley, Hansen Creek)
Walker Valley geodes near Mount Vernon, Hansen Creek quartz and amethyst crystals near Snoqualmie. Wet and brushy — gloves and boots required.
Okanogan Highlands (Republic, Stonerose)
Eocene plant and insect fossils at the Stonerose Interpretive Center. Pay an entry fee, get a permit, dig the lakebed shale, and keep up to three specimens per visit.
Olympic Peninsula & Coast
Beach agates, jasper, and fossil wood along the Pacific shoreline. Olympic National Park is closed to collecting; nearby state and tribal beaches have separate rules.
Best season
East side: April–October. West side: drier May–September. Stonerose: open May 1 through October 31, weather dependent.
What to bring
Cascade locations need rain gear and waterproof boots much of the year. East-side desert spots need sun protection and water. Stonerose loans hammers but bring safety glasses and a hand lens.
Local collecting history
Washington designated petrified wood as its state gem in 1975. Near Vantage, the Ginkgo Petrified Forest preserves trees buried by basalt flows about 15 million years ago.
Rockhounding near major Washington cities
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.
Rockhounding near Seattle
See all →6 closest spots to Seattle, WA.
Rockhounding near Spokane
See all →6 closest spots to Spokane, WA.
- Spokane, WashingtonSpokane County1 mi1 min drive
- Silver HillSpokane County · Cassiterite8 mi10 min drive
- ChattaroySpokane County · Garnet, Quartz16 mi20 min drive
- Daybreak MineSpokane County · Autunite22 mi28 min drive
- SettersKootenai County · Opal24 mi30 min drive
- MondoviLincoln County · Opal, Fire Opal29 mi37 min drive
Rockhounding near Yakima
See all →6 closest spots to Yakima, WA.
- Cairn Hope PeakYakima County · Petrified Wood, Opalized Wood25 mi32 min drive
- Columbia RiverKittitas County · Opalized Wood, Petrified Wood31 mi39 min drive
- MattawaGrant County · Opalized Wood33 mi42 min drive
- EllensburgKittitas County · Geode34 mi42 min drive
- Petrified Forest State ParkKittitas County · Opalized Wood, Petrified Wood35 mi44 min drive
- MabtonYakima County · Petrified Wood, Opalized Wood39 mi49 min drive
Neighboring states with rockhounding
Geology rarely respects state borders. These states share mapped rockhounding country with Washington — useful when Washington is the start, not the whole trip. Each card links to the closest county across the line.
Rockhounding by county in Washington
County pages are linked once we have at least 3 mapped spots for a focused guide with coordinates, mineral notes, and nearby spots.
- Clallam County8 spotsTop: Agate, Jasper, Chert
- Kittitas County8 spotsTop: Agate, Opalized Wood, Petrified Wood
- Lewis County7 spotsTop: Geode, Carnelian, Petrified Wood
- Okanogan County6 spotsTop: Gold, Quartz, Blue Corundum
- Pacific County5 spotsTop: Chalcedony, Agate, Agatized Fossil Shells
- Snohomish County5 spotsTop: Gold, Arsenic, Arsenopyrite
- Douglas County4 spotsTop: Common Opal, Gold, Jadeite
- King County4 spotsTop: Amber, Amethyst, Calcite
- Spokane County4 spotsTop: Autunite, Cassiterite, Garnet
- Asotin County3 spotsTop: Gold, Fire Opal
- Clark County3 spotsTop: Gold, Amethyst, Moss Agate
- Klickitat County3 spotsTop: Petrified Wood, Agate, Carnelian
- Pend Oreille County3 spotsTop: Amethyst, Garnet, Smithsonite
- Stevens County3 spotsTop: Chalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrite
- Yakima County3 spotsTop: Opalized Wood, Petrified Wood, Gold
- Grays Harbor County2 spotsTop: Agate, Flower Jasper, Jasper
- Franklin County1 spotTop: Agate
Top picks in Washington
10 best spotsHand-picked standouts from the Washington list, chosen for unusual mineralogy, documented public access, or both. Each card links to coordinates, access notes, and what to look for.
Top pickCrescent Beach
PublicClallam County
Agates were once plentiful enough at Agate Bay, just west of Crescent Bay on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to give the beach its name, and agate still weathers from the local basalt alongside variously colored chert and jasper.
Agate, Chert, Jasper
Top pickRed Top Mt. and Teanaway Ridge
PublicKittitas County
Red Top Mountain sits on the Eocene Teanaway Basalt, the rock unit Washington geologists identify as the source of the area's chalcedony, agate, and quartz-lined geodes.
Blue Agate Geode
Top pickLiberty
PublicKittitas County
The Liberty and Swauk district produced some of the finest crystalline and wire gold specimens in the United States, formed in epithermal quartz veins above town and recovered as coarse nuggets in Swauk and Williams creeks.
Gold
Top pickColumbia River
PublicKittitas County
The Saddle Mountains expose a petrified forest preserved between Wanapum Basalt flows roughly 14 to 15 million years old, and the area is one of the few places where collectors can legally gather Washington's state gem on public land.
Opalized Wood, Petrified Wood
Top pickTunk Creek
PublicOkanogan County
Tunk Creek is one of Washington's few documented thulite localities, where rose-pink thulite, a variety of zoisite, occurs in lenses up to three feet across within hornblende schist.
Quartz, Blue Corundum, Pink Corundum, Thulite
Top pickRingold
PublicFranklin County
Iron-stained gravels at the base of the White Bluffs, on the east side of the Columbia River from Byers Landing to Ringold, hold frequent agate and jasper, the agate chiefly gray and buff chalcedony with some red hues.
Agate
Top pickWashougal
PermissionClark County
Gravel bars along the Washougal River yield moss agate, carnelian, jasper, and petrified wood weathered from the surrounding volcanic terrain.
Moss Agate, Amethyst
Top pickMoclips
PublicGrays Harbor County
The beach at Moclips lies within Washington's Seashore Conservation Area, documented in rockhounding guides for the agate and jasper that wash in along the tideline and stream gravels.
Agate, Jasper
Top pickPe Ell
PublicLewis County
The Washington Geological Survey's gemstone report records that hundreds of pounds of agate have been taken between Adna and Pe Ell, in the heart of Lewis County's carnelian-agate country.
Agate, Carnelian, Chalcedony, Geode
Top pickWillapa Hills
PublicPacific County
The Washington Geological Survey documents light-gray to yellowish-gray chalcedony casts of fossil clams in the Willapa Hills, some holding trapped water that shifts when the specimen is turned, a feature collectors call enhydros.
Agatized Fossil Shells
Every rockhounding spot in Washington
Sorted by county. Tap coordinates to open in Google Maps, or open RockHoundR for the full map view with land overlays and weather.
Washington rockhounding FAQ
Is rockhounding legal in Washington?+
Yes, but rules vary by agency. BLM land generally follows the 25 lb/day, 250 lb/year recreational rule, Washington DNR sites such as Walker Valley have posted local rules, and some Forest Service units require a free-use permit. Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks, plus Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park and other Washington State Parks, are closed to collecting.
Can I dig at Walker Valley?+
Yes. Walker Valley is a long-running geode-and-agate dig on DNR land near Mount Vernon. It's free to dig and open year-round, weather permitting. Bring gads, a pick, and rain gear — the ground is wet most of the year.
Where can I collect petrified wood in Washington?+
Saddle Mountain and the Beverly area in the Columbia Basin produce gem-grade petrified wood on BLM land under the 25 lb/day rule. The Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park itself is closed to collecting — you collect on the BLM land around it, not inside the park.
Do I need a permit for the Stonerose fossil bed?+
Yes. Stonerose in Republic charges a daily entry fee that includes a permit and tool rental. You may keep up to three significant specimens per visit — staff inspect finds and retain scientifically important specimens for the museum.
What rocks and minerals can you find in Washington?+
Common targets include petrified wood (Saddle Mountain area, Cle Elum blue agate, ginkgo wood), agate and jasper, Walker Valley geodes, Hansen Creek quartz and amethyst, beach agates on the Olympic coast, and Eocene plant fossils at Stonerose.
Map every Washington spot in the app
Open the RockHoundR app to see Washington on a real map with public land overlays, weather, geology, and your saved finds.
