Smoke Hole: Geode Digging in Pendleton County, West Virginia

Plan your visit

Generally open to casual rockhounding

County

Pendleton County

State

West Virginia

Nearest road

Smoke Hole Road

Coordinates

38.85688, -79.27639

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

Land & collecting status

Generally open to casual rockhounding

Most public-tagged spots sit on BLM, U.S. Forest Service, or other federal land where reasonable hand collecting of common rocks and minerals is allowed. Confirm posted rules and active mining claims before you dig.

Access note: Most of the canyon lies within the Monongahela National Forest, where surface collecting of common rocks, minerals, and invertebrate fossils for personal, non-commercial use is allowed without a permit (roughly a 10 pound limit, no digging or mechanized tools). Collect from river gravel bars and loose scree, not from cliff faces or developed recreation sites, and note that private inholdings exist in the canyon: stay on Forest Service land. Vertebrate fossils are protected on federal land and may not be collected.

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 Smoke Hole

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: February to December. Typical highs run 86°F in midsummer and 42°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 21°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, PETERSBURG station (12 mi away), adjusted for elevation.

Geology at Smoke Hole

This spot sits on Oriskany Sandstone and Huntersville Chert, mapped as sandstone and chert that formed roughly 420 to 360 million years ago. Sedimentary layers like these are where fossils are typically preserved, and fresh exposures after rain or in active cuts tend to produce best.

Mapped unit

Oriskany Sandstone and Huntersville Chert

Age

420–360 Ma (Devonian)

Rock types

sandstone and chert

Elevation

1,610 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.

• West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey
• Monongahela National Forest
• West Virginia State Parks rules
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules