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Submission
From Salt Lake City take I-80 westbound until you reach the Tooele turnoff (exit 99). Travel south on Highway 36 for about 40.5 miles to the Pony Express Road (which is the dirt road just past Faust). Turn west (right) and proceed 50.1 miles on the Pony Express Road to the Dugway geode bed turnoff. Turn north (right), proceed up the dirt road and look for recent diggings.
Recently, people have bypassed the turnoff because the sign to the geode bed area was missing. Please note at the time of this writing, there is a temporary sign indicating the correct direction to the geode bed area; however, please use your vehicle’s odometer to determine distance to the geode bed turnoff.
Such a fun trip here! Three of us went and had a blast! We had a pretty good haul too (see attached image. We broke some on site, but brought home most unbroken to break them cleaner and cut the most promising ones open). Would definitely go again. The vast majority of crystals contained in the geodes are very sparkly, but don't expect large crystals, those are rare. But they still exist, you might end up finding something really special! That's the fun about it, you don't know what you're going to get!
ADVISE:
Make sure you go when it's not blistering hot, it's VERY hot on those rocks, even when the temperature is in the 70's. Bring LOTS of water and food, and anything to help keep you cool if you go between April and October. Strongly recommend bringing something for shade, as well as knee pads or something to kneel/sit on, and gloves, oh and first aid kits for sure. Bring plenty of tools: shovel, trowel, some form of pick (stronger the better), hammer & chisel, bucket to collect geodes, etc. Do research online before you go, and MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS HAVE A MAP. There are several ways off the Pony Express road to get to the beds, the best is to take the exit where there's a sign for the geode beds.
Look for round rocks, most are light in color on the outside. If you're not sure what to look for, there are thousands of broken ones all over the place, pick some up and study what they look like on the outside. Some really good geodes, broken AND unbroken, can be found just sitting on the top of the ground, so keep your eyes peeled!
For breaking them, I suggest hammer & chisel, start out VERY lightly tapping and work your way up strength-wise if it's not breaking, working around the edge length-wise to ensure the cleanest break and best view of the crystals.
Amazing time digging up geodes! Helps to know where to look and not look, do some research, talk to rock shops in neighboring towns for tips, and bring real, metal shovels. Many geodes are fragile, so a pick axe would blow right through them. It is very remote, so bring what you need. Lots of dirt roads getting there, so be aware!
We took the kids on the two hour drive and it was so worth it. Beautiful views the whole way there and back. It was our first time visiting. My sister got directions from the BLM site so it was easy to find. I would recommend taking a truck because the trail to get there was rough in spots. We found some good size geodes and some small ones. We were also just digging in places with small children so we weren't looking that hard. We'll definitely be going back soon.
This was so much fun!! We were worried about getting a flat because we had to drive 50 miles of dirt roads to get here but it worked out fine for us. The drive was absolutely beautiful along the historic pony express route and totally worth going out of the way. We found lots of beautiful geodes, they were everywhere!! Bring a big shovel and a pickaxe.
People do not go here for hikes, but I did. I had never been, and it was a last-minute decision to go while I was already out looking for somewhere to hike that I had not been. So, there are no digging tools to search for Geodes. But the weather and people were nice. Good drive on the Pony Express trail. I did manage to find one small intact geode and a few pieces others had tossed away. I will definitely go back with the proper digging tools. Hiked around the area for about 6 miles, but I had to get back, and the drive was about 2.5 hours each way for me. My small dog loved the hike. We started on a road, there are several, and went down a riverbed.
