By:
Submission
Loved the trip to Garnet Hill! Found specimens everywhere. Just pick up a rock; strike it open, and there they sit, ready for the taking!. Have fun, wear PPE and safety glasses. Also, bring a rock hammer!
Quite a long dirt road to get to the hill but once you get there, it's worth it. Amazing views of the surrounding valleys and the copper mine. You can still find garnets if you go further around the mountain which is pretty cool. You'll need at least a hammer and chisel. Also, bring water, there are restrooms at the top and a picnic area, but it gets hot walking around.
Garnets can be found on the ground. I'm leaving with some beautiful finds! They are Almandine Garnets, a dark red almost black in color.
Three miles on a dirt road. Steep incline near the top. There is a pit toilet, picnic tables, fire rings, grills, and a 5 tent sites, one with an outstanding view. Saw a few smaller motorhomes, and was surprised they made it. I wouldn't reccomend large rigs/RVs. Use your own judgement.
Verizon cell 📲 works.
Safe and peaceful. Bring water. There is no water.
This area was volcanically active 32 to 40 mya. The garnets are in rhyolite. The term for the host rock is Matrix. Almandine Garnets can be found in the Matrix, or laying on the ground solo. A hole in the Matrix where a garnet formed is called a Vug.
If you see Vugs, or garnets in rocks you might want to scan/comb the area.
Follow the washouts, and walk slowly, and slightly bent when possible, or sit on the ground. The garnets will look like dark spots. Juniper berries, broken glass and charcoal spoof.
There is a book to sign because you can get lost. Pay attention to your whereabouts.
Bring at least 4 bottles of water per person, hat, snacks & toliet paper, if heading further away from the main area. I went with two others, and found all of mine further out.
Do not wear open toed shoes or sandals. You'll be walking on sharp rocks, and need good footing. Also there are scorpions out here, but they come out at night (and glow blue). Watch where you're walking. Bring gloves or something to move the rocks with. Mostly garnets are going to lay solo on the ground.
Some garnet hunt at night with head lamps.
I found plenty of wood. Forest is Juniper and Pinyon. Pinyon has sap that accumulates on the bark, base of the tree or cones. This sap is excellent for starting a fire. Rhe picnic tables closest to the rest room is on a concrete base with a Pinyon next to it. The sap pools into the base.
Bring a backpack or hiking bag for your supplies, then place it on the ground, as you hunt. You're out here too long to carry it constantly, and it gets hot. I was here August 2021.
Pit toliet: Keep the lid down. They have a design to exit the smell when the lid is down. If the lid is up, the smell goes inside.
Garnet Hill is free.
The stone below the quarter is a Topaz from Topaz mountain, and a gift from another woman traveling solo. If you don't find garnets, you're sure to make friends.
Very fun to hound garnets! Very easy to find. Lots of signs on the route and a large parking lot with an outhouse and picnic tables. We were confused where to dig first but just down the trail from the information side there’s a rock quarry where you can tell lots of people have dug. We had good luck in that area. We spent several hours here and found a lot of garnets. Very fun time. I will certainly be back!
Google maps will only get you to the general area. Take the marked corner off from highway 50 west out of Ely. Then go about two miles (going past the Google maps destination) and turn right at the BLM sign indicating Garnet hill ( but no arrow pointing right). It doesn't take long until you're climbing a fairly steep dirt road (Subaru Forester had no issues). Near the top you have to turn right again and keep going up. Not too far from this turn that feels like the end of the trail you get to a parking area and scenic overlook.
Definitely off the beaten path, but worth it. We enjoyed digging about using sticks and pointed rocks and did succeed in finding several small garnets.
