‘We found our people.’ Western Australian rock hunters scour mountains and beaches for stone treasures

There are treasures in Washington’s mountains, beaches and streams. They come in the form of crystals and agates, fossils and petrified wood. The state is a paradise for rock hunters, say those who pursue the hobby.

You just have to know where to look.

A weekend trip in mid-August organized by more than 500 members of the Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club and the Washington State Mineral Council uncovered veins, rock mounds and hidden mine holes in the mountains above Greenwater.

Experienced and amateur rock pickers gathered at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest ranger station in Enumclaw early Aug. 17, where club president Tony Johnson and others spread out rocks of all kinds on folding tables. Petrified wood, geodes, opal and jasper sparkled with colors.

From the outside, the gray and brown rocks are as dull as a rusty potato. But when cut or cracked, they shine with colors and patterns.

“I take someone here (to the rock site) and they don’t see it,” Johnson said of the potentially spectacular specimens. “They walk right past it.”

Caravan

Trucks, SUVs, vans and even a few brave sedan drivers followed the club leaders from the ranger station, along state Route 410 and Forest Service Road 70, just outside Greenwater. Participants came from Seattle, Long Beach and Walla Walla for the adventure.

The group’s first stop was a slope covered in rock rubble. Here, the goal was to find moss agate. The veterans in the group immediately began smashing the rocks with rock hammers and spraying the stones with water bottles. The water acts as a temporary polish, allowing colors and patterns to appear on the rocks temporarily.

The herds of passing jeeps and motorcycles kicked up clouds of dust and momentarily drowned out the sounds of the hammers.

Hunting together

The Internet is full of information about Washington rock hunting. But finding the exact locations can be confusing. That’s what prompted Milton couple Tasha Parker and Nate White to join the club.

“That’s why we joined, just to have people show us exactly where to go and where to dig,” Parker said at a seam of green and white agate. “We just found our people and we love it.”

Parker and White have always been hiking enthusiasts and enjoy being outdoors.

“It’s a combination of being outdoors, hiking in the woods and treasure hunting,” she said.

Concise

Some stone hunters like to leave their finds in their natural state. Others are more ambitious.

Delicate minerals, such as the shiny specimens in museums, often require little modification to allow their beauty to shine. However, many of the rocks found in the Cascade Mountains require cutting and polishing to achieve their full glory.

Lapidarium is the term used to describe the processing of rocks into display items, jewelry, and works of art.

The Puyallup Club has many machines used for stonework. Stone lovers know the joy of cutting open an ugly, unassuming geode to find a shiny center of crystals. Children go wide-eyed when the dull stones they put in cups come out in crayon-like colors and patterns.

Duds and diamonds

Not all finds are gems. Johnson tries to dissuade some stone hunters from cutting up stones he knows are duds.

“You really don’t want to waste your time cutting it because, yes, it’s garbage,” Johnson said. “But everyone thinks they got an award.”

Johnson says melting snow is a good time to find rocks in the mountains.

“They just jump out,” he said.

Some of the stones, especially red and orange carnelian agates, can be found in streams and on beaches in Washington. One popular agate hunter, Chris Sims, known by his stage name “Carnelian Chris,” has 180,000 followers on TikTok.

Parker and White use their finds to create cabochons — polished stones with a flat back and rounded front that are made into necklaces and other jewelry.

“There are so many different creative people doing different things (at the club),” Parker said. “Inlays, carvings, wind chimes … wrapping things in leather … with sticks.”

Family matter

Deep in the fir forest, the rock hunters spread out. While Ryan and Megan Armstrong of Tacoma searched for places to dig, their son Vorian, 6, was already hammering away with a rock.

“Is that a rock here?” he asked, digging a small hole. “Yes!” he replied, pulling out what was, at least for him, a great find.

Ryan Armstrong said he was a rock collector as a boy. The family has been taking rock-collecting vacations out West since they got hooked on the hobby in 2023, when they were searching for geodes near an eastern Washington lookout.

“We found a few pieces and from there it all went wrong,” he said.

Ethics

Some of the rocks can be found next to Forest Service roads, and in some cases on the road. Others require walking.

After showing the participants where the agate vein ran down the hillside, across the road and into a rock slide, White led them to a closed road. Carrying buckets, shovels and rock hammers, the group descended to a bed of petrified wood and common opal.

White reminded enthusiasts not to cut tree roots while digging and to fill the holes when finished.

“Some of the best stuff I’ve ever found has come from municipal waste,” he said, referring to the excavated and sorted remains of mining or quarrying operations.

Club members do not mine. They carry buckets and bring home only what they can work with, White said. The Forest Service allows small-scale rock gathering on land it administers. Rock gathering on private property requires permission from the owner.

First time stone hunters

Amiera Abdel-Fattah came from North Seattle for the expedition. After an hour, she filled the bottom of a bucket with her finds.

“I’m amazed at how much material there is around,” Abdel-Fattah said. “I thought it would be harder to find, but there’s plenty of it.”

Her mother, Jasmine Campbell, came to support her 25-year-old daughter. But she was quickly bitten by the stone-hunting bug.

“I felt this excitement, it’s so contagious,” she said. “I get really excited about what I see, and I grab this, I grab that, I grab this.”

Abdel-Fattah said she collected rocks as a girl and recently became interested in them again.

“I think the rocks are really pretty, and it’s really cool to hunt down something that’s sometimes hard to find,” she said.

Locations in Washington State

The state Department of Natural Resources maintains a website with information on where to look for rocks.

Here is a quick list of rocks and where to find them.

Crystals: Hansen River, Snoqualmie Pass.

Surveyors: Walker Valley, near Mount Vernon.

Agata: Damon Point, south of Ocean Shores.

Petrified Wood: Saddle Mountains, east of Yakima.

Groups

Puyallup Valley Rock and Mineral Club (Puyallup) [email protected]

Washington State Mineral Council (statewide)

Shelton Rock and Mineral Society (Shelton) [email protected]

Washington Agate and Mineral Society (Olympia) [email protected]