Rockhounding Idaho: A Guide To 99 Of The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
A complete guide to finding, collecting, and preparing the state’s gems & mineralsRockhounding Idaho is a must-have book for anyone interested in collecting rocks, minerals, fossils, and gold in the Gem State. Completely up-to-date with over 200 GPS coordinates in ninety-nine collecting locales, it covers popular and widely known fee-dig operations as well as four-wheel-drive adventures into the desert, and long winding drives through the mountains. The result is a complete and accurate guide to the state’s vast riches.The author—a long-time field collector in the Pacific Northwest and an award-winning writer—clearly explains the broad outlines of Idaho’s many collecting locales and mining districts, and provides an appreciation for the geology underneath. You can use this guide to plan expeditions straight across the state or to devise looping road trips that cover a single region in great detail. From agates to zeolites, from garnets to gold, Rockhounding Idaho is the ideal resource for rockhounds of all ages and experience levels. Look inside to find:• Maps and detailed site descriptions with directions• Suggested tools and techniques• Land-use regulations and legal restrictions• Information on nearby camping
Series: Rockhounding Series
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Falcon Guides; 1 edition (May 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0762748125
ISBN-13: 978-0762748129
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #230,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Geology > Specific Locations #61 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Field Guides > Rocks & Minerals #95 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Rocks & Minerals
I just received this book as a gift from someone who knows i love rocks and gems. "Rockhounding Idaho" is a basic field guide for promising Idaho locations. Complete with essentials like GPS coordinates, directions to the site, any info on fees or regulations, even what kind of equipment you might need or the kind of vehicle you will need to get there, and what rock materials you may find at each location. I appreciate that each entry is concise and thorough without being lengthy. Since the entry for each location is only 2-3 pages long, it is easy to flip through this book without needing a long time to sit down and read the whole thing. The author includes his personal experiences with said locations in a comprehensible and helpful style, giving the reader a good idea of what to expect upon arrival. Some but not all of the entries include a map. I like how you don't really need fancy equipment for rockhounding (except an ATV and GPS would be helpful); most of what you need is just panning stuff and digging stuff that is not expensive at all. I had the opportunity to pan at the Emerald Creek site where you used to be able to dig for star garnets, and I went home with a couple hundred after a few hours of wading in the mud. It was awesome. Now the site has lost that hard core do-it-yourself charm and converted into a more touristy type place with pre-dug mud and a designated sluicing area (which the author also explains in the book). Having lived in north Idaho for 10+ years I am familiar with many of the places in the book, although I had never thought of them for rockhounding before. My only complaint about this book (which is the reason i can only rate it 4 stars instead of 5) is that all the photos are in BLACK and WHITE! Ugh! The photos are great but how could you ever use the photos to help identify your results when you can't even see what color they are? In light of this I don't think it could be entirely considered a field guide. It was published in 2010, I don't understand how the photos could not be in color. Aside from this glaring issue, the book is great. The appendixes at the end of the book include listings of websites, museums, schools, rock shops, and more which I found very useful.
Let's be honest, a book that was published 5+ years ago for all to read means I'm not the first to read it and go rock hounding at these sites. So far, the places I've been are pretty well picked over. You'd have to do some more serious mining, more than a shovel and pick to get to anything really worth keeping. Don't get me wrong, just the going and time with my boys is the fun part, my boys still find plenty they want to keep, I have to secretly throw them back when they aren't looking. The book presents the areas well with good maps and information on what time of year is best to visit the site, what kind of clothing/equipment/vehicle is needed. Pictures are black and white, seriously? for a book that explains gems, which are all about color... not sure why they wouldn't have done the pictures in color, I would have paid more for color as it would greatly improve this book.
While this book is started to get a little dated, it still applies 90% of the time. My sons and I have started rockhounding this summer (total newbies), and we've already visited four of the places outlined in these pages. We've had a pretty easy time finding the spots (via GPS coordinates). And we've had fun collecting rocks at every location. You will be able to tell that the areas have been extensively dug since this book was published. But that didn't stop us from finding plenty of rocks to keep my kids (and me) happy. Romaine's narrated directions are sometimes baffling/confusing. But if you have a smartphone with the lat/long coordinates punched into the map app, you'll be fine. Definately worth the money.
I bought this book because my husband and I would like to get into rock hounding, and wasnât quite sure where to start. Weâve dug for opals at the Spencer Opal Mines and sapphires at a mine in Montana, but wanted to expand beyond the pay to dig sites.The real value in this book is that is provides locations of where you can hunt or dig for rocks, fossils, gems, and minerals. The book does provide other useful tips to help you prepare, such as: if four wheel drive is needed, the type of terrain, and various other tips to find the rocks in that particular location. The book is a few years old, but still seems to be relevant.One thing I wish it did have was better descriptions of the gems, minerals, and rocks. I had to Google most of the rocks listed because I had no clue what they looked like, and sometimes even what they were. There are a few black and white pictures in the book, but more frequent color pictures would have been really helpful. But like I said before, I really just purchased this book for the locations; better pictures of the rocks would have just been an added bonus.Last weekend we went on our first trip using this book. We went to the south fork of the Salmon River to look for druzy quartz and agate. The directions to the locations were super easy to understand, and we were able to find all four locations listed without much difficulty and without a GPS. The maps arenât the best, but the directions wee much better. The first location we stropped at we wondered around for a few hours and found quite a few, and some really nice, druzy quartz. The other locations werenât as successful for us, mostly because we were struggling to figure out what a rough agate looked like. We bumped into some friendly locals, who actually asked us if we found this location from this book, and they were able to show us what we were looking for.We are already planning our next trip, and found this book has been really helpful. Overall this book is a great start to help you start rock hounding. Eventually, youâll probably need to buy more stuff if you start getting more serious. I think weâre probably going to buy a handheld GPS, and a rock identification book because the book falls short in those area.
Rockhounding Idaho: A Guide To 99 Of The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding Oregon: A Guide to the State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding California: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding Utah: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding New York: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding Nevada: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey: A Guide To The States' Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Rockhounding Montana: A Guide to 100 of Montana's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) Hiking Idaho: A Guide To The State's Greatest Hiking Adventures (State Hiking Guides Series) Paddling Idaho: A Guide to the State's Best Paddling Routes (Paddling Series) Best of the Best from Hawaii: Selected Recipes from Hawaii's Favorite Cookbooks (Best of the Best State Cookbook) F is for First State: A Delaware Alphabet (Discover America State by State) G is for Garden State: A New Jersey Alphabet (Discover America State by State) M is for Mountain State: A West Virginia Alphabet (Discover America State by State) Idaho Birds: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar Species (Pocket Naturalist Guide Series) North Carolina Beaches: A Visit to National Seashores, State Parks, Ferries, Public Beaches, Wildlife Refuges, Historic Sites, Lighthouses, Boat Ramps and Docks, Museums, and Best of the Best from Big Sky Cookbook: Selected Recipes from the Favorite Cookbooks of Montana and Wyoming (Best of the Best Cookbook Series) Best of the Best from Alaska Cookbook: Selected Recipes from Alaska's Favorite Cookbooks (Best of the Best Cookbook Series) Idaho, a Climbing Guide: Climbs, Scrambles, and Hikes (Climbing Guides)
