Rockhounding New England: A Guide to 100 of the Region's Best Rockhounding Sites

by Peter Cristofono

Overview

New England is one of the best regions in the country for rockhounds to hunt for minerals, gems, and fossils. The complex geology of the region hosts a stunning variety of material from gold-bearing placers to fossiliferous limestone; from gem-bearing pegmatites to rocks containing some of the rarest minerals on Earth. This book provides detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the best sites with valuable tips on what to tools to bring and how to conduct your search. Comprehensive lists of minerals or fossils for each site and excellent color photos will help you know what to look for and to identify what you've found. Information on clubs, rock shops, museums, and special attractions are provided. Written by a collector with over 35 years of experience, Rockhounding New England is the first comprehensive rock and mineral collecting guide to New England and a must-have for anyone interested in collecting their own minerals, gems, and fossils in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493042043
Publisher:	Falcon Guides
Publication date:	04/01/2020
Series:	Rockhounding Series
Edition description:	2nd Edition
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	127,796
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Peter Cristofono was born in Massachusetts and has been an avid field collector of New England minerals, gems and fossils for more than 35 years. Beginning with his high school years in New Hampshire and later while majoring in geology at Boston College he assembled a large collection of self-collected specimens from the region. Peter has served as president of the Boston Mineral Club and is currently a director of the Micromounters of New England. He has authored mineralogical articles for various publications and websites. He is well-known for his macro photos of minerals and insects which have appeared in major newspapers, magazines, books, scholarly journals, museum exhibits and various websites including over 3,700 mineral photos on Mindat.org. Peter spends as much time as he can in the field. His home base is Salem, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1

New England Geology 3

Rockhounding Basics 11

How to Use This Book 19

About the Photographs 21

About the Author 21

Map Legend 22

Connecticut Sites

1 West Redding Grossular Locality 24

2 Falls Village Marble Quarries 27

3 CCC Quarry and Prospect 31

4 Hewitt Quarry 35

5 Nathan Hall Quarry 38

6 State Forest No. 1 Quarry 41

7 Case Quarries 44

8 Gotta-Walden and Bordonaro Quarries 47

9 Simpson Quarry 50

10 Dinosaur State Park 53

11 Reed's Gap Quarry 56

Rhode Island Sites

12 Sakonnet Shore 60

13 Cory's Lane Fossil Locality 64

14 Cranston Quarry 67

15 Conklin Quarry 70

16 Iron Mine Hill 74

Massachusetts Sites

17 Wrentham Quarry 78

18 Masslite Quarry 80

19 North Attleborough Fossil Site 82

20 Acushnet Quarry 84

21 Ashland Quarry 86

22 Chipman Mine 89

23 Dracut Quarry 93

24 Chelmsford Lime Quarries 95

25 Littleton Quarry 97

26 Lancaster Chiastolite Locality 99

27 Lunenburg Quarry 102

28 Rollstone Hill Quarry 104

29 Shaft 10 Locality 107

30 Beryl Hill 110

31 Warwick Epidote-Garnet Locality 112

32 Manhan Lead-Silver Mine 115

33 Chester Emery Mines 119

34 Barrus Farm Pegmatite Locality 122

35 Betts Manganese Mine 125

Vermont Sites

36 Hatch Limestone Quarry 129

37 Redmond Quarry 132

38 Rock of Ages 135

39 Camp Plymouth State Park-Gold Panning 137

40 Argonaut Mine 141

41 Gould Talc Mine 143

42 Sharon Concretion Locality 145

New Hampshire Sites

43 Beryl Mountain Mine 148

44 Mine Ledge 151

45 Turner Mine 153

46 Beauregard Mine 155

47 Chickering Mine 157

48 William Wise Fluorite Mine 160

49 Richmond Soapstone Quarry 162

50 Wilton Crushed Stone Quarry 165

51 Hooksett Crushed Stone Quarry 167

52 Raymond Quarry 170

53 Parker Mountain Mine 172

54 Ham and Weeks Mine 175

55 Hoyt Hill Mica Mine 178

56 Palermo No. 1 Mine 181

57 Palermo No. 2 Mine 184

58 Charles Davis and Plume Mines 187

59 Wild Ammonoosuc River-Gold Panning 190

60 Tunnel Brook-Gold Panning 193

61 Baker River-Gold Panning 195

62 North Sugarloaf Mountain 197

63 Randolph Quartz Crystal Mine 199

64 Mascot Mine 202

65 Iron Mountain Mines 205

66 Moat Mountain 207

67 South Baldface 209

68 Madison Mine 211

Maine Sites

69 Deer Hill 214

70 Lord Hill 218

71 Bumpus Mine 221

72 Pingree Ledge 224

73 Newry I-Dunton Gem Mine and Crooker Quarries 227

74 Newry II-Nevel Mine and Bell Pit 230

75 Black Mountain 232

76 Swift River-Gold Panning 235

77 Smalls Falls Area-Gold Panning 237

78 Hedgehog Hill 240

79 Emmons Quarry 242

80 Tiger Bill Quarries 245

81 Tamminen Quarry 247

82 Waisanen Quarry 249

83 Harvard Quarry 251

84 Hayes Ledge 254

85 Ryerson Hill Mine 257

86 Mount Mica 259

87 Mount Marie 262

88 Bennett Quarry and Orchard Pit 265

89 B.B. No. 7 Quarry 268

90 Heath Quarry 270

91 Mount Apatite Park-Maine Feldspar and Greenlaw Quarries 272

92 Hatch Ledge Prospect 275

93 Mount Apatite West-Pulsifer, Groves, Keith, and Wade Quarries 277

94 Pitts-Tenney Prospects 280

95 Havey Mine and Berry Mine 282

96 Sandy Point Beach 285

97 Consolidated Feldspar Quarries 288

98 Edgecomb Feldspar Mine 290

99 Jasper Beach 293

100 Perry Agate Localities 297

Appendix A Clubs 299

Appendix B Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Displays 302

Appendix C Shops 306

Appendix D Additional Resources 310

Appendix E Bibliography 312

Site Index 318

Index 320