Four Places To Go Rock Hunting in Southern California

Four Places To Go
Rock Hunting in
Southern California
Contents:
Page 1......................Julian Gold
Page 2.....................Doheny State Beach
Page 3.....................Himalaya Mine
Page 4.....................Hauser Geode Beds
and Opal Hill Mine
By Ann Levin
UW Parkside
Volume 1
May 2012
Panning For Gold in Julian
Julian is a historic gold mining town in
east of San Diego. There is a gold mine to
visit, gold panning and many other tourist
attactions.
The gold mine is a fun, quick visit and we enjoyed
it. They have a little museum and gift
shop too. We didn’t try the gold panning
on our last visit, but we would like to try it.
There are many good places to eat. Julian is
known for its apple pie. Julian is also known
to be the gateway to Anza Borrego desert.
There are festivals in Julian, so don’t forget
to check Julian’s website before you go.
Two sites for gold panning are The Eagle and
High Peak Mine, and Julian Mining Company.
There are riding stables, a museum, theater,
and farmer’s market.
For more information I have included the Julian
Chamber of commerce url: http://www.
julianca.com/about_julian/index.htm
1

Doheny State Beach,
Dana Point, California
Hunting for Agates:
This January, I visited Dana Point. The
highlight of the trip was a visit to Doheny
State Beach and the tidepools. Unfortunately,
due to storms in the Pacific, there
was very high water, so the minus tide at the
tidepool didn’t happen.
Even so, I was captivated
by the beautiful pebble
beach and the multi-col-
ored rocks.
There were some large
rocks that were green
and white striped and
pink and white. The
pebbles were all colors.
There were surfers to
watch enjoying the storm
surge. Very little of the
tidepool was exposed,
but I did see some of the mussels, anemones,
and barnacles. Look for the banded
stones, which are the agates. You can’t
collect any of these at Doheny tide pools,
but there are many other beaches where you
can. I also enjoyed looking at the geologic
features of the area,
in particular
the San
Onofre
Breccia. It
is a beautiful chocolate
color, with many
different types of stones
embedded. Also, look for
the unfinished elevator
shaft in the cliff along the highway. It was
never completed.
2
Enjoy the rocks at Dana
Point, but don’t take any
home! It is unlawful to
remove any animals,
shells or rocks from tidepools.
Doheny State Beach
25300 Dana Point Harbor Drive Dana
Point, CA 92629
(949) 496-6172
San Onofre Breccia
Exposed in the cliffs of Dana
Point is a section of the San
Onofre Breccia, a 15 to 20 million year old
formation. A breccia is a sedimentary rock
composed of angular fragments (clasts) embedded
in a fine-grained matrix (the “glue”
that binds the clasts together). In the San
Onofre Breccia, the clasts range in size from
less than an inch to the size of small trucks
and are a variety of rock types, mostly
metamorphic. A formation is a rock that can
be easily recognized over a large area.
Himalaya
Tourmaline Mine
Himalaya Mine
c/o/ Lake Henshaw Resort
26439 Hwy 76
Santa Ysabel, CA 92070
info @ high desert gems and
minerals . com
Although I grew up in Ramona, I was unaware
of the Himalaya Mine, until a few
years ago when I
saw an episode of
“Cash and Treasures”
that featured
a visit to the mine.
On my next visit to
California, I had to
go to the mine. I
got other family
members to go, and
now it is a tradition.
You are not able to
actually go to the
mine. You meet at
Lake Henshaw,
where a tractor has
brought loads of
mine tailings. This
year I found a large
(palm-sized) smokey
quartz crystal with
three types of embedded tourmaline. Another
one was found by someone else that
day too. Usually, I find only small pieces. I
have a photo of my niece hunting for tourmalines,
and one of her holding the quartz
crystal. Make sure to bring water, and be
prepared to get muddy. What you end up
doing, is searching through tailings from the
mine. Buckets of dirt and rocks are rinsed on
a sieve, and you look the pink, green and
black tourmaline. Everytime I go, I see many
children enjoying the treasure hunt, so bring
the kids!
Looking for
tourmaline
3

4
Opal Hill Mine and Hauser Geode
Beds
Hauser Geode Beds
Directions to the Hauser Geode Beds:
Take Wiley Well Road exit from Interstate
10 and continue driving south to the graded
dirt road just past the state prison. You will
pass Wiley Well Campground (9 miles south
of I-10), Coon Hollow Campground (12 miles
south of I-10). You will see a dirt road on
the right with a marker indicating the route
to the Hauser Geode Beds. Turn right on the
dirt road and follow for about 4 1/2 miles
and take a right when the road splits again.
This road will lead you to the two locations
of the Hauser Beds.
What a geode looks like unopened.
An opened geode (if you are lucky!)
Opal Hill Mine
Directions:
From Interstate 10, take Wiley Well Exit and
head south on the graded dirt road for 17
miles. You will see a sign for Opal Hill Mine
on the left side of the road. Go left here and
travel east for a few miles on a rough dirt
road. A high clearance vehicle is needed to
navigate on the last dirt road to the mine.
haven’t been to the geode beds or Opal Hill
I mine, but I can’t wait. Just don’t go in the
summer, it is too hot. There is a small fee to
dig at the mine. It requires some tools and
digging, so be prepared. You may need a
sledge-hammer, chisel and a pick. The mine
owner is very helpful and will show you were
and how to search for the stones. There are
fire agates, quartz and opal eggs to look for.
The first picture is of the fire opal, and the
second of an opal egg. Fire agates are a form
of
quartz called cryptocrystalline, which is also
known as chalcedony. The fire agates can
range in color from browns to reds and may
even be banded. The stones must be polished
to bring out
the color. You
can also find
petrified wood,
apatite, barite,
calcite and gypsum
at the mine.