Rock Hounding
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Plumas County is renowned for its rocks and unique rock formations.
Rock hounds can find treasures in natural quartz crystals, rose quartz, fossils and petrified wood. The area's diverse geology is caused by the meeting of two mountain ranges (Sierra Nevada and Cascade) and the Great Basin to the east, with a close proximity to an active volcano, Mount Lassen.
Such geology has produced truly unique formations including the giant layers of exfoliating granite in the Feather River Canyon and the towering lava conglomerates in Little Last Chance Creek Canyon on the way to Frenchman Lake. Other geological treats include deposits of columnar basalt and gold-bearing gravel. There are good fossil-hunting opportunities from Mount Hough and Mount Jura in the Indian Valley area to Clover Valley in Eastern Plumas, and petrified wood has been found in the area of Hartman Bar Ridge.
Rose quartz is commonly found on Last Chance Creek east of Antelope Lake. Contact the Forest Service for more specific information on rock hounding.
To see a display of local minerals, visit the Indian Valley Museum in Taylorsville.
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