Rockhounding in Humboldt County, CA: 290 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

88 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 9 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Copper Bluff

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 3 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Gold, Silver) and 5 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Copper. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Gold, Pyrite, Copper, Silver. Approx. location 41.110, -123.686. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

123

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Gold
Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat
160 sites
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
25 sites
Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
24 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
6 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
4 sites

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Gold 22Chromite 12Bornite 3Rhodochrosite 2Chalcocite 2Copper 2Cuprite 2Sperrylite 2Cinnabar 2Sphalerite 1Bementite 1Hausmannite 1

Commodities

Gold 157Chromium 46Manganese 17Copper 14Platinum 14Mercury 7Silver 7Iron 4Barium-Barite 2Graphite 2

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Liscomb Hill	Barium-Barite	Barite	Occurrence	40.833, -123.956
Queens Peak Mng. Co.	Manganese	Bementite, Hausmannite	Producer	40.069, -124.046
Horse Mountain	Copper	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Cuprite	Past Producer	40.862, -123.722
Sweet Home	Copper	Bornite, Chalcocite, Copper, Cuprite	Past Producer	40.858, -123.723
Red Cap Creek	—	Bornite, Copper	Occurrence	41.231, -123.527
Fort Seward	Manganese	Braunite, Rhodochrosite	Producer	40.201, -123.711
Wilder Mine	Chromium	Chromite	Past Producer	41.358, -123.686
Red Gap	Chromium	Chromite	Producer	41.266, -123.521
Pecwan Mine Englebright, New Mon	Chromium	Chromite	Producer	41.393, -123.787
Onion Mountain Prospect	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.380, -123.749
Rivers Chrome Mine	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.371, -123.692
Burrill Peak	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.227, -123.708
Big Rock Chrome Claim	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.245, -123.673
Mosquito Lake Chrome Mine	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.366, -123.693
Wood	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	40.492, -123.713
Several Unlocatable Mines	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	40.699, -123.865
White Cedar	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.383, -123.780
French Camp Prospect	Chromium	Chromite	Occurrence	41.152, -123.983
Humboldt Almaden	Mercury	Cinnabar	Past Producer	41.149, -123.558
Unnamed Prospects	Mercury	Cinnabar	Occurrence	40.902, -123.785
Lupton Claim	Gold	Gold	Occurrence	40.948, -123.672
Placer Deposit	Gold	Gold	Occurrence	41.332, -123.579
Two States Mining Co.	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.347, -124.079
Little River	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.028, -124.070
Union Gold Bluff Mining Co.	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.389, -124.071
Clover Flat Placer	Gold	Gold	Producer	40.966, -123.640
Surpur Creek	Gold, Platinum	Gold	Occurrence	41.366, -123.948
Allen Mine	Gold	Gold	Past Producer	41.259, -123.603
Salstrom Mine	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.292, -123.563
Orleans Placer	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.293, -123.554
Murray	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.362, -123.497
Forks of Salmon	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.376, -123.492
Macintosh Mine	Gold	Gold	Producer	40.945, -123.630
Pioneer Placer Mine	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.442, -124.063
Moore Morris? Claim	Gold	Gold	Occurrence	40.946, -123.664
Mettah Hydraulic	Gold	Gold	Occurrence	41.250, -123.830
Manapier Mine	Gold	Gold	Occurrence	41.335, -123.828
Big Lagoon Mining Co.	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.179, -124.116
Cavanaugh Mine	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.201, -123.664
Klamath River Mine	Gold	Gold	Producer	41.200, -123.662

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 31 fossil collection records in Humboldt County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Trinity County · Siskiyou County · Del Norte County · Shasta County · Tehama County

California mineral guides

Back to all California counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Humboldt County, California

Sketch map

Copper Bluff

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Mineral cards

Gold

Copper

Silver

Pyrite

Quartz