Rockhounding in Kern County, CA: 1,318 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

142 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 15 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

Middle Buttes (Cactus) Deposit

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 3 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Gold, Silver) and 6 of our card minerals overall. That ties with 2 other site(s), so we broke the tie by mine status (past producers first), then USGS record quality, then name. USGS lists it as past producer for Silver, Gold. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Gold, Pyrite, Galena, Copper, Silver. Approx. location 34.958, -118.289. 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?

548

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

309

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

223

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

182

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Plant

A processing plant site.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Gold
Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat
766 sites
Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
149 sites
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
114 sites
Scheelite
Mohs 4.5–5. Tungsten mineral that glows blue-white under shortwave UV. Mindat
107 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
72 sites
Garnet
Mohs 6.5–7.5. Usually deep red, round many-faced crystals. Mindat
45 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
35 sites
Galena
Mohs 2.5–2.75. Heavy, silvery lead ore that breaks into cubes. Mindat
9 sites

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

Minerals recorded here

Scheelite 106Gold 100Chalcopyrite 23Pyrite 15Galena 9Stibnite 8Molybdenite 7Cinnabar 6Rhodonite 5Malachite 5Sphalerite 5Cassiterite 4

Commodities

Gold 727Tungsten 219Uranium 66Copper 61Silver 58Antimony 32Lead 24Boron-Borates 23Mercury 17Bentonite 15

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Blackhawk	Zinc	Aurichalcite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Hemimorphite, Malachite, Sphalerite, Zincite	Past Producer	35.263, -118.461
Kramer Borate Deposit	Boron-Borates	Borax, Colemanite, Kernite, Tincalconite	Producer	35.041, -117.688
Zuma Claims	Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	35.429, -117.849
Copper Chief Group	Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	35.423, -117.843
Yellow Treasure Group	Gold, Iron, Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Gold, Hematite	Past Producer	35.561, -117.646
Orange Blossom	—	Bornite, Malachite	Occurrence	35.351, -117.950
Upper Butler Prospect	—	Cassiterite	Occurrence	34.840, -118.730
Gray Eagle Prospect	Tin	Cassiterite	Occurrence	34.860, -118.754
Meeke-Hogan Mine	Tin	Cassiterite	Producer	34.837, -118.742
Lower Butler Prospect	Tin	Cassiterite	Occurrence	34.836, -118.724
St. Lawrence Mine	Gold, Silver, Antimony	Cerargyrite, Gold, Pyrargyrite, Stephanite, Stibnite	Past Producer	35.354, -117.629
Greenback	Copper	Chalcocite, Malachite	Past Producer	35.697, -118.833
Copper Queen Claims	Copper	Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	35.377, -117.901
Orphan Anne Prospect	—	Chalcopyrite	Occurrence	35.414, -117.889
Green Dragon Claims	—	Chalcopyrite	Occurrence	35.386, -117.871
B. Copper Prospect	—	Chalcopyrite, Copper	Occurrence	35.439, -117.847
Carbonate Prospect	—	Chalcopyrite, Copper, Galena	Occurrence	35.273, -118.043
Ruby Mining Company	Gold, Silver, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Gold	Past Producer	35.414, -118.667
Laurel Group of Mines	Copper, Zinc, Gold, Silver	Chalcopyrite, Gold, Sphalerite	Past Producer	35.669, -118.405
Colorado Camp Group	—	Chalcopyrite, Lead, Silver	Occurrence	35.447, -117.826
Copperola Prospect	Copper	Chalcopyrite, Malachite	Past Producer	35.417, -117.845
Apache	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Malachite, Pyrite, Silver	Past Producer	35.458, -117.808
Major Mine	Tungsten	Chalcopyrite, Molybdenite, Pyrite, Pyrrhotite, Scheelite	Past Producer	35.741, -118.579
Smith Mine	Lead, Copper, Gold	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite	Occurrence	35.446, -117.851
Silverado Prospect	Copper	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite	Past Producer	35.616, -118.419
High Peak Mine	Tungsten	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Scheelite	Past Producer	35.683, -117.884
Last Chance Mine	Tungsten	Chalcopyrite, Scheelite	Past Producer	35.610, -118.291
Mineralite-Azurite Group	—	Chalcopyrite, Scheelite	Occurrence	35.617, -118.238
Sonny Boy Prospect	—	Chalcopyrite, Scheelite	Occurrence	35.574, -118.249
Undetermined	—	Cinnabar	Occurrence	35.290, -118.033
Mammouth Prospect	Mercury	Cinnabar	Occurrence	35.255, -118.112
Fickert - Durnal Prospect	Mercury	Cinnabar	Past Producer	35.199, -118.517
Walabu Mine	Mercury	Cinnabar	Past Producer	35.206, -118.525
Hixson Lease	—	Cinnabar	Occurrence	35.201, -118.519
Tardy Prospect	Mercury	Cinnabar, Mercury	Occurrence	35.265, -118.068
Carbonate Queen	Copper	Copper	Occurrence	35.273, -118.364
Monday	—	Copper, Marcasite	Occurrence	35.524, -118.545
Unnamed Mine	Tungsten	Ferberite, Scheelite	Producer	35.574, -118.238
San Antonio Mine	Gold, Lead	Galena, Gold	Past Producer	35.401, -118.085
Kelly	Silver	Galena, Gold, Iron, Pyrite, Scheelite	Past Producer	35.360, -117.651

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 410 fossil collection records in Kern County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Ventura County · Tulare County · Los Angeles County · Inyo County · Santa Barbara 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 Kern County, California

Sketch map

Middle Buttes (Cactus) Deposit

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Mineral cards

Gold

Silver

Copper

Scheelite

Quartz

Garnet

Pyrite

Galena