Rockhounding in Clear Creek County, CO: 1,268 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

133 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 24 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

Little Johnnie

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 4 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Gold, Fluorite, Silver) and 7 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Gold. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Gold, Pyrite, Galena, Fluorite, Copper, Silver. Approx. location 39.740, -105.586. 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?

1,088

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

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
1,098 sites
Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
983 sites
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
258 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
213 sites
Galena
Mohs 2.5–2.75. Heavy, silvery lead ore that breaks into cubes. Mindat
169 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
147 sites
Feldspar
Mohs 6–6.5. Blocky crystals with flat cleavage faces. Mindat
20 sites
Mica
Mohs 2–3. Peels into thin, flexible, shiny sheets. Mindat
18 sites

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

Minerals recorded here

Pyrite 171Galena 160Sphalerite 134Silver 94Chalcopyrite 92Gold 80Tennantite 29Tetrahedrite 28Lead 24Beryl 14Copper 8Quartz 7

Commodities

Gold 1059Lead 228Silver 222Zinc 153Copper 146Uranium 20Beryllium 14Feldspar 12Mica 11Molybdenum 10

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Shaffer Hill	Feldspar, Beryllium, Gemstone	Amazonstone, Beryl, Feldspar, Topaz	Producer	39.719, -105.399
Colorado Central Mine	Zinc, Lead, Silver	Argentite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Polybasite, Proustite, Pyrargyrite, Silver, Sphalerite, Stephanite, Tetrahedrite	Past Producer	39.697, -105.706
Anglo-Saxon Mine	Gold, Silver	Argentite, Galena	Past Producer	39.729, -105.683
Bride Vein Idaho Tunnel	Silver, Gold, Lead	Argentite, Galena, Sphalerite, Tennantite, Pyrite	Producer	39.757, -105.523
Jo Reynolds	Silver, Uranium	Azurite, Chalcopyrite, Copper, Galena, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite	Past Producer	39.753, -105.633
Grover Mine	Feldspar, Mica	Bertrandite, Beryl, Columbite, Microcline, Monazite, Muscovite	Past Producer	39.707, -105.440
Brandt	Beryllium	Beryl	Occurrence	39.719, -105.399
Mt. Judge	Beryllium	Beryl	Producer	39.676, -105.455
Brandt Beryl-Topaz Prospect	Beryllium	Beryl	Occurrence	39.709, -105.400
Santa Fe Mt., Sawmill Gulch	Beryllium, Garnet, Feldspar, Mica	Beryl, Biotite, Feldspar, Garnet	Producer	39.719, -105.474
Grover	Beryllium, Niobium (Columbium), REE, Tantalum, Mica, Feldspar	Beryl, Columbite, Feldspar, Mica, Monazite, Tantalite	Producer	39.714, -105.452
Grover	Uranium, REE, Zinc, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Beryllium, Garnet	Beryl, Columbite, Gahnite, Garnet, Monazite, Tantalite	Occurrence	39.714, -105.452
Snyder, Saddleback Mtn.	Quartz, Garnet, Beryllium, Mica, REE, Iron, Feldspar	Beryl, Feldspar, Gahnite, Garnet, Hematite, Mica, Quartz, Xenotime	Producer	39.719, -105.436
Jacobsen Ranch	Garnet, Gemstone, Beryllium	Beryl, Garnet, Topaz	Occurrence	39.719, -105.399
Mt. Judge Beryl Pegmatite	Beryllium	Beryl, Microcline	Past Producer	39.667, -105.450
Santa Fe Mountain Beryl Prospect	Beryllium	Beryl, Microcline	Past Producer	39.710, -105.473
Ajax Mica Mine	Mica	Beryl, Muscovite	Past Producer	39.749, -105.441
Grover Mine	Niobium (Columbium), Tantalum, Beryllium, Mica	Beryl, Muscovite	Occurrence	39.700, -105.417
Belle Creole	—	Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite	Past Producer	39.733, -105.595
Silver Belle	Copper, Silver, Lead	Chalcopyrite	Occurrence	39.717, -105.684
Dixie Mine	Gold, Lead, Zinc, Silver	Chalcopyrite, Electrum, Galena, Polybasite, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite, Tennantite	Past Producer	39.716, -105.612
Alma-Lincoln Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Enargite, Galena, Polybasite, Pyrite, Sphalerite, Tennantite, Gold, Cerussite, Chalcocite, Covellite	Past Producer	39.750, -105.550
Big Five (Central) Tunnel	Silver, Gold	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold	Past Producer	39.764, -105.534
North Empire District	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite	Past Producer	39.779, -105.684
Stevens Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Sphalerite	Past Producer	39.654, -105.782
Little Mattie-Newton Group	Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Sphalerite, Tennantite	Past Producer	39.733, -105.557
Joe Reynolds	Zinc, Gold, Silver, Lead, Uranium	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Pitchblende	Producer	39.753, -105.633
Miller Tunnel	—	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite	Past Producer	39.731, -105.594
Grizzly Mine	Lead, Zinc	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite	Producer	39.671, -105.806
Rio Grande Lead - Zinc Mine	Zinc, Lead, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite	Producer	39.700, -105.709
New Era Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite, Pyrite	Producer	39.746, -105.596
Nabob	Silver, Zinc, Lead	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Tetrahedrite	Occurrence	39.748, -105.636
Old Settler Mine	Silver, Gold, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrite	Past Producer	39.748, -105.577
Alice Mine-Glory Hole.	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite	Past Producer	39.816, -105.656
Gold Belt Tunnel	Gold, Silver, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite	Producer	39.692, -105.774
Manhattan	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite	Past Producer	39.741, -105.555
Free Gold	Gold, Silver	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Tennantite	Past Producer	39.731, -105.539
Humboldt Et Al Claims	Silver, Gold, Uranium, Copper	Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Torbernite	Occurrence	39.717, -105.617
Grizzly	Lead, Silver, Gold, Copper, Zinc	Copper, Gold	Producer	39.671, -105.806
Vigilant, Banta Hill, Gold, Bunkhouse	Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Zinc	Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver	Occurrence	39.779, -105.496

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 1 fossil collection records in Clear Creek County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Gilpin County · Jefferson County · Boulder County · Summit County · Grand County

Colorado mineral guides

Back to all Colorado 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 Clear Creek County, Colorado

Sketch map

Little Johnnie

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Mineral cards

Gold

Silver

Copper

Pyrite

Galena

Quartz

Feldspar

Mica