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Arizona is known the world over for its rich abundance and variety of geological treasures. Newly revised, the fourth edition of this best-selling guide updates the well-known sites and features twenty new locations for collecting rocks, minerals, crystals and fossils. Situated in landscape as diverse as the minerals themselves, these sites vary from arid desert to pine covered peaks. Includes over 90 collecting sites. Detailed text describes where to go and what to look for at each collecting area. Maps for each site lead the rockhound to an almost limitless supply of specimens. Black and white photographs picture the collecting areas. Color photographs highlight beautiful specimens. A new glossary makes it easier to locate that special specimen for your collection. Filled with expert advice based on years of experience, Gem Trails of Arizona is an invaluable guide for the rockhound just starting out. For the experienced collector who has searched for Arizona's mineral resources for years, it is an outstanding source for the best collecting sites throughout this scenic state. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Gem Guides Book Co (March 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1889786470
ISBN-13: 978-1889786476
Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 6 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #211,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #47 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Fossils #85 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Rocks & Minerals #309 in Books > Travel > United States > West > Mountain
I own three different revisions of this book. All are very useful for amateur rock hounds. My sons and I have visited about a dozen of the listed sites and all have produced nice specimens.
This review is based on visiting only 4 of the sites covered in the book. For three of the four sites, I found the hand drawn maps in the book rather confusing. Based on my limited experience, it appears that most AZ roads outside of medium to large population centers are rough, may be unmarked and, if marked, often have names/numbers that may not match the book, the gazetteer, or USGS topo maps. Furthermore, some of these collecting sites are old mine workings that are not readily visible due to overgrowth. In any case, GPS coordinates would take some of the confusion out of the location descriptions. Better maps would help also. However, we did eventually find what was advertised and this certainly is a helpful guide and worth the money spent.
We tried half a dozen or more of the recommended trails and had success with only one! Arizona has been developing fast and many roads were closed, gone, blocked or built over. We did enjoy our one successful day (although I wish he had noted that it would take hours to cross the unpaved dirt roads...), but lost several vacation days to paths which no longer existed :(We ultimately decided to ditch the book so that we could enjoy more of our vacation and give up the "wild goose" chases.I'd recommend this only for people who live in arizona and have abundant time on their hands. expect to experience more disappointments and failures than successes, and you will not be disappointed.
After purchasing the book, I used it by going to some of the sites listed in the book and after being successful at two out of 5 of the sites I went to I would have to say that the book needs a new revised edition. But overall it is an outstanding book and a must for the rockhounds heading for Arizona.
This book is interesting and somewhat helpful. I purchased the 2001 edition in 2009. Some of the directions and sites were not as given, but that is to be expected. It would be nice if the author had some means of being informed of changes.Some changes that should be of interest to others are: Site 8, pg 32, Desert Roses. There were none to be found even with a walk up to and around the base of Fire Mnt. Site 20: pg 56, Parks Obsidian. Forest Road 141 has been renamed to Government Mountain Road. There is a fence around the "obsidian Tank", but there is no gate and the area is pretty well opened for samples. Site 37, page 102, Winslow petrified wood. Following the dirt road a mile or two after the bridge you will find petrified wood. There are several petrified tree remains off the shoulder of the road, however this is not the colorful petrified wood, but a brownish gray/tan with little if any color.Site 36, page 100, Joseph City Petrified wood appears now to be a trash site. Small pieces of petrified wood and agate can be found, but be careful of the broken bottles and other trash that has been dumped in the area.This is a helpful book for finding some of the minerals that are listed.Gem Trails of Arizona
This is the second Gem Trails book I bought. I find them very useful. Very beautiful, scenic drives that most would not experience on there. Just a note..... pay attention to mileage disclaimer. Not always right on point but for us it's part of the Adventure.
Well written. Good details on where to look and what to look for. We used this book extensively last year while we were in Arizona for one week. This book was a gem in helping us find the locations. We put notes in the margins of each place we visited. Another nice feature is the latitude-longitude coordinates for the locations. Based on the descriptions/directions to get to an area to search for geodes, we couldn't find the location. Obviously trail markers and land marks may have fallen down or been moved, so we just put in the GPS coordinates and were able to easily find the right location. We have since purchased a second copy for a geologist friend we have. He would love to get out to Arizona and do some collecting. Thank you, great book. Highly recommend for any novice or expert collector.
These later publishing editions are better than the earlier ones. Gem Trails of Oregon 1998 would have left me lost in the outback of Oregon. However, I had a BLM map which got me to Hampton Butte. The correction was made in the newer publication. These books are great to give me ideas about where I would like to visit, but I always try to have more than one map, just in case there is an error.
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