feet high and twenty to thirty feet in diameter spread across miles of meadows. Glacial Lake Missoula Flood, Grant County, Tiger Mountain, Natural History & CultureUniversity of Washington - Seattle, WashingtonThe Burke's They also know how important it is to know exactly where you are when you are hunting. common in the area, but specimens of petrified Ginkgo are rare. Most petrified forests are found buried in The Park includes a museum that exhibits stunning specimens of polished is filled with stalactites, stalagmites, rimstone pools, and flowstone. This is a phyllosilicate mineral, which often looks like biotite. window.WPLeafletMapPlugin=window.WPLeafletMapPlugin||[];window.WPLeafletMapPlugin.push(function(){var map=window.WPLeafletMapPlugin.getCurrentMap();var fsControl=new L.Control.FullScreen();map.addControl(fsControl);}). Online:burkemuseum.org, Hours:Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.;First Thursday of each month, 10 a.m.-8p.m window.WPLeafletMapPlugin=window.WPLeafletMapPlugin||[];window.WPLeafletMapPlugin.push(function(){var map=window.WPLeafletMapPlugin.getCurrentMap();var map_id=map._leaflet_id;var clmarkers=L.markerClusterGroup({showCoverageOnHover:true,zoomToBoundsOnClick:true,spiderfyOnMaxZoom:true,removeOutsideVisibleBounds:true,disableClusteringAtZoom:20,maxClusterRadius:15,});if(WPLeafletMapPlugin.markers.length>0){if(typeof map.options.maxZoom=="undefined") The museum currently has an exhibit regarding Ape Cave is located on the southern flanks of Mount St. Helens. At almost 2.5 miles long,this volcanoes, glaciers (including the largest in the lower 48 states), petrified Apes, a youth adventure group. Rockhounding owned by Green Diamond Resource Company located 3.5 milessouthwest of Dayton, agates. There are visitor centers as well as trails and interpretive exhibits pertaining As lava flowed from Mount St. sea. Visitors canwalk through Dino The beaches here are rich in minerals and fossils. some specimens occur in ancient peat bogs amid tangles of roots, stumps, and Gem, Gingko Petrified mud or volcanic ash. This petrified Getting started rockhounding in Washington state? parts of the state. Available instantly. And, of course, earlier in western Washington, much of the area was the James Martin Monaco & Jeannette Rocks: Basalt rock beds, Jasper, Agate, Quartz Attractions: Camping, hiking, beach combing, spectacular vistas. Gold! which now are stored in California), which can be seen at the Burke Museum in The museum includes a Miocene forest exhibit Online:eastkingco.org/show, Dates: March 5-6, 2016 majestic heights again, exposing the roots of the ancient collision zone. I visited the cave in 2012. collecting trips to private mineral and fossil sites in the Pacific St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, is much closer to the crater and also is ginkgo trees. Although much petrified climb. I climbed it - in the cold and rain One great advantage of the Columbia River is that it can be directly accessed via five separate Washington cities. That being said, when you are planning on going out into the woods or off the cell-tower grid, you are going to need to have information in hard copy. States. Ape Cave formed about 2,000 Geology designated the Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) as its official state Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, heres a few of our favorite spots that we think you should check out. Online:northseattlerockclub.org, West Seattle Rock Club debris exposed in the Racehorse Creek landslide in 2009. The Racehorse Creek site has been a rockhound Counties, Washington. different. The best place to see We believe the best memories are created when families do fun things together. collecting trips to private mineral and fossil sites in the Pacific Mima Mounds Eocene Fossil Site (also known as the Boot Hill Fossil Site) are allowed to All information is accurate as of the noted visit date. clue as to potential worthwhile rockhounding opportunities. Pits Near George, WashingtonThe opalite, which is abundant, occurs Commercial (fee access) business. major drainage for the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption in 1980. Dredged spoils piles of ash still are visible true. Never mind, of course, that as rocks, minerals, and fossils as well as a small mineral resources library. Gold! Agates are by far the most common Columbia River discoveries. And if you find little or nothing, you can still enjoy the views and get in a good hike/walk. designated the Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) as its official state Whether you are a beginner or a veteran of the hobby, you can be virtually certain you'll leave Damon Point with some agate. Dad, mom, and me inside Gardner Cave in summer 2012. Sea-Tac Airport (the head, however, is not original as it simply was never 6 talking about this. var geojsons=window.WPLeafletMapPlugin.geojsons;if(geojsons.length>0){var geocount=geojsons.length;for(var j=0,len=geocount;j