Best places for gemstone hunting? (Deming, Socorro: buying, school district, live in)

[jesslo]

I was flipping through the channels last night and saw a brief something about digging gemstones and fossils in NM. I am planning a road trip through your beautiful state this summer and was wondering if there are any good places to find them? Preferably a place you can just go out by yourself without going with a guide and having to pay a fee for them to take you. And if there are good places, where they are? Thanks for input!

[GregW]

Try this website.

http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/

Lots of info on NM minerals.

[TKO]

Rock Hound State Park near Deming is one place I'm aware of. I found a very cool geode there and I wasn't really looking.

[InTheDesert]

The Quebradas for fossils if you are passing through Socorro, NM.

http://www.nm.blm.gov/recreation/soc...adas_byway.htm

There are tons of canyons and trails open to the public. Just make sure you stop by the BLM headquarters on the south end of town off California St. and pick up a map of the area because there is private ranch land mixed in with BLM land. You may also contact the Socorro office and they may be willing to send you a map:

http://www.nm.blm.gov/sfo/sfo_home.html

Cheers~
Denise
InTheDesert
Socorro, NM

[InTheDesert]

Oh yeah, and I second RockHound:

http://www.americansouthwest.net/new...tate_park.html

...a cool place and some great history! It is pretty dang hot and windy there in the summer so just go prepared and the trails are mostly undeveloped so don't get lost! Stop by the visitor center for Rockhound state park, we found them most informative when we hiked there one summer about 5 years ago.

[Kathleen2]

My In-laws bought 5 acres in Socorro NM many years ago (Probably one of those "ocean front property" deals) and now are looking to sell it. My husband and I are wondering if it would be a good gem hunting area and we should buy it? Does anyone know the area? I have a property ID and school district # unit # and lot # but no address. Can anyone help us? We live in Ohio and it's too far to come out just to check out the property. Thanks

[Pintada Kid]

If you are looking for pretty rocks i would think that West of Socorro is a Place called Kelly N.M. and they have lots of Different interesting rocks in that area. But most of N.M. wherever they have BLM or Federal or State Land can be Great for hiking and finding most anything. Depending on how dry a Season or even on how hungry the Animals are might determine whether our Lands stay open this Summer. el pintada kid

[Vinegaroon]

Rockhound State Park is very picked through. The best gemstones are going to be in areas that have not been discovered, except by a few people.

[highdesertmutz]

Originally Posted by jesslo

I was flipping through the channels last night and saw a brief something about digging gemstones and fossils in NM. I am planning a road trip through your beautiful state this summer and was wondering if there are any good places to find them? Preferably a place you can just go out by yourself without going with a guide and having to pay a fee for them to take you. And if there are good places, where they are? Thanks for input!

May I suggest that before you come here to new mexico, that you plan your trip to a specific area of the state, and plan where you're going to hunt for minerals/gemstones or artifacts. after you have decided where you're going to actively hunt, grab yourself a BLM new mexico land map or atlas DeLorme NEW MEXICO Atlas & Gazetteer Topographic Map Book

Public Lands Information Center

one tool which may be of use to you is a handheld GPS, sold at walmart stores for about 100 bucks.
here's a website we use to download and plan our trips into the mountains and high desert areas to prospect, it's free!
Melissa Data | Data Quality Tools | Mailing Software | Lists | NCOA

why is this soooo important? it is, because the very last thing you'd want to do, is prospect on someone's private property.
we have maps we purchased online, and these maps help guide us when we 4 wheel because many county roads go through ranches/private property. it's important to know when you're on private land or BLM/state/or forest land. occasionally, when passing through private lands, some ranchers will give you the fish-eye, and sometimes will follow you to the end of their property to ensure you make no stops or wander off the road you're driving on. likewise, collecting artifacts from forest lands is against federal law. it is important to play by the rules. enjoy your trip and stay here. if we can help you out, let us know, just DM us.
http://www.americansouthwest.net/new...tate_park.html
Less work? druzy and milky quartz specimen are readily lying above ground throughout the mountains and high desert of southwest new mexico, about all you need is a 5 gallon bucket, sometimes a 4 wheel drive or an off roader is necessary to access the areas.

[mortimer]

Kathleen2 asked:

> ... In-laws bought 5 acres in Socorro NM many years ago ...
> now are looking to sell it.

> My husband and I are wondering if ... we should buy it?

> Can anyone help us?

> We live in Ohio and it's too far to come out just to check out the property.

I can help.

My guess is that the inlaws just made a gamble. It is the same gamble that you are about to consider. You admit you know nothing about the area and are unwilling/unable to visit, so why not just play the Powerball? The pain will be over much sooner.

I wouldn't buy a piece of land without thorough research from an informed perspective. (not applicable here)

I wouldn't buy a piece of land without seeing it with my own eyes.

After seeing it, I would then thoroughly research again.

The above doesn't apply if I was already an experienced and SUCCESSFUL land speculator.

There is a difference between gambling, speculating, and investing.

Almost all bare land buying comes under the category of speculating which, if you don't know what you are doing really becomes gambling.