Beryl, Aquamarine & Emerald has been recorded at 39 places in 11 states on the USA Rockhounding map. North Carolina, Maine and New Hampshire have the most. 10 are marked Ready, 0 Conditional and 28 research only, so check each place’s status before you go.
Beryl, Aquamarine & Emerald sites by state
| State | Sites | Ready | State guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 9 | 5 | North Carolina rockhounding map |
| Maine | 8 | 2 | Maine rockhounding map |
| New Hampshire | 6 | 1 | New Hampshire rockhounding map |
| South Dakota | 4 | 0 | South Dakota rockhounding map |
| South Carolina | 3 | 1 | South Carolina rockhounding map |
| Colorado | 2 | 0 | Colorado rockhounding map |
| Connecticut | 2 | 0 | Connecticut rockhounding map |
| Georgia | 2 | 1 | Georgia rockhounding map |
| Idaho | 1 | 0 | Idaho rockhounding map |
| Maryland | 1 | 0 | Maryland rockhounding map |
| Montana | 1 | 0 | Montana rockhounding map |
Places to find beryl, aquamarine & emerald
Sorted with Ready sites first.
- Hogg Mine — Public & Guided Mineral Digs, Troup County, Georgia: Ready
- Bethel Outdoor Adventure — Maine Gems & Minerals Sluice, Oxford County, Maine: Ready
- Dig Maine Gems — West Paris Tailings Dig Site, Oxford County, Maine: Ready
- Ruggles Mine — Public Mineral Collecting, Grafton County, New Hampshire: Ready
- Emerald Hollow Mine — Native Prospecting Permit, Alexander County, North Carolina: Ready
- Emerald Village — Crabtree Emerald Mine Dump Dig, Mitchell County, North Carolina: Ready
- Emerald Village — Gemstone Mine Flume, Mitchell County, North Carolina: Ready
- Emerald Village — McKinney Mine Dumps Mineral Collecting, Mitchell County, North Carolina: Ready
- Gem Mountain Gemstone Mine — Managed Flume, Mitchell County, North Carolina: Ready
- Diamond Hill Mine — Public Crystal Dig, Abbeville County, South Carolina: Ready
- Mount Antero Aquamarine District, Chaffee County, Colorado: Research only
- Mount White Aquamarine District, Chaffee County, Colorado: Research only
- Haddam Pegmatite District Research, Middlesex County, Connecticut: Research only
- Connecticut Pegmatite Districts Research, Statewide County, Connecticut: Research only
- Blue Ridge Pegmatite/Mineral Research, Fannin / Gilmer / Union / Rabun County, Georgia: Research only
- Bumpus Quarry Research, Oxford County, Maine: Research only
- Harvard Quarry Research, Oxford County, Maine: Research only
- Newry Pegmatite District Research, Oxford County, Maine: Research only
- Noyes Mountain Pegmatite Research, Oxford County, Maine: Research only
- Paris Hill Pegmatite District Research, Oxford County, Maine: Research only
- Topsham Pegmatite Research, Sagadahoc County, Maine: Research only
- Maryland Beryl and Pegmatite Research, Statewide County, Maryland: Research only
- Calvert Hill Mine Area, Beaverhead County, Montana: Research only
- Gilsum Beryl/Pegmatite Research, Cheshire County, New Hampshire: Research only
- Beryl Mountain Research, Grafton County, New Hampshire: Research only
- Grafton Pegmatite District Research, Grafton County, New Hampshire: Research only
- Deerfield Mineral Research, Rockingham County, New Hampshire: Research only
- Acworth Mine & Pegmatite Research, Sullivan County, New Hampshire: Research only
- Hiddenite / Stony Point Pegmatite Research, Alexander County, North Carolina: Research only
- Crabtree Emerald District Research, Mitchell County, North Carolina: Research only
- Spruce Pine Mining District Research, Mitchell / Yancey / Avery County, North Carolina: Research only
- North Carolina Beryl Research, Western North Carolina County, North Carolina: Research only
- Anderson County Quartz/Amethyst Research, Anderson County, South Carolina: Research only
- Iva Area Mineral Research, Anderson County, South Carolina: Research only
- Southern Black Hills Pegmatite District Research, Custer / Pennington County, South Dakota: Research only
- Black Hills Critical Minerals Research, Custer / Pennington / Lawrence County, South Dakota: Research only
- Hill City Pegmatite Research, Pennington County, South Dakota: Research only
- Keystone Pegmatite & Mineral District Research, Pennington County, South Dakota: Research only
- Emerald Creek Garnet Area, Idaho: Protected / viewing only
What beryl is
Beryl is a beryllium aluminium silicate that grows as six-sided prisms in granite pegmatites. Its gem varieties are emerald (green, coloured by chromium or vanadium), aquamarine (blue to blue-green), heliodor (yellow) and morganite (pink). Common beryl is opaque, pale green or yellow and far more abundant than gem material.
How to identify beryl
- Six-sided prisms with flat ends, unlike the pointed ends of quartz.
- Hardness 7.5 to 8: harder than quartz.
- Glassy lustre; often found with feldspar, quartz, mica, garnet and tourmaline.
- Gem crystals are transparent; common beryl is cloudy.
Where beryl, aquamarine and emerald are found
Emerald and aquamarine come from North Carolina, at Hiddenite (Emerald Hollow Mine, a fee site) and the Spruce Pine district. Colorado’s Mount Antero is famous for aquamarine at high altitude, much of it under claims. Maine’s Oxford County and New Hampshire pegmatites produce aquamarine and beryl, and Georgia’s Hogg Mine offers aquamarine digs on open days.
Rules
Most pegmatites are private or claimed. Fee mines are the best way to dig for beryl legally; on national forest land, small amounts may be collected for personal use where no claims exist.
Questions
Where can I find emeralds and aquamarine in the USA?
North Carolina’s Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite and the Spruce Pine district, Mount Antero in Colorado, pegmatites in Maine and New Hampshire, and Hogg Mine in Georgia.
How can I tell beryl from quartz?
Beryl crystals are six-sided prisms with flat ends and are slightly harder than quartz, whose crystals usually end in a point.
What the map statuses mean is explained in how map statuses work; collecting rules for each kind of land are in rules by land type.
Other rocks and minerals
Agate · Geodes · Quartz · Jasper · Petrified Wood · Fossils · Shark Teeth · Gold · Garnet · Sapphire · Crystals · Calcite · Chalcedony · Copper · Diamonds · Fluorite · Mica · Pyrite · Tourmaline
Data: USA Rockhounding atlas records, checked through 2026-08-30. See all rocks and minerals.