Rockhounding Field Safety: Heat, Mines, Cliffs and Tides

Most rockhounding trips are relaxed days outdoors, but the places with the best material are often remote, hot, steep or near old mine workings. These are the hazards that cause the most trouble, and how to avoid them.

Calvert Cliffs on the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, a shark-tooth hunting beach — The Calvert Cliffs along the Chesapeake Bay. Photo: NPS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Before you leave

Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Check the weather forecast, and for desert washes and canyons, the forecast upstream as well.
Download offline maps; many collecting areas have no phone signal.
Check road conditions. Many BLM and forest roads need high clearance and become impassable when wet.
Fill up with fuel. Distances between towns in the West are long.

Heat, cold and water

Heat is the most common danger on desert collecting trips. Carry more water than you think you need: at least a gallon per person per day in hot weather, plus extra in the vehicle. Collect early in the morning and rest in shade at midday. In mountains, weather changes fast and nights are cold even in summer, so carry a warm layer and rain gear.

Old mines and shafts

Abandoned mines are the most serious hazard in mining districts. Shafts can be hidden by brush or boards, tunnels can collapse, and the air inside can lack oxygen or contain toxic gases. Never enter an abandoned mine, and keep children and dogs well away from openings. Collect on dumps from the surface only where access is allowed.

Cliffs, banks and quarries

Do not dig into the base of cliffs, road cuts or stream banks. Undercutting brings material down on you. On fossil beaches with cliffs, such as those on the Chesapeake Bay, collect on the beach away from the cliff face. Quarry walls are unstable; only enter quarries with permission and follow the operator’s safety rules.

Water, tides and rivers

Check tide tables before beach collecting, and watch for incoming tides that can cut off a beach. River levels can rise quickly after rain upstream. Wear a life jacket when wading in deeper or fast water, and do not cross flooded roads.

Tools and eyes

Wear safety glasses whenever you hammer or chisel rock; chips fly fast and are sharp. Use a proper rock hammer rather than a carpenter’s hammer, which can chip. Wear gloves when handling sharp material and when sifting gravels.

Wildlife and plants

In the West, watch where you put your hands and feet, especially when turning rocks, because of rattlesnakes and scorpions. In the East and Midwest, check for ticks after every trip. Learn to recognise poison ivy and poison oak.

Dust and minerals

Some rocks release harmful dust when broken or cut, including those containing silica or asbestos minerals. Avoid breaking rock in enclosed spaces, wet the rock when cutting, and use a dust mask when working dusty material. Wash your hands after handling minerals such as cinnabar and galena, and keep them away from children.

First aid kit

Carry a basic first aid kit with bandages, blister care, tweezers, antiseptic and any personal medicines. For remote trips, consider a satellite messenger or personal locator beacon.