Hounding for Gorgeous Rose Quartz, Tourmaline, and Feldspar! Perusing Pegmatites in South Dakota!

In this one, we enjoy a hunt from all the way back in August when we went to South Dakota to do some Rock Hounding! We start of the day by exploring some pegmatite material to search for interesting finds and turn up a fair bit of very nice rose quartz, tourmaline, mica, and feldspar! After that we head on over to one of my favorite roads in South Dakota, Iron Mountain Road! Before wrapping up the hunt though, I just HAD to show you one incredible geological feature: a cliff face of hot pink rose quartz! After we get back to the shop, I get everything cleaned off to get some closeups, but doing so made me wonder, is it possible to excavate the tourmaline with my air scribe? Thank you all so much for watching! I hope you all enjoy this throwback hunt and look forward to next week's hunt where we will be enjoying my BEST EVER hunt in Florida! I ABSOLUTELY can not wait to show you all that one!
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• Highlights!
Looking for some other fantastic rockhounding and fossil hunting channels to watch? Well check out any of these phenomenal channels for more treasure hunting content!
Wild Kyle: Wild Kyle: / @wildkyle
Paleocris: / @paleocris
Pulitzer Opal: / @pulitzeropal
Ozone Fine Art-Ventures: / @ozonefineartventures
406 Findings: / @406findings
The Rogue Rockhound: / @theroguerockhound
Du5tin Finds Rocks: / @dustinfindsrocks
Michael Van Dyke: / @michaelvandyke
Rockhounding Adventures: / @rockhoundingadventures
Agate Angler: / @agateangler
World of Rockhounds: / @worldofrockhounds
Montana Rock Mom: / @montanarockmom
Gravel Bar Hopper: / @gravelbarhopper
Marlaina Atkins: / jmrlsatkins
Rockhounding Life: / @rockhoundinglife
Agate Enchantment & Rock Wizardry: / @agateenchantmentrockw...
Currently Rockhounding: / @currentlyrockhounding
Katydid Rocks!: / bigskyartworks
Agate Dad: / @agatedad
Quest for Details: / @questfordetails
Rookie Rockhounding: / crazycrazysillyfresh
Mamlambo: / @mamlambofossils
Michigan Rocks: / jugglerguy1
#TheFinders #Rockhounding #SouthDakota

[@kellyharper367]

Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: boondocked them roads years ago...grieve not being able to roam about. Thank you for putting me in your napsack and taking me along! Rock on!

[@widehollow]

I can't get out anymore so I just enjoy these videos. Thanks for the fum.

[@marthafenimore4279]

When all these rocks are a 1000 miles away, there is no way to pick a favorite. They all call my name. Wonderful video.

[@leslyeschoenhuth1107]

* I Loved watching you prep the Tourmaline.. A Cliff face of them & Feldspar & Mics.. I wanted to look there myself.. Wonderful Spot to see...

[@karenhenriksen217]

The tourmaline or ..... . I can't thoose. Love them all. 🤩

[@Ken_G.]

Tourmalini is definitely a conspiracy to obscure the existence of the great Flying Spaghetti Monster. This entire planet is a molten core surrounded by a solid exterior and is therefore a ravioli. Hail Pastafari. Oh yeah, nice rocks man.

[@khismet]

🍝 pastarini tourmalini 😁💎

[@shellyfahren1936]

And HANDS DOWN the best ad I’ve ever watched! No lie!! Sounds of Star Wars . Best 15 minutes on an ad I’ve ever spent!!! 🤩

[@TheoKellison]

Dont you love those!!😂 every now and then you get an actually very entertaining ad!

[@theresaherrrera8224]

That is so cool....I like this hunting too....You do what you like 👍😏....it's all beautiful 😍.....great job 👍....blessed weekend....

[@rockersfromaz3001]

I have to say this was a great video and I also have to say I have never seen anyone get so lucky with rockhounding like you do! Doesn’t matter where you go, you always find amazing stones! How can someone ALWAYS be so lucky!!

[@ZeldaRosenthal]

Wow, Theo, you are the lucky man!!! What a great video and I thank you!

[@GeoRockNerd]

Great tourmaline finds! Sweeeet!!! Oh and at 11:27, that’s graphic granite! Interpenetrated crystals of quartz in feldspar! Makes GREAT cabs!

[@feleciaburrous6821]

I am in love with rocks! My wonderful husband thinks I my have a problem. He could be right hahaha. Thank you for what you do, I’m not able to get out as much as I’d like but so enjoy your videos! Rock on!!!!

[@kellyharper367]

Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: Dejavu! Been on that road...sat on those rocks. I'm so happy to have visited those sacred places again with you, Alexa, and the mini-wolves. 🐺 🐺 🐺 🦊

[@barbarae4194]

That was great. It's nice to have a change once in a while to see some new materials. Thanks 👍

[@darrinwilliams5715]

Man you get the coolest material no matter what you are looking for. Great video. Rock on!! 😎

[@graemero5532]

Thanks for showing me South Dakota, very beautiful land. Rocks are nice too.

[@patriciabock4299]

Beautiful amazing results of that hunt! Awesome!

[@lindaacker4615]

That trip was a memory lane trip for me! Same road traveled, same awesome scenery! Beautiful rocks, love them all. I also really enjoyed the roadside stop where you showed the feldspar and rose quartz cliffs. Great video!!

[@TheoKellison]

That is just such an amazing area!😄 we go to the black hills every year and still find new things to ooo and awe at every time😂 but that rose quartz cliff is a must see every year; it really never gets old staring at wild rose quartz of that size and quality!

[@rushmore-patriot]

Where is that

[@thegatesofdawn...1386]

Love those rocks, great adventure 😀. And not to mention a great snack of tourmalini!

[@2wahineandadog]

OOOO I like the excavation out - beautiful pieces

[@lotsoftats7620]

Awesome change of pace. Noted: must see Iron Mountain road in the Black Hills. Yes sir, lol. 😁

[@annettebromley9217]

That cliff face of rose quartz is stunning but yes, it is leaverite, please. So leave it right there in its fantabulously gorgeous cliff. Love your adventures. Thanks for sharing and letting me join you, virtually. Love it.

[@victoriajohnson6349]

I love that you left them partially intact. They are so beautiful this way.

[@bruninomorin3586]

Wow ! Great finds! Thank you so much for sharing !

[@1catfishuntermiller753]

Hiya Theo, hey I just love feldspar and it makes awesome cabs too, rose quartz is another one I love, that pink pegmatite is so beautiful, awesome video too thanks for the bring along. Termaline is the apple in the pie, wow! I love gemstones and my addiction is beautiful stones and rocks and Minerals. I do have a problem, but it's a awesome problem to have. I hope you and yours, have a awesome blessed day. Cya! 😺🐟 out!

[@RockandRoadRockhounding]

I've stopped at that same rose quartz outcrop several times while I was living out there just to admire how cool it is. Iron Mountain Road is one of my favorite roads in the Black Hills (along with the road through Spearfish Canyon). The prepped crystals looked great!

[@TheoKellison]

Loooove iron mountain road!😄 we found it completely by accident the first time we drove it and now its a must do every SD trip😂 just to drool at that rose quartz if nothing else🤣

[@grantfahlman1815]

What a nice little trip down roads I was on years ago, in my early teens, with my parents. The Black Hills are a truly spectacular marvel of geology and the rest of the natural wonders aren't so bad either!

[@TheoKellison]

Absolutely adore the black hills! Such a unique area and a dream zone for rockhounding😄 no shortage of agates and fantastic gems! The amazing scenery is just the icing on the cake!😁

[@jrex9197]

Love all those finds & a beautiful place to find them. Fun video

[@tr654tr2]

What a great rockhounding adventure! I so much love the rose quartz cliff, and you sitting on it, just loving it as much as I am. You mentioned how this is not like your "normal" rockhounding, but I loved it. I have loved several of your adventures to South Dakota-great to have them in the mix! Thanks for sharing!

[@CityRockhounding]

That's so cool, what a great trip. Thanks for sharing. You always share so many beautiful pieces of art in every video. Always inspiring for my own work!

[@TheoKellison]

Thank you so much!😄 that truly means a lot!

[@Cossychick]

My first rock i ever found was a bit of rose quartz on a beach when i was on a school camp many years ago. Loved rocks ever since.

[@pamelaarana1942]

That was a great trip. It’s nice to break away from the norm occasionally. Glad you had fun!

[@keithcunningham7925]

Very cool I think we got some good feldspar in Michigan at least it looks like feldspar thank you for a great video

[@debidevaney8398]

I know this video is a year old, but it'll NEVER get old!!!!!😂 Thanks for sharing, Theo.

[@dawnwilkinson8717]

Beautiful rocks and stunning scenery. Thank you for sharing.

[@sandmaker]

It has been a few years, but we have been down that beautiful road. I'm glad you foud some tormalini, rose quartz and felspar. Last time we were there, we saw some folks core drilling. They gave us several 2 foot pieces of solid rose quartz cores. Cut, shape, instant cabs. Keep having fun!!! Be happy, safe and stay healthy 😷⚒

[@TheoKellison]

Oh man! Cores alone are cool enough but rose quartz cores!? I would be elated!😂 talk about easy trimming and ready made cabs!

[@jaguarsky55]

Beautiful rocks, mind blowing geology, and those views! I'm really jealous.

[@rkhnd51]

This was very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!

[@judymarkel8029]

Wow cool. I have never seen rose quartz in the wild.

[@jamesblondeau1029]

Wow you read my mind i thought about your air scribe and extraction. Lol. If u went back and got a chunk that had lots of large tourmaline crystals and didnt look to pretty in other ways that might be reason enough for extraction. Simply amazing sir.

[@TheoKellison]

Yes for sure! I wasnt sure if the scribe would work or not or if the host rock was going to be too hard for the scribe but now that i know itll work i am DEFINITELY going to be grabbing some of those bigger pieces next time!

[@jbelme1]

I just acquired a large specimen of Brazilian black tourmaline. I didn’t realize that it occurred in North America. Great video.

[@patriciamckean4186]

Sparkly goodness and rose quartz.

[@Justfollowthecrumbs]

Exquisite pieces, I have a window sill filled with rose quartz, so pretty 😍. What magnificent scenery too!

[@JhonDiamond2021]

great find guys, beautiful rose quartz 👍

[@rosemaryspringer4239]

I will never be able to think of Tourmaline the same!

[@Fishkut_RL]

Is the rose quartz cliff on iron mountain road??? I am taking a road trip with my dad from Portland to Minneapolis and we are coming through South Dakota, I would love it if we could see that cliff!!! And in the famous words of KatyDidRocks, "so many beautiful rocks!!!"

[@drei414]

Agate dad and this channel the kellison are my favorite 🥰

[@bumblebeedragon6133]

Sweet finds! The Dakota’s are on my bucket list of hounding places I want to go. I luv Rose Quartz and had several large pieces on my front porch, bigger than the largest one you found. Someone stole all of them off my porch in the last couple days! 😩 Who is mean enough to do that?! They also stole a huge piece of petrified wood - but since I can’t get rose quarts near me and they had been in my family for years, it makes me super sad. My yard is fenced and you have to get through a gate - so they had to make a couple trips to get them. Mean person!

[@cordymarchione3471]

That was all so awesome! I enjoyed it so much. After a while most videos blend together because they are so much a like. This was totally different and very interesting! Thanks for sharing it. ❤️

[@patrickkillilea5225]

Those rose quartz cliffs are really awesome!

[@Mummaearth]

Always loved stones for a variety of reasons and collected randomly all my life - until last year - after a massive breakdown as an unpaid carer - i was running out of things to help me to save my life here in uk after almost 60 years of hellish treatment, stones were the only thing and i started by deciding to rock tumble in a tiny house - now have a cabin built with electricity and still trying to get other things in place so i can begin to play properly - i see many things in stones and have many strange conclusions with some and totally amazed each time i am able to search - making my own drive i had 4 tonnes of smoothed stones to play with and my disabled daughter and grandson and i all have a bucket load between us of our favs - looking forward to the future much more than i was .................

[@Mummaearth]

UK England - doesnt have the magnificent stones usa have but i will be learning to film some of our adventures once i learn how to be less 'tech afraid' = good bless all

[@susieschilling4009]

Thanks for sharing!!! Some folks never mention where to go. Appreciate

[@donnabeaudin9114]

What gorgeous finds! Loved the crystals in feldspar! That’s something we have quite a bit of in NH , feldspar and mica! Really awesome trip, so fun to tag along with you guys! I have to go cook some tourmalini for dinner🍝🍜

[@rogerballoujr.6244]

Yep MA here, and every hunk of granite has mica and quartz in it in chunks just about...

[@booboobear5710]

This is my favorite video so far Theo!

[@nicolagraynewzealandrockho8976]

Wow that rise quartz hill was soooo cool. What a fantastic trip.

[@seashoremudlark3916]

Beautiful. I appreciate the natural state of the rosey cliff and feldspar outcrop....and all of the mica and tourmaline...ahhhmazing! Thnx theo..and alexis

[@connielynn195]

I have never been to South Dakota. Thanks so much for the trip. I would like to try to get there myself in the next year or so. Thanks also for just excavating those tourmaline so that they are a little more pronounced on the rock. I liked that much better. Thanks for sharing.

[@aleta5873]

Amazing ! Very rich views and information. Thanks. I love 'tourmalini' too...

[@janegalloway4677]

Omg i get sooooo jealous watching yor videos Theo, every single time i watch u, your lovely lady & dog pack, you find amazing stones, the agates you find, omg, you are sooo lucky, i come from new zealand & sadly we dont have the amazing mineral deposits u have in the states. As a carver also, you must have absolute pleasure in carving some of that stone, my imagination runs wild when i see sum of the stones u find. You are truely lucky.

[@donnalantz7981]

Wow I think im in love now. I love rose quarts. This entire video was just spectacular. I love everything you found and showed us. I have been to Mt. Rushmore many years ago. It was awesome being able to see it. Thanks for such an awesome video.

[@debramaertens893]

I love the Black Hills. We took many family vacations there. It’s where I first developed my love of rocks. That shot of all the mica deposits was fun. Love that pink feldspar! My all time favorite find was a huge chunk of schist with hundreds of tiny garnets.

[@TheoKellison]

Looove the garnet schist up there! There are some extremely facetable almandines up there!😁 ive actually taken some of that schist and tumbled it for 24 hours just to make the garnets stand out more and they are just too cool!

[@patriciamckean4186]

Rose quarts is beautiful...

[@tenaedmonson1213]

Very beautiful !

[@eyeguyeyeguy1]

Cool vid Theo. S.D. is my home state, great rocks in the Black Hills. One little thing you may or may not know about Rose quartz is if you take 2 pieces and in a pitch black room, rub them together very fast and hard, you will see a greenish light almost like a spark at the contact point. It has a strange smell when you do this, reminds me of dental drilling when I was a kid. It does not work with white quartz, only rose.

[@barbymccain2436]

I’m so jealous of y’all, I mean, you guys lol Beautiful just beautiful.

[@kylaabegglen1275]

What a fun trip! Beautiful pieces you brought home. I love black tourmaline 🖤 Thank you for sharing this Theo!✌️🤠

[@hockeyrace]

Fantastic! This was a awesome episode. I love feldspars as much as agates. I am planning a trip for sure this summer to go rockhounding in that area. I will take that road FO SHO! Rose Quartz is my jam! It’s so beautiful and attracting. I saw Alexa touch the boulder. She probably feels the same way. 🤷‍♀😁 I have to touch it when I see it. Thanks so much for sharing. It’s was freaking awesome! Stay Crystal 💫 Mari

[@rosesadler7187]

Loved this vid Theo, there was some really cool stuff there. I wish I could find something like that in Australia. Keep the vids coming, I really enjoy them. Cheers from Oz.

[@donc5220]

Very cool beans man , mmmmm Tourmanliini ahaha

[@lindadieter9927]

Will be out there for two was in June. Loved the video!! You know only motorcycle riders understand why dogs stick their heads out the window.

[@Ontario_Rockhound]

Awesome finds Theo, the tourmaline is my favorite in the video, edit the graphic granite is awesome too.

[@kimconley4679]

Awesome finds and video, Theo. Absolutely beautiful scenery. I wish I could visit that area, I'm in Mississippi so it would be difficult to make it to the Northwestern part of the US so I'm grateful you have shared your adventure.

[@raziel3726]

Amazing video 👍👍

[@shellyfahren1936]

@theo I would love to see what you do with the feldspar and quartz. I’m in southern Colorado and it is abundant. I do find some extra special pieces sometimes, so i would love to get some ideas! You’ve definitely inspired me to try excavating!

[@largent45]

Wow, what amazing finds! That beautiful rose quartz, those fabulous tourmaline crystals, and feldspar and mica! What an amazing trip! And all that and the views to boot! I know you and Alexis just came back from florida, And this just filler video, but man, what great finds and the pegmatite that those beautiful shiny areas of mica are around the tourmaline, you should try stabilizing and doing something with, like kurt did, because mica is beautiful, and you are a fabulous craftsman! Thanks for sharing!!

[@TheoKellison]

I love that area so much😄 theres really no shortage of incredible finds out there! Already counting down the days to go back😂

[@cynergy4]

Dang! I wish that I had known about that road when I was in the Black Hills many years ago. Not likely to be going back anytime soon so thanks for sharing! Love me some pegmatites!!!!

[@sfbfriend]

Favorite? All of them 😁

[@denisthemineralist4033]

That feldspar up there, especially the blue-grey stuff with the excellent sheen, polishes SO well. I'll have to send you a pic of some cabs that's I've made from it. Wish I had known you were heading that way - last year I found a road cut up there where I was pulling out single black tourmaline crystals about an inch across and even found some tiny blue-green ones. And yeah, that rose quartz vein is so intense - it's nice to just sit and stare at it.

[@gwynnfarrell1856]

Tourmalini, feldsparoni, quartzatini. What a menu! Definitely not meant for beasts like Drogon. That was some beautiful country you drove through. Were the tunnels once used for trains? Those are cool! Thanks for sharing a fun adventure!

[@stellaandstone2348]

The tunnels were constructed specifically for that road. I grew up in the Black Hills and have been on the Iron Mountain Highway many times. Theo didn't mention the pig tail bridges, but they are lots of fun, too. The Iron Mountain Highway and the Needles Highway were both carefully laid out to be especially scenic, and were built by WPA crews in the 1930s.

[@gwynnfarrell1856]

@@stellaandstone2348 Thank you for the interesting information!

[@paigelee6321]

Awesome finds 😊💙

[@rebeccaofsunnybrookefarm8469]

Bucket list trip... Mt Rushmore

[@映彩蓮]

真的是太棒的旅程了，美麗的風景，美麗的礦石

[@cozyfrogASMR]

Black Tourmaline is my favorite, I went to blue ridge Georgia and found one piece of quartz w little black Tourmaline spokes growing in it, I freaked!! maybe 2 others w v small Tourmaline ontop if it but not as big as chuncks as any of yours

[@susanfusuma6472]

My boyfriend and I will visiting the Black Hills next week. Are we allowed to take home rocks wherever we see them on the roadside? We’re new to this amazing hobby and don’t want to break any rules. Thank you for your very informative videos, Theo!👍🏻👍🏻

[@dansrocks3739]

I know a place where I can get two big boulders of rose quartz, but cant get to them because they are deep in the woods. Can only take out little by little. Love Rose Quartz.

[@vtx2023]

11:22 must be graphic granite. its microcline feldspar with quartz. it forms when both minerals crystallize at the same time

[@Cliffwalkerrockhounding]

YES! Get that rose quartz all up in your chakra! I for one prefer source hunting over anonymous river stone. It looked like a great trip with some cool new minerals. How far is it of a drive from Montanaland?

[@Algoldprospecting]

Forget about it. Lol. Cool tourmaline

[@lulumiller7906]

I love all those rocks is crystal quartz and stuff you found they're beautiful what is the tool that you use to excavate it to show off the stones inside the Rock

[@cynthiakoepke2649]

I put a box of tissues by my sitting spot…. Very often Your videos cause me to Drool 🤤🥰😘

[@pamelalovesboundaries]

I love mining videos ❤️

[@Ontario_Rockhound]

Ooh!!! I know exactly what that peice at 11:32 is called! It's known as graphic granite, I collected some last summer and polished up one peice it's fascinating material, it occurs because of the specific intergrowth of the quartz and feldspar. Also side note it's a bit finicky to work especially on the edges when ever you polish and never tumble it, it will fracture and break apart easily if tumbled.

[@susie5710]

I’m from Maine we also have it here. Graffiti granite

[@susie5710]

Graphic

[@Ontario_Rockhound]

@@susie5710 very cool, the stuff I found came from central Ontario, I actually posted some videos on it in and around Dec 2021.

[@Ontario_Rockhound]

@@susie5710 also my material had pink feldspar instead of the white, and the spot I collected it from had peristerite as well and I found a couple flakes of peristerite with that same graphic design.

[@brandihoffmann4243]

The tourmaline is gorgeous! Excited to see footage if extracted crystals. Glad i stumbled upon your site. Have you rock hounded in minnesota along the north shore of lake superior?

[@amyjones7962]

Oh em gee!!!! And I haven’t even watched the video yet! 🤓😃😂😂😂🤓

[@Tealtra]

Those tourmaline were just awsome. Think about extraction for jewelry with the black tourmaline. That some neat jewelry, just saying.

[@jmparra9451]

Hey Theo you should come down to Arizona!! There are beautiful minerals here! I have a bunch of beautiful rocks that I've been collecting over the year and need someone to help me identify what they are...

[@inthewoods80]

Yeah last summer when I was there I almost drove off the road when I saw that whole wall of rose quartz 😵‍💫

[@macmcabee328]

Hello Theo. Great video. Great rocks. May I ask what is the tool you were using to "excavate" the tourmaline? I would like to know. I have a couple of rotary tools but would like to have ont that impacts. Found the air scribe but want one that is electric powered rather than air. You have some very good videos. Keep it up. Bless you. Mac

[@richardtaihitu8998]

Warna batu2 yg indah , coba di poles pasti jauh lebih indah lagi 👍🌟

[@ashleyaltmyer607]

Hey! My boyfriend and I will be in the black hills rockhounding. If you don’t mind sharing where exactly where you when you found the black tourmaline and rose quartz?

[@anicabutnaru1459]

Sunt m-ai demult !