Rockhounding Colorado: Opal Hill

Went to Opal Hill in Fruita, Co. for a short rockhounding trip.

[@MrDuffy81]

I found one underneath the giant rock on the top of the hill. I saw the light hitting it with the setting sun. We looked for hours but I did not know what they looked like. I probably had many. We made screen boxes and everything. They are covered in the matrix material and if you don't see the opal, you may not recognize it as opal, cuz it just looks like dusty small rocks.

[@veronicamoore3777]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and explaining things.

[@MsSandraCGL]

I'm glad you're getting back out finding rocks

[@sarahgoss3859]

omw in September!!! ty sooooo much xox congrats on the new house

[@puffymagu]

On the northwest side of opal hill there is a semicircular depression. Looks like half of a meteor crater. On the northern edge of that the opals litter the ground. No hunting required.

[@coryroberts7519]

Ha, a friend told me about this place as it is close to my house. Imagine my surprise finding another Cory R. on KZbin here talking about it ;) I will take your advice and seek out this depression you are talking about.

[@s.engelsman4521]

Where is opal hill in Colorado?Is opal hill open to the public or do you need permission to go hunt there?

[@s.engelsman4521]

@@coryroberts7519 Can you tell me where Opal hill is? I would really appreciate the tip as Im coming for a short visit to see my daughter on the 7tn and morning of the 8th of Aug. This would be a great daytrip if not too far from the Denver area. Would like trying panning, but public places are too picked over and you can't find much. It would be great to find a nice little opal for her birthday!

[@coryroberts7519]

@@s.engelsman4521 Right on, what a great hike for a birthday! Mine is the 9th of august. =) anywho sorry i missed your last query. So if you take the bridge over the river Once you are in Fruita, there is a road shortly after it that goes east (should be your right if you are going south.) If you follow that road to the end there are multiple places to park...Before the big parking lot is another littler lot to park that is right in front of a big "hill" and That is Opal Hill. I don't recall if there is a sign at the parking lot but I do recall there was some kind of signage at the trail head and one on top of the hill that says it is Opal Hill. It has been over a year since I went up that way so this is all a bit hazy. I do know if you get to the "main" parking lot at the end you have gone too far.... and will have passed the Hill which looks kind of like a mini plateau. This place is a great area for rockhounds, I hope this info helps!! Oh one other thing, the Hill is right next to Snooks Bottom Lake, so if you google earth that you oughta get a good idea where it is at. Have Fun!

[@coryroberts7519]

@@s.engelsman4521 Oh I assumed you were coming to the western slope of Colorado. This area is like 5-6 hours from Denver unfortunately. I totally misunderstood and thought you said you were coming from Denver.

[@EDLaw-wo5it]

Man i am kicking myself. I lived in Grand J for some time and trucked oilfield equipment all over that country. Oh if I had been rockhounding then! I know Douglas pass well and could tell you how to get to a oil location or two that are close to the highway. Let me know if I can help and we will be out there soon to hunt those rocks. Maybe run into you, Havagudun Bud.

[@PugZDesigns]

Turquartz?

[@reneespiricueta3543]

Great video. No reason to ruin such a beautiful area with trash.

[@marcelineingot9359]

Hate it when people litter anywhere. Staying in Nathrop this summer for vacation, looking forward to doing some exploring and rock hunting. Nice video.

[@dudepadilly561]

Umm, I saw you pick up some chalcedony and some type of jasperoid or other crypto crystalline silicates,didnt really see any opal though.

[@noodlefish8228]

also what I saw.

[@cylentstoner]

Nice video man

[@realdonkey2141]

Fire agate in the opal potch is neat to find there too.

[@carolkemp2571]

Very interesting. I hope you will make more videos!

[@Patchez1mom]

My husband and I travel all the time and we're always picking up what we think are cool rocks how can you tell where are good Gems or just a cool rock what advice would you give somebody like us

[@MTreatVO]

Best advice I could give is really to just research them. Buy a field Identification Book for rocks in the state you live. There are also a lot of self guided "rockhound" books that tell you what trails to hike, how to drive to the trail head, what rocks you can find, etc. That in combination with the Field Identification Guide is the best way to really start getting a grip on what you have. A lot of these books already come with a MOHS scale of hardness in them, but either way look it up on google images and carry a nail and a penny with you when you go out, cross referencing the hardness of the Mineral along with the help from the Field Guide can really narrow down exactly what you have. Best of Luck! Hope you find something amazing!

[@amaizingworld880]

at the base of the hill are some opalized wood. Better quality then what he us showing.

[@FLIPPER1439]

Just subbed..love to watch you all digging for rocks.especially these opals.. I lived In Wyoming..found lots of neat rocks..an agate that was very big. Also State of Washington..I have many diff rocks..some from St Helens and Mt Rainer. Awesome 👏🏻 Do you ever send some of the rocks etc you find to people?

[@MTreatVO]

I never have but it wouldnt bother me to do so.

[@liamredmill9293]

Respect nature,right on

[@TeresaDupuis]

Seems like it would be hard to differentiate chert from these kinds of opals?

[@MTreatVO]

Easiest way I have found is color and inclusions, at least in this spot. Most of the Inclusions that occur in the opal are still very smoothed over. The cleavage is also not quite as smooth as Chert or Flint. Under a Jewelers Loop you can tell.

[@jordankay8578]

I just moved to colorado and Im dying to go hunting. I went for a walk today.. in TOWN, and Found 3 what resemble rose quartz crystals, and some regular looking crystals(unsure) and one (what i think are crystals but I need someone with more knowledge to help me Id them) I have this one piece with a silver flakey metallic looking chunk sticking out.. and one rose quartz looking stone thats more of a light light lavander tint.. I found about 30 stones that peaked my attention on my 3 mile walk through town today. I love stones.. rocks crystals everything about them. Iv been a stoner since I was 3 years old. And iv been trying to find a good place to find some stuff close to my area. I carried all 30 stones home with me.

[@MTreatVO]

Sounds like an awesome day of Picking! I think the Silver Flakey Stuff is probably Mica. If you watch my Mica Mine video i find quite a bit of it, that mite help you identify it a bit. Easiest way to identify what you have is first to determine the hardness and go from there. If you google Mohs Scale of Hardness you can probably find one that will help you get started. Happy Hunting!

[@bunnyakers]

Nice...Beautiful view..me being a west virginia girl..I understand a beautiful view

[@ezswann8176]

Movie from Virginia to Colorado was a culture shock for me 😂

[@frankledford4665]

Show me how to find crystals or any stone worth keeping I wanna learn how,,,

[@fixfireleo]

dude, the fracturing you are talking about is similar to chert, specifically flint. Flint also has that same opaque density you are describing. How does an amateur tell the difference?

[@MTreatVO]

Flint is actually a different variation of Chert and the name that you use to describe it really depends on the Geological surroundings of where you are. If you are near a large amount of Limestone in your area it tends to be Chert as it occurs with Limestone Formations. Hope this helps some.

[@larrytillick952]

@@MTreatVO You can't. Chert is flint...flint is chert. Both are varieties of microcrystalline quartz. Agate, jasper and opal are other varieties of the same mineral Si02. They all have a conchoidal fracture. Opal is a different in that it is amorphous similar to glass. All the rest have a set crystal structure. Flint is an archeological term (think arrowheads) while chert is a geological term for the same material regardless where it is found.

[@DaKrakenRule]

when you say you might make a necklace out of that piece of jasper, how do you do that? I have a bunch of jasper I picked up last summer and I want to do something with it.

[@MTreatVO]

If you have a way of stabilizing it you can drill a small hole with a Diamond Tip Bit.

[@DaKrakenRule]

@@MTreatVO Hey thanks, I'll buy one of those. Do you have a way of cutting/shaping jasper that bypasses the need for lapidary equipment? Maybe a specialized dremel head or something?

[@martinparker6536]

@@DaKrakenRule tile saw or try a rock tumbler

[@thirstfast1025]

When you going to dig the amethyst you mentioned in that Mica Mine video?

[@MTreatVO]

Ive actually gone out a couple of times to film but have yet to find anything worth posting about. The area is heavily dug and its hard to tell exactly where the current claim line is for the mine that is there. Hopefully will be posting some new things this summer from farther afield than Grand Junction though. Id like to go up to Douglas Pass and do some road side finding as I have heard there are a lot of plant fossils there.

[@thirstfast1025]

@@MTreatVO Right on! Well, not that it's dug out, but the other locations, hope they're good! And yeah, when you don't know where the claim lines are, best to stay away! Good call!

[@luke-te3sr]

Hey man I found something strange in the mountains here in Colorado.. is there a way I can send you a picture through email or something and Maybe you can help me figure out what it is.

[@foresakentonone4148]

Mad Props for the littering commentary...albeit...Colorado is now long gone...invaded...

[@TonyTorzido]

I mean, how’d you get here? Are you a Native American?

[@foresakentonone4148]

@@TonyTorzido Yup...of Volga German descent!!!

[@nzm5192]

where should i go to find amethyst?

[@mizzprezli]

Devils head

[@cm-em9ey]

@@mizzprezli where is that at

[@michaelcourtney4159]

Hello, I live in Rangely Colorado and was hoping that maybe you could assist my wife and I with places we could rockhound around our area.

[@MTreatVO]

I have never rockhounded there but grew up hunting in the area. Im not sure of rocks themselves but you live right next to Dinosaur National Monument. I would say find some BLM land with Mancos Shale (its a grey mudstone type rock) From there look inside the mancos shale and above it to find fossils. Be aware that if you find anything with a skeletal structure (ie lizards, birds, etc) it must be reported to the BLM for further investigation. Anything else, like leaves and such, are fair game. I would also be on the lookout for Calcite Crystals. Anywhere that there has been an ancient ocean or large body of water will yield Calcite due to the Calcium from shells breaking down and collecting together to form crystals. If none of this works, go pick up the book called "Rockhounding Colorado" or "colorado Rockhounding" (yes they are 2 different books). Keep me updated if you find anything, id be interested to know. Happy Hounding!

[@deltabluesdavidraye]

Been there.

[@VitalExistence]

theres really no opal anymore, and now its a conservatory, so its illegal to rockhound :(

[@DreadShadow117]

I have no idea what this is. I found it fly fishing and it doesn't look like any river stone I have ever seen. imgur.com/h0yADm1

[@MTreatVO]

I'm really not an expert at this, but just from looking at it in going to guess red jasper or some type of very compressed clay. Hard to tell lol, interesting find though.

[@liamredmill9293]

Opal-silicon +oxygen

[@dudepadilly561]

No, opal is a aqueous silicate

[@peacefulliving6432]

I hate when people litter. It is such a disrespectful thing to do to the earth.

[@andrewvogrin1074]

Opal colors you want are green blue red pink and gold all thrown together. Not white or Grey my dude.