7/14/2017

Did you know that Arkansas is the Clear Quartz Crystal capital of the world??

I know that I certainly never knew that until I landed in the magical land of Arkansas in the summer of 2016 on a road trip.

It’s a real gem! (I couldn’t help it)

This is the most complete blog post I’ve created yet, with multiple supporting articles. So if you wish to learn further about certain things discussed throughout this post, you can get lost down the rabbit hole with me and be more prepared than ever!

It is my honor to share all that have compiled, organized, and learned over the last two years with you here on mining. Within this article you will find:

Camping, Crystal Mining, & Food Packing Lists
What You Need To Do Before You Leave
Camping Locations
Where To Go Mining
Things You Need The Day Of Mining
What You Need After Mining
What You Can Do Outside Of Mining
Energy Report On The Location

Camping, Crystal Mining, & Food Packing Lists

There was so much to put here that I decided to dedicate two entirely different posts just for the cause. May you always be prepared.

For the Crystal Mining Packing List click here.

For the General Camping Packing List click here.

For the Camping Food Packing Lists click here.

What You Need To Do Before Leaving Home

Trim your fingernails, I repeat trim your fingernails. You’ll thank me later.
Premake meals before your trip to save you time and money on the road.
Pack at least a gallon of water for each person beforehand.
Charge all your electronics (backup chargers are always nice)

Campsites

Did you know Hot Springs was USA’s first National Park (40’s before Yellowstone)? Pretty cool huh?

My all time favorite is

Gulpha Gorge Campground in Hot Springs. In fact I had so much to say about this place that I made an entire article on just about everything you could think of here.
Hot Springs ORV Park. This campground has primitive tent camping for $15. It’s about 10 minutes outside of town, BUT they do have hot showers (or pay $10 with no fire ring/picnic table in the overflow camping area). ALSO cool perk is that if you have a off road vehicle they have some pretty crazy trails to blaze down. Unfortunately I have a Corolla… so I’m going nowhere down those trails anytime soon, but they look fun! Here’s a link for that to check it out, and here.
Hot Springs National Park KOA. Super close to Gulpha Gorge at $32-34 a night (kinda pricy), includes water, electricity, and wifi. All of those things plus the other lovely amenities that KOA has to offer (that means showers too). Off season price is $25-30. Here for more info.
Lake Ouachita State Park. This might actually be a better option that we didn’t get to try out. At $12 a night for tent camping without water/electricity but with showers makes it worth it. This is the second closest campground to my favorite crystal mine. You can read more about it on their site here.
Brady Mountain Recreational Area. This place has some pretty great reviews on it. If you would rather be a little ways out from the town in exchange for being a bit deeper into the forest, then this one is for you. Rate goes for $14 a night tent camping including electricity and free showers. More information here.
Lake Catherine State Park. (This is not to be confused with Catherine’s Landing which has no tent camping) This state park has a bunch of nice hiking trails and is about 20 minutes away from Hot Springs. But at $11 a night for primitive camping (no water or electricity, and MAYBE showers), that’s the best deal yet. However the fact that they might not have showers makes this one a tricky choice and it’s distance is further away. But it’s up to you! Information for this state park is located here.

Side Note: Careful about the campsites by lakes. These locations tend to have a lot more mosquitos. While yes it’s a beautiful spot, but if you aren’t prepared when dusk comes you will be mosquito food.

Where To Go Crystal Mining

1.Ron Coleman Crystal Mine.

THIS IS OUR FAVORITE. We love this place. At $20 for the whole day, keep whatever you find, it’s truly a deal. They dig up large amounts of dirt from their mine and then dump them in the mining field for you to sort through. They don’t go through the pile prior to dumping it, which leads to some amazing finds. Each year I’ve found Quartz clusters over 45 pounds each. Worth it. The one beneath is this year’s biggest find!

Important facts to know: They only dump new dirt on weekdays, not the weekend. Call and ask if they’ve brought up any new dirt that day (sometimes they don’t). After it rains is a great time to go, more crystals are literally just laying around since exposed by the rain. And if they are bringing up new dirt and it looks like mud? Run.. run to that pile; because that’s usually where the most crystals will be found right off the back. And if you’re not there when that happens, you miss out!

2. Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine.

I really liked this place, my travel partner, not so much. For $25 same rules as the one above apply. Their dirt at this mine is slightly different than that of the others, my picture below from one of my finds at this mine gives you a pretty good idea.

Important facts to know: There is a lot more iron, and other deposits in this vein so the crystals are much harder to clean. All crystals from here will need an acid wash, unlike the other mines that only require some water. Not that they aren’t good! Just harder to clean. The owners are super nice and have umbrellas + other fun tools to let you use… so you don’t die out in the sun (also night digs during the summer solstice!!)

3. Wegner Quartz Crystal Mine.

I have mixed feelings about this mine; because when I went, I went with a conference group. And the site that we were taken to had very obviously been “planted” with crystals everywhere. At first I just thought I was really clever spotting all these crystals… then I realized by the quality of them and how many I had found just sitting on the surface what was going on… Not a whole lot of real mining it looked like was going on here. Lots of crystals to be “found” however which is convenient. But like I said the quality wasn’t all that great for most of them so it almost wasn’t worth it if you are serious about mining. This mine is $15 a person (Crystal Forrest Mine), for only 2 hours at a time, with just 3 times during the day to go (2 hours is not enough in my opinion). The time options on their website state the times these digs start are 9:30, 11:30, & 1:30, and to be there earlier than that for the safety instructions. The coolest part about this mine is that they do have Phantom Quartz! Which apparently is pretty rare and collectors love it. The picture below is a piece I did find at the Wegner mine of the Phantom Quartz.

Important facts to know: Now I have to say, perhaps because I was with a group that they “planted” all these crystals… or maybe that’s just how they do things. I’ve read a few reviews that might hint otherwise. But I suppose that’s up to you to find out for yourself. Also worth noting that you have to sit in a little caravan in order to get to the actual mine. It’s a nice, bumpy ride, nothing too crazy. It’s just not a drive up like the others. Also have to do a brief safety training prior to mining AAAAND included in the price is use of their tools if you don’t want to use your own.

Side note: The Crystal shop at the mine however is AMAZING. If you wanted to buy crystals from somewhere, this. is. the. place. It’s by far my favorite. We in fact drove allllllll the way to this mine (deep within Mount Ida) JUST to buy our crystals from there, because it’s worth it.

4. Twin Creek Crystal Mine.

We haven’t tried this place due to all the mixed reviews. In fact I had a local man (who’s the one who gave us the inside scoop on all the mines), tell us specifically not to go there. Maybe he wanted to keep all the crystals to himself (unlikely), or maybe he knew what he was talking about. Either way this can be a little surprise for you to find out. Also located deep within Mount Ida, right before you get to Wegner mine on the same road.

5. Free Crystal Mining Hike (at Crystal Vista)

You read that right. It’s free, AND you get to go hiking (if you like that sort of thing). This was the very first place my friends and I had went to to go crystal mining. Have to be careful of snakes when picking up rocks and other things of the like, but we didn’t see any when we went (still worth noting though). It’s a bit of a steep hike, but fun. You probably won’t find huge clusters here, but you can find some really nice small to medium sized points. I know that I did.

Important facts to know: Dig holes along the path (and off the path at your discretion), because top has been pretty picked over… however there are still plenty of little pockets of crystals below the surface. That’s how we found most of ours. Except the big one I found was literally sticking to the side of the path towards the top, but hey increase the odds!

And there are some other spots as well, but these are the main ones in the area. If you want to be extra adventurous you can look up where the rockhounds are going to certain “undisclosed” locations to try out… which is fun too, but these places listed above give you almost a 100% of finding nice quartz crystals with some effort.

Things You’ll Need Right Before & After Mining

Do pack a lunch. You’ll thank yourself later when you’re starving from all the hard work you’ve been doing. Sandwiches work great (subway for a quick choice), and ice cold juice. Which leads me to my next point.
Lots of ice for your cooler. Because trust me you are going to want to have a cooler full of cold things. Water, Juice, Food, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter it will be heaven in the heat of the day.
At least a gallon of water. Have lots of water ready at your disposal, because once you’re on on the field there will not be any. Bonus points if you have this water bottle in the liter size to keep your drink super cold and not boiling (it saved me more than once over the years). It’s a great deal and actually keeps your drink cold for over 24 hours, unlike some of it competitors.
Bring super moisturizing hand lotion. You’ll definitely need it.
Towels. Large enough to cover your seat to save your car afterwards.
And lots of other things that were already listed in this article.

All The Other Amazing Things You Can Do Besides Mining In Nearby Areas

Go into town.

Hot Springs surprisingly has a lot to offer. Despite being in the middle of the bible belt, you’ll find stores like Earthbound here and other crystal shops (overpriced mind you if you want a good one go here). It’s a pleasant surprise to see a bustle in this town with a creative intent. They have a great local brewery for beer (Superior Bathhouse Brewery And Distillery), which has a beer flight tasting that’s pretty good and some decent food to go with it. The cool part is that their beer is actually made from the crystal spring water (maybe it’s just me but I find that pretty cool). We would order their half gallon growler of beer and bring it back to the campsite to celebrate our finds! OR you can spend the day in a Bath House! For a set day fee (varies from bathhouse to bathhouse), you can lounge indoors in the actual crystal spring water.

Go for a hike.

This was out of the question for us because after mining 8 hours a day we were done. BUT there are lots of beautiful hiking trails to blaze down. We did one last year that actually starts in town, and at the beginning of it is hot spring water. Can’t swim in it considering it is well over 140F, but it’s nice to sit near. On the trail closest to the town you can hike up to their version of the “space needle” that overlooks Hot Springs. It costs money to go in it, so of course we always just enjoy the view from the side (which is still a beautiful view).

Energy Report

The energy of this location is amazing. Not too high, and definitely not low. Within all the nature spots it’s a very peaceful space and comforting. Also for the Native Americans the Hot Springs area was considered a neutral zone for all tribes to use it’s healing water. So needless to say this most definitely is a place of healing.

Going into town might be a different story because unfortunately the history of it involves a whole lot of mobster activity (from the late 1800-1930+). Some of the names of frequent mobster that loved this place were Al Capone, Frank Costello, Bugs Moran, Lucky Luciano, and more. So with that being said the energy is definitely different in town, but not too bad.