Rockhounding in Nevada

4 verified locations for rockhounding in Nevada. Each page includes exact permit requirements, restrictions, and what to know before you go.

4 Allowed

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Allowed

Garnet Hill — Ely BLM

Nevada, White Pine·Rockhounding

Garnet Hill near Ely, Nevada is one of the most accessible free rockhounding sites in the Great Basin — an exposed rhyolite flow studded with red almandine garnets that can be collected by the bucketful with no permit for personal use. BLM personal-use collection rules allow up to 25 pounds per day, 250 pounds per year. Garnets are found loose in the soil and matrix throughout the designated fee-free collection area managed by the BLM Ely District.

  • Personal-use collection of garnets and other surface minerals is allowed without a permit under BLM personal-use policy — up to 25 pounds per day, 250 pounds per year per collector
  • Collection must remain within the designated BLM collection area around Garnet Hill — not all surrounding land is open BLM; verify boundaries with Ely District office
Allowed

Royal Peacock Opal Mine

Nevada, Humboldt·Rockhounding

Royal Peacock is a private, family-run fee-dig opal claim in Virgin Valley — pay to dig, keep everything you find, no daily weight limit. That last point is the whole distinction from the free BLM ground next door, which caps collecting at 25 lb per day.

  • This is private property, not BLM land — access requires paying the mine's day-use fee, not a government permit; 2026 season rates are $210/person/day for bank digging or $85/person/day for tailings-pile digging
  • Hand tools only — no motorized or mechanical digging equipment is permitted anywhere on site