For a last summer hurrah we decided to dig for garnets in our own state of Idaho. We had to book ourselves a spot at the Emerald Creek Garnet Area 90 days in advance. We booked in May and we were excited for our August appointment date because star garnets are beautiful!
Emerald Creek is just south of St. Maries, Idaho .Once there, we were directed by Forest Service workers to a huge pile of dirt and rocks where we could fill our buckets with dirt and rocks.
When our buckets were full, we sifted them in screened boxes. The last step in the process was to take the sifted stones to the sluice boxes. We cleaned the rocks and sorted through them to find the garnets. We found so many!
The Idaho Forest Service had it all set up for us but it was still hard work! Kids between the ages of 8-14yrs would probably enjoy the process. Our appointment was for 3 hrs, but we were tired and very happy with our haul at the end of 2 hrs.
The large dark stone and, the little purple stone below it, are garnets. It was exciting to sort through the stones and find so many garnets! We were allowed to take home as much as 4 lbs, but we settled for 1.5 lbs. Idaho Forest Service doesn’t skimp! And Idaho is currently the only place in the whole world that will let you dig for garnets.
The star garnet is a very hard gemstone. Polishing it to a nice shine can take months. Similar to a moonstone or an opal, the garnet cannot be faceted and must be cut by a skilled lapidary and polished to achieve the six ray effect.
I’m polishing my garnets now so they’ll shine as beautiful as this one!
For more information on garnets:
To sign up to dig for garnets:
krhofhiens.com 