Where To Find Geodes in Texas

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Remember! It is your responsibility to know the rockhounding laws and regulations for each site you visit. It is also your responsibility to verify and gain permission to visit each collection site that is mentioned on this website. Always respect private property!

The great state of Texas covers huge amounts of territory. If you look in the right places you’ll be able to find some pretty impressive geodes. Central Texas is a hotbed of geological limestone formations that house the hollow nodules among other minerals.

Where To Find Geodes in Texas

So, where are the right places? Let’s dive in and I’ll show you five examples of where to find geodes in Texas.

1. The Edwards Plateau

The Edwards Plateau is a limestone formation in south-central Texas. It’s the best place in the state to find geodes.

You’ll have to look around the region for a spot. Google Maps is a great way to pre-scout an area to know if it has the right geological formations for geodes. Some of the best areas are where the highway has been cut in, leaving long gashes of limestone exposed to the surface where digging for geodes can be very fruitful.

There don’t appear to be any paid digs in this area, so you’ll have to figure out who owns the land you’re looking at and get permission to dig.

Likewise, streams and riverbeds in the area are a good source of geodes.

The majority of geodes in this area are formed with large crystals of calcite on the interior. This calcite is sometimes tinged with one color or another due to impurities. Most examples of calcite from this area are fluorescent as well, glowing pink or red under UV light.

Edward’s Plateau is a wide area, and there are a lot of potential spots. Since there’s not much immediately open to the public, however, it might be a great adventure just getting to the right spot!

I’m recommending such a broad area due to Texas’ specific rules on collecting. You can only collect on public access land or private land where you have permission. Texas has only minimal land under BLM control, which is the normal go-to for access in Western states.

2. Brownwood

The area around Brownwood is said to sometimes yield celestine geodes. The procedure of finding a spot in Texas is mostly the same: you’re always going to be looking for limestone.

This area has a lot of public lands, but a good start is in the area around Lake Brownwood State Park to the north of Brownwood.

A quick survey of the land there shows limestone along the banks of the lake, and streams entering the lake. Both of which are good for a casual look over if you’re in the area. Some of the trails in the park also lead to areas with exposed limestone.

That said, you need to know the land you’re on, who owns it, and the rules in place. You’re not supposed to remove stones from most State Parks for instance, but other public lands may be open for harvesting.

3. Mt. Bonnell

While it may not be a hotspot of activity, Mt. Bonnell is a source of rare blue celestine geodes. You may stumble across one, but it’s not really an area you can just dig either.

It appears that the area has just had too much collection going on over the years. That means most of the surface geodes are stripped away, but you can always get lucky while you’re out there.

Stop and take a look at any limestone formations you see. Smaller geodes can sometimes be found in the areas of stone that have fallen after natural erosion.

This area is mainly of note due to the blue celestine geodes found in the area. A lot of impressive specimens have been found over the years, but these days they’re a rare find due to land access problems and just generally decades of tourist collection.

4. The Llano Uplift Area

Another area teeming with mineral specimens is the Llano Uplift. This geological zone is one of the richest places to find minerals in Texas, and it’s near the dead center of the state. This formation is teeming with different minerals, and geodes are included among them.

It’s one of the richest areas in the US for minerals, the Llano website claims that 241 different minerals have been found in the area.

Once again you’re looking for streambeds. One of the most promising areas for a would-be prospector is the riverbed. And, fortunately for them, you can get public access to find your stones!

Llano is split in half by the river, and the most talked-about spot appears to be walking along the Southern bank of the river after accessing the bed from in-town. There’s definitely more than one access point, but right here isn’t a bad place to start.

If you’re here solely for geodes you may end up disappointed, but the wide variety of minerals in this area make it a dream for anyone who’s just looking for a new rockhounding adventure.

5. Big Bend

You’ve probably noticed that almost all of the previous locations are in Central Texas. Unfortunately, that’s just how the cookie crumbles in this instance, but the geodes are flung over very wide areas where they can be pulled from streams and the limestone host rock.

The area around Big Bend is another place where geodes of various sorts have been known to occur. There’s also a good chance of finding nodules of agate, quartz and even amethyst depending on the location.

While stones are easy to find in this area, permission to keep them is not. There are a few different ways to get access to this area, however.

The first is to find a guide. Some people working in this area effectively act as brokers between the owners of private lands and rockhounds, making it much easier to find a legal place to collect stones.

There are also rock groups in the area that have permission to use certain land. It’s also a great way to learn to be a better prospector. There’s nothing like having access to rockhounds with more experience when you’re in the field.

Or you can hunt down some of the little bits of accessible land in the area, but there’s not much. If you’re looking to hunt only on public access land you may be better off in the Llano Uplift areas.

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