Burro Creek
Arizona
Find: Pastelite (purple/blue chalcedony) and chalcedony of many different colorations
GPS: 34.60983, -113.5234
Nearest city: Lake Havasu City, AZ
Recommended Vehicle: Any
Season: Accessible year-round, Winter best for temperature.
Summary:
Believe it or not, I was truly woken up by the sounds of donkeys when camping overnight at Burro Creek. If you’ve never seen wild donkeys (burros) they hang out in little packs and make plenty of noise.
The GPS coordinates I listed take you to where Burro Creek Crossing Road meets HWY 93. I headed East down Burro Creek Crossing Road probably about 10 miles or so. I got out of the car repeatedly to check for chalcedony. Once I found some, I headed down a wash to explore.
”Pastelite” is just a purple coloration of chalcedony. In hindsight, I wish I’d spent a couple days searching out here or brought a chisel to split a smaller piece of this material open to see the color while I was there.
Even if you don’t come across purple, you will have a hard time not coming home with beautifully colored chalcedony.
This is a vast area and there is no one “vein” or “hotspot” to explore. I wish I had spent more time here. This is in the heart of the desert. Make sure you have ample food and water, and be mindful of snakes.
Video
Check out the video for a better look at what can be found when exploring this spot.
3 Helpful Tools
Geology Pick
The tool I wish I had while I was out there.
Gad Bar
This is my favorite tool I own. It’s great for levering out larger boulders that can be stuck in the walls of the wash.
Water Bladder
I try to hike with 3L of water if I’m in the desert and a water bladder makes it easier.
I visited in Winter. It was still about 70 degrees during the daytime.
The ground is a sandy dirt mix here - a basic geology pick is a nice tool to have. Something like a true pickaxe would've been more ideal though.
An example of the colorful variations of chalcedony here.
Another one, with some reds and oranges.
A closeup of the outside appearance and peeks at the possible color. I pressure washed it later on, and it didn't look much different.
There are some absolutely massive pieces of chalcedony here. This one had to have weighed 200lbs, at least.
I thought this could be naturally occurring chalk. Looks like it'd make for nice carving stone.