Geode Hill
Arizona
Find: Calcite geodes
GPS: 34.37582, -111.27921
Nearest city: Phoenix, AZ
Recommended Vehicle: Any
Season: Accessible year-round, best in Spring or Fall.
Summary:
Geode Hill is located in a great spot if you’re looking for rockhounding near Phoenix. It’s about an hour North of the city and has a wealth of calcite geodes that you can find. I happened to visit while passing through in the dead of Winter and still came across plenty of geodes.
This spot is one I’d recommend for families, but you’ll want to be aware of bears that are in the area. Many people (including myself) do not realize they’re in thea when visiting.
There is also residential land right along the border of the National Forest land where this spot in located in, so please be courteous to stay on the National Forest land and you should have no issues. There were some small yellow markers lining the boundary near some powerlines when I visited.
I couldn’t get a gauge on how many were out here with all the snow during my visit. But I picked a few favorites to cut and some extras to give away to relatives.
Video
Check out the video for a better look at what can be found when exploring this spot.
3 Helpful Tools
Geology Pick
A geology pick was helpful to overturn geodes embedded in the dirt.
Hiking Boots
Hiking boots will be helpful here as the area has a fairly steep hill to get up to the top.
Spray Bottle
A spray bottle will help clear off dirt on broken fragments you find so you can get an idea what could be inside.
Geode Hill following some Winter storms.
Still geodes here, even in Winter.
The geodes accumulate in little piles after weathering out of the surrounding rock.
A lot of these had a really great sphere shape to them, I believe these are calcite geodes.
A fragment offers us a peek at what the crystal inside these looks like. Soaking them in iron out may remove some of the yellowing.
The trees had some gouges in them. Not sure what the culprit was.