Kingston Range
California
Find: Amethyst, clear quartz, and multicolored quartz as well.
GPS: 35.77626, -115.89875
Nearest city: Las Vegas, NV
Recommended Vehicle: Any, but be careful as the paved road can easily wash out here.
Season: Accessible year-round, late Fall through early Spring best for temperature.
Summary:
The Kingston Range is an incredibly vast area littered with exceptional crystal clusters that occur within pegmatite veins as you explore the mountain sides.
I began finding crystals the more South from the main road that I went, especially as I climbed the slopes. I visited this spot without the right equipment for proper crystal pocket digging, but it is certainly possible out here.
If I have the chance to go back one day, I’ll be bringing some hardened steel chisels, a gad bar, and D-handle shovel. If you happen to stumble across some nice crystal you have to pry out, try a deer antler or plastic tent stake to mitigate scratching the pieces as you pull them out.
You can get to the wash (where I marked the GPS coordinates) with any car, but you’ll have to hike in. The roads to get here from the nearby town of Baker are a little beat up, but they’re paved. Watch the road as it is prone to wash-outs if the area gets hit by seasonal rains and flash flooding.
Video
Check out the video for a better look at what can be found when exploring this spot.
3 Helpful Tools
Gad Bar
This is my favorite tool I own. It is useful for both chiseling and extracting crystals from pockets.
Hammer
I prefer a 3lb hammer for best all-around use. After trying many different weights and sizes, the Estwing is my favorite and is very comfortable.
Water Bladder
I try to hike with 3L of water if I’m in the desert and a water bladder makes it easier.
Lots of the quartz out here will have an orange to yellow color, which is from iron scaling.
Here is an extreme example of that.
Here is what the quartz clusters can look like if it's got less scaling.
A gneiss example of metamorphic rock that can be found out here.
I think it's possible that explosives may have been used in the past here to free up big crystal clusters like this.
Some nice elongated crystals can be found here too. You can find much better pieces than I did, honestly. Everything from large individual points to intricate clusters.
Here's what some exposed amethyst looked like out here. It's out there, you just have to be willing to hike.