Indian Creek
South Dakota
Find: Fairburn Agates, “bubblegum” agates, rose quartz, chalcedony, prairie agates
GPS: 43.77667, -102.66975
Nearest city: Rapid City, SD
Recommended Vehicle: 4x4, high clearance recommended
Season: Accessible year round, Winter is likely to have significant snow, ice, and frigid temperatures.
Summary:
Fairburn Agates are a coveted treasure of rockhounding trips across the Southwest corner of South Dakota. Known for their intricate bands and elusiveness to find, a good hunt for a Fairburn can lead you to some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the Great Plains.
Indian Creek is a place that is very popular to explore in the local area as there is a significant amount of accessible public land.
Fairburn Agates are distributed irregularly across the Badlands region of South Dakota and even down into the Oglala Grasslands of Nebraska.
I explored this spot in the late Summer and caught a nice 75 degree day out here. The hiking itself will be deceptively challenging. The plateaus and eroded embankments are very steep. Bring hiking boots with a lot of grip. There are small waterways that run through the valleys between the plateaus which I had to literally jump over to climb the next one.
For driving, the GPS point I have listed will take you down a winding switchback gravel road. It was very steep with no guards and large gravel stones. I did it in a rear-wheel driven Ford van, but would recommend against it. I nearly got stuck and probably won’t be venturing back to Indian Creek without a more suitable vehicle.
If I could only bring 3 tools…
Water Bladder
The warmer months are arid and dry in South Dakota. A water bladder is a great luxury to hike with. I covered a lot of distance while I was here.
Geology Pick
A geology pick is useful for flipping over embedded stones and prying them out of the ground.
Spray Bottle
A spray bottle is useful for getting a better look at banding in the dry stones you’ll find.
Here is the view of Indian Creek, prior to taking the gravel switchback down to the bottom.
You'll have a hard time taking bad photos here.
This is a prairie agate. They are abundant and can look deceptively like Fairburn Agates at first.
Rose quartz.
Another piece of rose quartz. They've got a naturally smooth texture, which I assumed was a byproduct of being weathered around pretty heavily before ending up here.
Another prairie agate.
A nice black prairie agate.
These is the view after hiking West over 2 plateaus. if you look on a Map, you'll see just how large the Indian Creek area is to explore.