Teepee Canyon Mining Area
South Dakota
Find: Teepee Canyon agates
GPS: 43.73064, -103.89101
Nearest city: Rapid City, SD
Recommended Vehicle: High clearance, but you can likely get in here with less suitable cars. It’s a short drive.
Summary:
Teepee Canyon agates are one of the few varieties of agates that have been mined commercially in North America. I am certainly no expert on the topic, but hey form in layers of limestone within the Black Hills area. Within these layers, you will find nodules of chert. In those nodules, you’ll find vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows comprising the layers of the tightly-banded Teepee Canyon agate.
When exploring these coordinates, you’ll be poking around a site that was formerly worked with heavy equipment. Turn over as much limestone as possible to give yourself the best chance to find the smaller Teepee Canyon agates that have been left behind.
The road to get in here is a National Forest road and it’s not maintained, but also not too beaten up. You could probably get in here with a front wheel drive car if it’s been dry.
3 Helpful Tools
Water Bladder
The warmer months are arid and dry in South Dakota. A water bladder is a great luxury to hike with.
Chisel
I used a 1" flat bar chisel to split open nodules that I found to try and expose agate banding.
Spray Bottle
A spray bottle is useful for getting a better look at banding in the dry stones you’ll find.