Phone: 315-717-0175 for mining and 315-891-355 for campground. Prospectors digging for Herkimer diamonds at Herkimer Diamond KOA Resort. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m, Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Prospectors young and old can dig for Herkimer diamonds in and around Herkimer County. Thank you carmine I appreciate the link! To get started, you can check out my recommended gear page which contains my full reviews for every Geologists favorite rock hammer and the best hiking backpack Ive ever owned. At the beginning of that time, called the Triassic period, the continents were all connected as one giant land mass that stretched from pole to pole. Here you can find some unique tremolite variations. From about 400 million to 300 million years ago, our land was underwater, drifting north toward the equator from somewhere near the South Pole. They are exceptionally clear and are very desirable for their aesthetic beauty. Paleocene fossils can be found in the cliff faces just south of DC. I noticed several rocks had possible burrow marks in them i'll post the picture in a bit to show. Firestorms engulf the globe. Rockhounders get to keep all the crystals they find. And, Olsen adds, a giant turtle called Archelon lived around here, the largest sea turtle ever documented, 16 feet wide from flipper to flipper.. Be safe, never go underground, and make sure to get permission from the landowner to search for and collect specimens. Darkness from this impact winter cloaks the globe, and within mere geologic moments, three-fourths of all life, including every living thing over about 20 pounds, becomes extinct. They were quadrupedsbut probably had no fur.. The best places to find garnet in New York are in the Adirondack Mountains, particularly at Gore Mountain, the Barton Garnet Mines, Humphrey Mountain, and Oven Mountain. I think that is Cambrian and possibly Trilobite bits and pieces? If anyone would enjoy having these papers please send me a PM with email address and will be happy to send them. Often one can find garnets by merely washing the leftover gravel and looking for the crimson shine that is to be uncovered. When large fossils bones and teeth were found eroding out of a creek in the Hudson Valley, the local indigenous people criticized the Dutch Farmers for being skeptical about the natives' belief that the valley had once been inhabited by giants.The local people adhering to this interpretation of the ancient remains likely included the Abenakis, Algonquin Mohicans, Pequots and others who spoke . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jenny Lee (@crazyjenny2626) Cost: $25 adult age 16-64, $22 senior, $21 age 12-15, $13. Other rare fossils frequently found are: reptiles, mammals and a few amphibians. In fact, Barton Mines in the Adirondacks is the largest garnet mine in the entire world. Over the next 50,000 millennia, continental separation continued. New York is rich in minerals and stone, mined for construction, industrial, or gem-cutting industry. Rockhounding on Public Land: Laws and Regulations, Can You Collect Rocks in State Parks? Known as "spelunking," cave hiking will provide an abundance of fossils, mineral deposits, and ancient geological structures with lots of history. A locations listing here is not a guarantee of accuracy. The Herkimer Diamond Mines KOA Resort was named Campground of the year in 2010. I'm still looking. Herkimer Diamonds can also be found in sandstone outcrops near Middleville. All rights reserved (About Us). The Covered Bridge Swimming Hole off of Glen Road has a cache of crystals just under the surface of the water. Looks like the left genal spine and free-cheek. This site is devoted to sharing my love of rocks with you. Thanks for the info and pdfs - btw Umbro is my "bro". There was only Pangea. Here are other things to do in Upstate NY. Adirondack Park and the surrounding mountains are worth a shot for garnet lovers. The climate was much warmer, with no polar ice and higher sea levels. Though anyone can start out by picking up eye-catching rocks, there are a few tools youll want in your belt to help you collect and identify your finds. Parc Nature de l'le de la Visitation, 10755 Bruchsi, Montral-North. Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs. New York is an exciting state for rockhounding, both for its large quantity of prospective rockhounding locations and the wide variety of rocks and minerals to be found. Follow up around a bend. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; These fee-to-dig mines provide a safe and controlled environment for people to search for their own crystals, and their patrons are nearly guaranteed of finding quality specimens. The American Museum of Natural Historys section dedicated to geology, located on the upper west side in Manhattan, New York, named Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals, houses hundreds of exciting and unusual geological specimens. By These are mostly comprised of beaches, old mining prospects, streams, and historically known rock and mineral collecting sites. Here are the top 10 rockhounding sites in the state of New York: A wide variety of rocks, minerals, and gemstones can be found in New York including garnet, fluorite, labradorite, hematite, quartz crystals, sphalerite, sunstone, barite, and pyrite. Dont forget plenty of water and snacks in case all the hiking and digging leaves you a bit peckish. All 50 States Answered, New Yorks Office of General Services Bureau of Land Managements website, New York Department of Environmental Conservation. The facility in Ithaca has bins of shale that visitors can sift through and its experts will identify fossils that visitors bring in. A deposit is not required. We though it might be from the early cambrian period. The sea is now gone, but a bounty of fossils remain from what is known as the Devonian Period about 360 million years ago. Some caves require getting a permit. Keep a pulse on local food, art, and entertainment content when you join our Hudson Valley newsletter. So, whats the best choice when it comes to rockhounding in New York? Westchester would probably have been on its eastern shore. As a basin, our land would periodically fill and drain. Camping is available onsite with showers and restrooms are open 24 hours. SO my Borther and went fossil hunting on a friends property in or on the border of dutchess county and putnam county in the town of east fishkill. Camping rates are $20 per night for two people and add $1 for each additional person. Version 0810 current as of OCT 2008. Across the West, the stage is set for a new type of gold rush: the hunt for prehistoric dinosaur fossils. The area is home to not only centuries of fascinating community history, but millions of years of incredible biological and geological history. You can find shells and shark teeth by combing the gravel along the shore. Keep a pulse on local food, art, and entertainment content when you join our Hudson Valley newsletter. These creatures, calledsynapsids, are also known as mammal-like lizards, which means they are not like anything we can compare it to, says CarlMehling, a senior scientific assistant in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. Open every day from Memorial Day through September from 8:00 AM 4:00 PM, Visitors get to take everything they find of the six common species: Mioplosis, Phareodus, Priscacara, Knightia, Diplomystus, and Notogoneus, Excursions bookable any dates between May 1st and September 5th, Visitors get to take up to 10 fossil fish (excludes rare species), Season begins mid-May and runs through the end of September, Digs start at 9:00 AM and typically last as long as needed until youve caught your limit, Reservations are required for weekend tours and recommended for weekday tours, Children under age 6 are free with a paying adult, 10% discount for groups with 5+ paying adults, Excursions start at $750 per person with a minimum of 2 people, Can keep all the mini fish fossils found during the excursion, Can keep up to $1000 (retail price) worth of fossils found from the premier 18-inch layer excludes rare species fossils, Gallery and retail store open 9:00am 6:00pm daily, Offering full (8-hour) and half (4-hour) day tours every week during the dig season (June through September), All packages include safety meeting, supervised dig instruction, demonstration and practice revealing fossils, and transportation to and from the ranch, Rates dependent on group size, layers dug, and tour length. or continue your trek on one of the many other hiking trails in the area. Fossil 411: A pretty good destination for fossils, although hard bedrock in some places is sometimes frustrating. Nimm dir die weniger befahrene Strae und finde ein grnes []. Here is the answer: The New York State Rock or Gem is the Barnet Garnet, a dark red garnet. Hadrosaurs had long tails to balance the front of their body as they sped across the land at speeds of 10 miles an hour up to when being chased by a hungry adversary perhaps 30 miles an hour. For the record we were in the southern part of dutchess county on a small mountain / large hill. In Connecticut, three major episodes of volcanisms during the Mesozoic have been discovered. If you want to rent tools, they range from $1 to $6. You also can find quartz here, and moonstone, which is a variation of labradorite. The mastodon, though, was probably still around when the earliest humans arrived here, about 13,000 years ago; the famous Cohoes Mastodon skeleton, found in 1866 near the Cohoes Falls, has been dated to about that time. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. While not particularly known for its rockhounding, New York nevertheless contains many interesting rocks, minerals and fossils for rockhounds who know where to look. Across the street from the mines is the KOA Resort, situated on the West Canada Creek. The best places to find Herkimer Diamond are near Middleville, NY along Highway 28 and Highway 29. Enjoy the one-mile hike through the trees until you reach the abandoned open pit garnet mine. Or, if youre into fossils, an excellent place to go is The Pompey-Tully area, this place is known to be the most bountiful when it comes to marine fossils. amzn_assoc_linkid = "449ea551b1326ba1099098f322f2d915"; Check out the main differences between real and fake labradorite in the article below:Real vs. boulders. recommends gloves, sturdy shoes, eye protection, a backpack, and a first aid kit. Ellisdale, NJ, has also produced numerous late Cretaceous fossils, including specimens of giant dinosaurs like Dryptosaurus, a tyrannosaur sixfeet tall at the hip that may be a cousin of the fearsome T Rex; Hypsibema, which had about 1,000 small teeth, weighed up to four tons and spanned 30-plus feet from duck-billed head to tail; and even body-armored dinosaurs with clubs on their tails. Please remember to take care and travel responsibly when you visit. The tour culminates when you reach the world famous 100 feet underground waterfall. The Worlds Oldest Forest Is Here in the Hudson Valley, Dive Into Fantasy and Intrigue With This Hudson Valley Authors New Novel, Dig Into This Local BBQ Masters Ultimate Mac and Cheese. Wondering what rock or mineral it will be? Rockhounders have found an abundance of these multi-colored stones by the Hudson River in the area near, After you collect your fill of gems, head back down the trail for a bite to eat at the. For 64 million years following the great extinction of the dinosaurs and much of life on earth, the region was warm, moist and conducive to the evolution of many of the plants and animals we see today (and more than a few we dont see anymore). As unimaginably long as that may seem, it is just a fleeting moment in geological time. Tsunamis flood every coast on Earth, including the northeast coast of our continent, and drown everything for hundreds of miles inland. Rock Collecting for Kids: 13 Tips How to Get Them Started, Real vs. Bring your own hammers, chisels, and small garden tools. Of course, civilization is a mile down the road.''. The geology of the state is dominated by its relatively recent glacial activity which scored the bedrock and left interesting materials in its wake. There are many gold prospectors nowadays that find gold in New York streams, but the state has a unique law, which states that all gold and silver found across the country are the states property. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. In addition to prepared fossils, Ulrichs also offers fossil preparation kits and a variety of geological gifts and souvenirs. She is looking to add to her 40-pound frame. The world-famous Herkimer Diamonds can also be found in central New York. I would also highly recommend starting with the New York Municipal Offices website. Elevation: 71 feet. (The only known Icarosaurus fossil skeleton was found in North Bergen, NJ.) I just sent you four papers that reference the Dutchess County trilobites plus another paper that describes 20 lower Cambrian localities for Olenellus in neighboring Columbia County and further north in Washington County. This site contains affiliate links to products. If you want to know more about rockhounding in New York or you prefer paper books, I recommend buying the book Rockhounding New York: A Guide To The States Best Rockhounding Sites. However, the area has multiple private dig-your-own fossil quarries located in the hills surrounding ancient Fossil Lake, where you can hunt and dig for fossils, and often even take fossils home with you. Check out many species of bird and wildflower at Crystal Grove and try your hand at mining. This work exposes layers of shale that can be easily pried apart and sifted for fossils. The land behind the Best Western hotel off the Tully exit on Route 81 can be a real jackpot. Fort Edward, P.O. There are fossils and different types of rocks near the welcome centre and fossils along the river as well. The In Stone Fossils Quarry 18-inch Layer has revealed some of the most paramount of fossils, including a complete 13 foot crocodile. Rock hammers and chisels come in handy when chipping away to get to the riches inside a bigger stone. When it comes to garnet hunting in New York, some of the best locations can be found using the Garnet Mines Tour company, which will guide you through a bunch of closed mines that left gravel behind. Herkimer County is a must, being the only place where you can hunt for the renowned Herkimer Diamonds. These episodes would have had a major impact on regional habitability, Landa says, and not in a good way. Out in the growing ocean, giant marine lizards with long necks prowled the shores; They looked like the Loch Ness monster, Mehling says. Do not enter the Schoharie Quarry, that is private property. Blue Moon Quarry, operated by Promise Land Fossils, is at 7,100 ft. with spectacular views overlooking parts of Fossil Butte National Monument 4 miles to the west. Address: 255 Discovery Drive, Howes Cave, NY, 12092. This is a rural site with no immediate facilities, so bring water, toilet paper (and plastic bag to pack it out in). Magnetite, Brucite, Chondronite, Clinochlore, Titanite, etc. In 1893, a young Yale paleontologist named Charles Emerson Beecher discovered a rich trove of well-preserved Ordovician fossils near Rome, New York, in Oneida County. They usually are found in metamorphic rocks like mica schists and gneiss. It has been a state rock of New York since 1969 and this beautiful mineral is mined in the Barton Mines in the Adirondack Mountains. It's a pretty wide swath, but Zdinak said the wilderness from here west to Lake Erie, south of the Thruway down to the Pennsylvania border is "sort of a playground'' for Devonian fossils. They were chosen from the nearly 100,000 pieces, with the most well-known being the Star of India (a 563-carat sapphire) and the Patricia Emerald (a 12-sided, 632-carat stone). For unclear reasons, more than 90 percent of the planets life forms vanished. To determine what type of public land a particular location is on, I would recommend starting with New Yorks Office of General Services Bureau of Land Managements website. It is recommended to use the directions on their website and NOT Google Maps. Dr. Renee' Scialdo-Shevat and her father Rudy currently run the facility today. Plants like cycads, conifers, and horsetail rushes grew abundantly, but there were no flowering plants or bees or butterflies to pollinate them just yet. Get the Hudson ValleyBest Restaurants Guide for FREE! The Scialdo family purchased the Herkimer Diamond KOA in 1979. The underground boat tour will bring you through the tunnels and explain the historic connection to the Erie Canals and industrial expansion throughout Western New York. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; Address: 1706 Stone Arabia Rd., Fonda, NY 12068. Find the list of minerals that can be found in New York in the table below: So what, quite a few different and interesting rocks and minerals can be found in New York State, am I right? Acid rain burns the landscape, and layers of sediment containing iridium, a rare metal on Earth but common in meteorites, covers the ground from pole to pole. A trilobite fossil found by fossil expert Alan Zdinak near Hamilton, N.Y. Fossil-seekers in the Upstate New York area have hit the jackpot. Try searching in shallow parts of the river near the shore or nearby creek beds. The best place to find geodes in New York State is the town of Fowler, in local stream beds and sedimentary exposures. I've heard of a certain area called Trilobite mountain on the eastern side of the Hudson valley that is know for Cambrian trilobite fossils. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. The streak arcs across the sky. Archaeology exhibits at the Visitors Center tell the story of the Fort Edward area, from the earliest Native Americans that lived here through the Revolutionary War. Hours: Opens from sun up until sundown from May 1 to Oct. 1. Contact the preserve manager for more information. Mother Nature's handiwork can be easily viewed in the form of stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases with no additional costs for you. Eurypterus remipes was declared the official state fossil of New York in 1984. All rights reserved (About Us). Now that youre stocked up and ready to set out, here are some of the best places to go rockhounding in and around the Hudson Valley. The hike across the Mohonk Mountain House grounds to the Labyrinth rock scramble and up through the Lemon Squeeze crevice is one of the most memorable outdoor experiences in the Hudson Valley. We think it might be a collection of fossils. Sign up for a new account in our community. Fake Labradorite: Focus on These 8 Differences. Westmoreland State Park is an ideal location for fossil hunters looking for shark teeth, and it's just 90 minutes from Richmond. The Barton Mines is the largest garnet mine in the world and you can visit this mine with your family. Many minerals, Arsenopyrite, Asbestos, Leucopyrite, Pyrite, Aegirine, Albite, Apatite, Augite, Biotite, Calcite, Chlorite, Epidote, Hematite, Ilmenite, Magnetite, Molybdenite, Orthoclase, Perthite, Pyrite, Quartz, Stilbite, Wernerite, Zircon, Barite, Galena, Sphalerite, Pyrite, Quartz, Albite, Amphibole, Apatite, Diopside, Graphite, Muscovite, Phlogopite, Pyrite, Pyroxene, Smoky Quartz crystals, Scapolite, Tourmaline, Tremolite, Apatite, Calcite, Diopside, Muscovite, Pyrite, Rutile, Tourmaline, Barite, Galena, Gypsum, Sphalerite, Fluorite. American Fossil is an affiliate of Fossil Shack, Paleoland Holdings, and Lakefossils.com. Other creatures of the time found in our region include three prosauropod dinosaur skeletons from the Early Jurassic, which were found in Manchester, CT. The Fossil Forum amzn_assoc_search_bar = "false"; I found this book very useful and clearly written. 834-842, Lower Cambrian Agnostid Trilobites of North America, Journal of Paleontology, Vol. In particular, the Herkimer Diamond Mine and the Ace of Diamonds Mine are famous for their Herkimer Diamond production. The center was somewhere near the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border, says Paul Olsen, the man who found those dinosaur tracks at Nyack Beach, now the Arthur D. Storke Professor of Earth &Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. The streak disappears over the horizon. I hope my articles will be useful to you. North America and Eurasia were mashed together, and that mashing had created enormous mountain ranges where they collided what is now Connecticut, in fact, boasted peaks as high as Mount Everest, and the Ramapo Mountains were legitimate mountains back then. 807 Places. Back to MAIN PAGE It is used as a replacement for asbestos and used in ceramics, metallurgy, plastic, and paint industries. The garnets found in this mine on Gore Mountain have the largest crystal formations of any garnet mine known in the world. Get the Hudson ValleyBest Restaurants Guide for FREE! Fossil Hunting & Digging Fossil Basin is a 52-million-year-old limestone graveyard that preserves an entire paleoecosystem, including fish, turtles, crocodiles, insects, mammals, birds, and over 200 plant species. the Green River Formation. Most people find enough fish to satisfy their appetite in the first two hours. It's easy! The ownership and status of land can and does change frequently, making it impossible to document accurate information on this page. By the middle of the Jurassic, the Atlantic Ocean began to take form, and by the end, 145 million years ago, it was hundreds of miles wide. While not particularly common, there are some select locations in New York where geodes have reportedly been found. By now, we are up to about 25 degrees north latitude where the Florida Keys currently bask. Here are a few parts I could find in the hash that were readily recognizable as trilobite. Another mass extinction, about 206 million years ago, killed off half of all land species, ended the Triassic and launched the Jurassic. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June to July; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in August; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from September to November; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends in December. Hours: 9 a.m to 5 p.m. daily. The Cambrian bugs are found in the West Castleton-Hatch Hill formations (Elizaville Fauna), and the Ordovician bugs are in the Fort Cassin, Halcyon Lake, Rochdale, Tribes Hill formations (Beekmantown Group). Cost: Self-guided tours admission is $15.50 adult, $8.50 for age 5-12, and free for age 4 and younger. It took much of the Triassic, which lasted about 50 million years, for life to return. Fossil Basin is featured in the September, 2022 issue ofSmithsonian Magazine. Address: Visitors are asked to contact the maintenance and oversite group to schedule visits and get direction. 3 (May, 1984), pp. Other sources include: Wisconsin Rockhounding Location Guide & Map, Florida Rockhounding Location Guide & Map. This region is one of the most bountiful areas in the country when it comes to marine fossils. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you head out on your first expedition: According to the website How to Find Rocks, you can rockhound on public lands, private lands, or paid dig sites. SDJS_Widget("5C826041D3B1515F1D2609D935D152F0BF6",12925,1,""); The third Mesozoic period, the Cretaceous, lasted from 146 million to 65 million years ago. During the 80 million years that the Cretaceous period lasted longer than the time it has taken to get to today temperatures were higher than ever before or since, then cooled somewhat toward the end of the era. Address: 671 Caverns Road, Howes Cave, NY, 12092. These tracks, and the relatively few other clues left in our geologic neighborhood from the Mesozoic Era, tell us what the Hudson Valley was like during the age of the dinosaurs. Excellent fossil specimens can be found in Schoharie county. Tip: Check out my Complete Rock Tumbling Guide to make your rocks and gemstones really shine! Posted by 7 minutes ago. This interest of mine has lasted until today, so I decided to create this website. You can also read through my free rock identification guide and mineral identification guide which are filled with useful information and tools. "Route 30 passes through the village of Schoharie. If you are interested in checking out the best rockhounding tools you can find them by clickinghere(Amazon link). Please see the map below for reference. , but keep in mind they arent all necessary for every trip. Capital District Rockhounding Locations US And Canadian Fossil Sites -- Data for NEW YORK. York River State Park near Williamsburg has similar fossil beds and the aptly named Fossil Beach. High-end accommodations include solar luxury cabins, a tree house lodge, and even an astronomy themed lodge with its own observatory and telescope. Better records of our dinosaur past have been found in Connecticut, New Jersey, and down the eastern seaboard, though, and scientists believe we can infer that, if those forms of life lived in Hartford or Newark or Baltimore, they likely lived in White Plains and Chatham, too. As with most states, each county in New York will have records of who owns each piece of property. Twenty fossil sites near Montreal Go fossil hunting on the island of Montreal at one of these easy-to-reach sites. Rockhounders have found an abundance of these multi-colored stones by the Hudson River in the area near Cornwall. Visitors at Walkway over the Hudson. In Stone Fossils is a fossil gallery and retail store offering a variety of Green River Formation fossils. 2. Use this resource as a guide to get you started. Address: 5 Gooding Street, Lockport, NY, 14094. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; They likely feasted on small, gopher- or shrew-like early mammals, or on the larger dicynodont, a Volkswagen-shaped mammal that was probably dumb as a brick, he says. Unfortunately for rockhounds, the law in most states prohibits them from publishing their names or contact information online. Located in the Adirondack Mountains since 1878, Barton Mines is one of the oldest family-owned operating mines in the United States. The exposed shale layers around the road can be easily pried apart. Even though gold prospecting started a long time ago in New York, there is no significant discovery report until now, but since the state would take away the gold, maybe thats the reason for the lack of information, just kidding. Sonic booms shake the land. "There is a classic Devonian fossil site just outside of Schoharie about an hour west of Albany. The phone number is (607) 273-6623. The Alsen Formation is a dark gray, thin-bedded, argillaceous fossiliferous limestone, cherty in places, conformably Commonly found are Diplomystus and Knightia fish. amzn_assoc_title = "Some of my favorite rockhounding gear from Amazon:"; Their quarry near Kemmerer, South Dempsey Quarry, is a world-famous quarry, and is one of only two locations in the world where a complete 3-toed horse has been found. Here are some of the best places in New York where you can dig for your own crystals. Hudson Valley region is a passive margin continental shelf on the coast of Laurentia accumulating sands, clays, and carbonate muds which will form the sedimentary rocks sandstone, shale, and limestone. But be careful. The leading explanation for this, Olsen says, is massive explosions of lava from fissures in the earth that buried about 11 million square kilometers. Unlike most prospectors who seek their fortune in gold, Markus Martin got lucky on his very first try. The land on which we now live has drifted and changed, been uplifted, folded, submerged, frozen, and melted countless times since the Mesozoic Era began those 248 million years ago. Visitors get to keep every fossil thats valued at $100,000 or less, Open every day from May 1st to the first snow, Reservations referred & drop-ins accepted if guide available, Visitors get to take everything they find, except rare items. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Also, gravel and quartz pebbles(that have an igneous or metamorphic origin) are a significant component of Sandy Hook Beach, Staten Island, and Rockaway Beach. Rockhounders have found an abundance of these multi-colored stones by the Hudson River in the area near Cornwall . Check hours here. The quarry is located 6 miles west of Kemmerer on U.S. Highway 30. Two hundred forty-eight million years is, when you think about it, unthinkable. Hours: 9 a.m. to sundown from mid-April through mid-October. Herkimer Diamonds are double-terminated quartz crystals, which means they come to a point on both ends. The Hudson River Valley is full of naturally-occurring crystals, including bloodstone and jasper. Copyright 2022 Rockhound Resource | Birch on Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Androvette Clay Pits, SW tip of Staten Island, N side of road N of Middleville, in sandstone, Fowler, area stream beds, sedimentary exposures, Genesee River near Norton St., in limestone banks, You can actually buy authentic Herkimer Diamonds from Amazon. The Bureau of Land Management is a good resource for determining whether or not an area is ideal for rockhounding. That's the age of almost all the rocks here in the Catskills.