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Brown
Springs Agate
Exit
I-17 at 260, and follow 260 east through the town of Camp Verde,
watching on the right side of the road for a side street named Salt
Mine Road. From here, getting to Brown springs is basically a
matter of following the Salt Mine Road. After you pass Chasm Creek,
watch for a watering tank and fenced livestock area off to the east.
This is Rodeo Flats. There is cuttable rock to be had here, at Gap
Creek and at Brown Springs (the end of the road.) The last few
miles of this road, while not rough by Arizona rockhound standards,
are a little too rustic for a passenger car. If you want to keep your
muffler and your oil pan, I suggest visiting this site with a
pickup, SUV or other high clearance vehicle.
You can
find a lot of rock here, and you can find good rock here, but you are
unlikely to find a lot of good rock here. Plume has been found in
this area, but I have rockhounded the Brown Springs area and have
found nothing dazzling in the way of plume agate. I have found a fair
amount of the brownish stuff called golden moss agate at Rodeo Flats,
as well as a small amount of interesting fortification agate (see the
picture below right.) West of the road at Brown Springs, there is a
fair amount of pink-and-white banded onyx which probably would make
some nice carving material, and there is also a fair amount of
hematite banded with red jasper.
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