dugway geodesWe took young kids to Dugway in mid-October and had a great trip. The geode beds are out in the middle of nowhere, a 2-3 hour drive from the Wasatch front, but well worth it. We did it as a day trip but it also makes a great overnighter.

The geode beds are located in the Utah West Desert north of the town of Delta. The most direct route is to follow the historic Pony Express route west from the towns of Fairfield and Faust. West of Faust the route is gravel, washboard, with big pot holes. It is usually driveable in a family car but can be treacherous in bad weather.

The route passes the historic Simpson Springs Pony Express station, where there is a nice campground.

dugway geode huntingMany people camp right at the geode beds but there are no facilities, no restrooms, no trees, just rocks and dirt.

The beds are located north of the Pony Express route. Many rough roads cut through the area and a high clearence vehicle is needed to get to some of them.

A sign along the Pony Express route clearly marks the area. A sign with a map shows the primary dig areas. We focused on Area B, which is pinpointed on the map below.

With young kids we mostly looked for shinny rocks, and they all found plenty. Parts of broken geodes are scatted around and easy to spot and pick up. They are usually covered with mud. As we cleaned up the rocks we found we were surprised by the beauty of some of them.

People occassionally found large geodes, including some with crystals showing interesting colors. Often such rocks need to be cut or broken open to see the crystals. Occassionally geodes of museum quality are found.