Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum (and a new member!). My family moved to Colorado two years ago, and have always been interested in rocks and fossils. We haven't had much of a chance to get out and search much.

We have two kiddos, ages 7 and 4. My 7 year old is fascinated with rocks, gems, and fossils. She even reads nonfiction books about them. She would love to find some fossils or even just some cool crystals.

Anyone have an idea of where we could go that isn't too far? We live in north Colorado Springs. We do hike and the kids can go about 2-3 miles without tiring out, so we can't go too far from where we park.

We have been up around Lake George, but have no idea where to even start...complete amateurs here.

Welcome!

A great place to take young'uns that has easy access and you're guaranteed to find shiny stuff is at the private Barite did in Hartsel. Stop by the yellow rock shop in town, pay $5 and sign a release and they'll give you directions to their property.

Lots of claims around Lake George, so just showing up and prospecting could get you in trouble. Here's a good place to read up on the proper way to do your homework before you head out in the field. How to Avoid Claim Jumping

Welcome to the forums FamilyOfFour!

If by member you mean a Club Member then be sure to look at your researched areas and keep an eye out in the protected forums for Club Member invites and events. The topic Crusty mentioned is a great place to start when learning where to prospect legally.

I did read the article about claim jumping, and we have been careful when we went to Lake George, but we really haven't done much digging anyway. We had no idea where to even look.

I am a club member, and did check out the researched sites, but it looks like most of them are more than 2 hours from where we are, unless I'm missing something.

I did see something in the newsletter about invites, but couldn't find any of the threads. Sorry, total newbie here.

I'll check it out! My daughter would have a blast. Thanks for the info!

Oh, and we did look up the claims around Lake George before we poked around at all. We didn't do any digging while we were there. We just walked around and looked at rocks. LOL

If you end up on someone's claim, even "walking around looking at rocks" could be enough to get a claim owner riled up.

Bear Creek Park is another good spot locally to walk around and find Amazonite and Smoky Quartz, and even some decent sized chunks of white quartz.

Wilderness areas are always a safe bet. You can prospect but you cant stake a claim. Good luck and welcome to the club!

Good to know, thanks! We didn't go near any claims, from the maps we were looking at, but we will definitely be careful. We didn't see any areas that looked like people had been prospecting at all.

The protected Forum is for Club Members only. You will need your monthly password to access the protected forum where Club Members have upcoming claim invites for other members. Including an invite to my claim. The hike to my claim may not be the best for the younger kids unless they are used to hiking in the mountains for a mile.

I recommend you dive into the land research further to find good spots on your own. When you can find where the claims are then you know a basic area that someone thinks is valuable. Most important is you find out where there are no claims nearby where you have a good chance of finding goodies without breaking the law.

The protected forum has helpful info to further your research also.

Thank you! I've been doing some research with the info provided in the protected forum, and I feel a little overwhelmed, but I'm enjoying learning about it all. :) I think we will take the kids out a little on our own before bringing them to any of the invites. I'm going to do as you suggested and find some of our own spots. I want to make sure we do our research well so we don't go where we are not supposed to!