Idaho garnet area reopened to public

A remote North Idaho creek valley that’s home to some of the most unique gemstones in the world has recently been reopened for public scavenging.

The U.S. Forest Service had temporarily closed the Emerald Creek Garnet area to make changes aimed at improving public safety and keeping the water clear for trout.

The area is located on public land about an hour’s drive southeast of St. Maries, Idaho. It’s one of two known places on the planet where 12-sided crystals are found – the other is in India.

The star garnets, which are also Idaho’s state gem, range in size from tiny flecks of gravel to larger than a golf ball. When polished, the gems often reveal a starlike pattern.

Previously, rock hunters used shovels to dig garnet-bearing gravel directly from the streambed. Some dug too deep, putting themselves at risk for a cave-in, said Bill Anderson, with the Forest Service’s St. Joe Ranger District. All the digging in the stream also put cutthroat trout at risk.

Since it reopened to the public late last month, the garnet gravel is now dug by an excavator. After scoops of gravel are removed from the earth, gravel that has already been scoured for garnets is returned to the hole, which is then recovered with topsoil.

After paying a $10 permit, rock hunters are now given five-gallon buckets full of the gravel, which they can sort in a sluice box, Anderson said. “What we’ve found so far that that in a five gallon bucket, they’ll maybe find three, four or maybe five chips or even complete garnets.”

Anderson said despite the changes there’s still the same thrill of discovery for those sorting through the gravel. If anything, the changes make the rock hunting a bit easier and cleaner.

“It probably makes it a little easier from the standpoint they don’t have to dig down through muck and mud to get through to the gravel,” Anderson said.

There’s likely enough gravel to last for another four to eight years of gem hunting, Anderson said. “We really don’t know how fast people are going to go through the stockpiled material.”