COLLECTING RED JASPER, CHERT, AND SMOKY DRUSY QUARTZ AT
RINGGOLD, GA
July 15, 2009

by Ray Hill

NOTE: This article is not complete. The complete article will be published in Ray's new book on rock collecting. Among other places, the book will be offered through our Great South Gems & Minerals site.

Just recently I wrote a short article entitled “Where do you find rocks, minerals and fossils?” Well, I remembered my own preaching on this trip and it paid off!

Yesterday I drove north on I-75 from Atlanta, GA all the way to the Ringgold, GA exit, just a short distance south of Chattanooga. I got off I-75 at exit 348, which is State highway 151. (This is Catoosa County, Georgia.) I turned left across the expressway and went about a hundred yards and turned right onto a paved road, just before a Wendy’s, which is also on the right. I failed to see or find a name for this short road. It ran parallel to I-75 for about a third of a mile and then turned into a dirt road with fairly deep runts washed across it.

When I turned right off the main road I went down about a hundred and fifty yards and pulled into a large vacant field on the right. This open field was about a hundred and fifty yards square. Here I found some really nice looking red jasper, some with whitish streaks running through the material. It looked to me like this material had started out as chert nodules.

Here’s a photo of just a few pieces I picked up. This material was fairly plentiful here.

NOTE: Ray will be adding 15 more articles on the rock collecting hobby, including many rock collecting locations, between now and the end of 2009. Those new articles, and those shown below, will be published in Ray's new book on rock collecting. Among other places, the book will be offered through our Great South Gems & Minerals site.

Ray Hill
Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc.
www.greatsouth.net
888-933-GEMS

Note: Only rock clubs have permission to print this article but must give credit to the author, Ray Hill, and Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc. For everyone else, please email us for permission.

Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc. www.greatsouth.net 38 Bond Drive Ellenwood, Georgia 30294 USA 1-888-933-GEMS (4367) FAX: 770-389-8095