FIELD TRIP to GIRARD, GEORGIA
(Chert, Agate, Druzy-Lined Vugs, Fossils, Indian Artifacts)

by Ray Hill

About 10 years ago I went on a field trip with the Cotton Indian Gem & Mineral Society (Stockbridge, GA) to a site near the small Georgia town of Girard, about 30 miles south of Augusta. I was very impressed with this site and have been back there several times, some with groups and a few times alone.

In the August, 1999 issue of Rock & Gem magazine there appeared an excellent article written on this great collecting site by Yates Donnan. I've read and re-read this article several times and it has been very helpful to me in learning more about this site and the material found there.

If you haven't read that article you might want to do so. (And by the way, if you don't subscribe to Rock & Gem magazine, shame on you!) The subscription rate for USA is $24.00 per year. Send subscription to: Rock & Gem, C/O Miller Magazines, Inc., 4880 Market Street, Ventura, CA 93003.

To get there from Augusta, GA. go south on Bobby Jones Freeway - I-520 to State Hwy 56. From here go south 13.8 miles and turn left onto State Hwy 23. From here go 19.4 miles to the "Girard Mall", a BP convenience store on the right. There is a nondescript sign at this store which reads "Girard Mall".

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Tumble Polishing Stones Fossiliferous Chert

When you've found the BP, you're in the "center of town". It looks like a quiet, peaceful farm community. The area has gentle, rolling hills, large cotton and peanut farms, old home places, quaint, small churches and a country air.

From the BP store, "Girard Mall", continue on for another three-tenths mile and turn left onto Stoney Bluff Road. Go eight miles and bare left onto the dirt road, Stoney Bluff Landing. From here, go two-tenths mile and turn left onto River Road. Go about two-tenths mile and stop. You can start collecting here.

Here are a couple of shots of material I just reached down and picked up right where I stopped my truck.

You won't have any trouble finding the material, even pieces with nice color; there's plenty here. You can fill as many buckets as you wish.

When I visited this site in August, 2000, I noticed that on one side of this dirt road there are "Posted" signs, and "Hunting Club Keep Out" signs on the other. So I know you will respect these signs and stay in the road and ditches on either side of the road. But don't worry, you'll find more material than you can say grace over. And, for goodness sake, if you pry chunks out of the road, take the time to fill the holes. The local folks don't appreciate pot-holes in their road and the County may put a stop to collecting at this site altogether.

This material is a microscopically grained quartz called chert. It is excellent for cabbing, tumbling, and other lapidary work and takes a nice polish. However, this material is full of vugs, or small cavities, and that can be a problem but it usually can be worked around.

Yates Donnan, in his Rock & Gem article, pointed out that this material is commonly, (especially in Georgia and surrounding areas), referred to as "Savannah River Agate". I'm guilty of calling it that myself. But this is incorrect. It's a chert, not an agate. I stand corrected. Thanks, Yates.

The material here will vary from brown, red, green, blue, yellow, white, etc. in various shades.

You will find fossils at this site also. Corals, shells, bryozoans, barnacles, turritellas and other marine critters may be found in this chert. So, when you pick up a chunk, inspect it closely for fossils. They're there.

On one of my trips to this excellent collecting site I picked up two pre-formed spear heads and an expertly knapped scrapper. So be on the look out for any artifacts that may be there too.

Here's a shot of River Road looking back toward Stoney Bluff Landing from the collecting site.

Here's a picture of an old majestic oak laden with Spanish moss at the intersection of River Road and Stoney Bluff Landing. Beautiful!

If you were to go back up River Road to Stoney Bluff Landing, turn left, and follow it for 1.9 miles you'd come to the Landing itself at the Savannah River.

When visiting this site, plan on taking your camera. And take your lunch... go on down to the Landing and have a picnic. You'll enjoy it. I saw one picnic table at the landing and beautiful old oaks with lots of shade. There's swimming, fishing, boating available at the Landing. (Bring your own Boat).

Take your safety glasses, scratching tools, crack hammer, your rock pick, and a pry bar or long crowbar. Be sure and wear your safety glasses when hammering on rocks. It's too late to put them on after you have that thing in your eye and it has ruined your trip! Don't forget to bring something to drink and that all important bug spray.

And, hey, if you want to come down, or over, or up, as the case may be, and take me rock hunting at this site, give me a call. I'll go with you!

UPDATE, 11-25-2009.......... This week a rock buddy and I visited this most prolific collecting site in Girard, Georgia. It was the first time I had visited here in a few years. I need to report on some changes to the area there. I had heard from other folks telling me that this collecting site wasn't accessible any longer. I had to go check it out.

The road Stoney Bluff Landing, which runs off Stoney Bluff Road in now paved. It's no longer a dirt road. Where the collecting site is on River Road, that is still a dirt road. I had heard that the River Road was about to be paved. It wasn't paved when I went there this week. Personally I don't think it will be paved any time soon.

At the collecting site I describe in the below article, all of the trees on the left side of the road had been cut down. I think they were cut for logging. Large tree stumps were where the trees had been. With the heavy logging equipment, most of the ground cover had been disturbed and chunks of the Savannah River Agate were all over the area. And, I saw no signs saying the area was posted or any keep-out signs. So, if anything, this is an even better collecting site that what it had been. You won't have any trouble collecting plenty of material here.

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