GIANT CLEAR SELENITE CRYSTALS
NEAR CARLSBAD, NM.

by Ray Hill

I flew out to El Paso, Texas, about four years ago to meet with some dealers from Mexico. They were bringing minerals, carvings, arrowheads, and fossils into the US. I spent a week there and it turned out to be a very prosperous trip. While there, I had also planned to spend a couple of days sightseeing. One of the sites I wanted to visit was Carlsbad Caverns just across the New Mexico state line. So, on Friday of that week I got up early, dressed, went to breakfast, and took off toward Carlsbad, New Mexico. It's a straight shot from El Paso over to Carlsbad on US Hwy 62 and 180.

Here's a photo taken just east of El Paso showing the terrain. The Guadalupe Mountains are in the distance.

Being from Ellenwood, Georgia (near Atlanta), I marveled at the desolation of the country out there. I just had to stop every few miles and take photos of the landscape. You can drive for miles and miles and not see any trees. It's kind of like I thought the Old West used to be. I almost expected to see cowboys and Indians at any moment.

Here's a photo of the salt lake just southwest of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are in the background.

Here's a photo taken along the highway as I was entering the Guadalupe Mountain National park. Beautiful view!

And here is a shot of the park entrance, taken from along the highway.

Here's a photo of the entrance to the visitor center.

Since there was a gift shop at the Visitors Center (with lots of photos of the park, including the hiking trails, cold drinks, snacks, and a bathroom), I had to stop and take more pictures and check it out. You have to understand that I'm just a little boy at heart, and have to stop and look at everything. So, by the time I had checked out the Visitor Center, looked at all the photos on display, saw the stuffed animals inside, had myself a snack and a cold drink it was around 3:00 in the afternoon. I told the nice young lady behind the counter that I was from Georgia and that I had come out there to take a tour through the Carlsbad Caverns just across the state line. She asked me where I was staying and I told her that I had driven from El Paso and was going back that night after making the tour of the caverns. She asked "You going back tonight?" and I told her I was. That was when she told me that the Carlsbad Caverns were about a half hour away and that the last tour started at 3:30 and took an hour and that I wouldn't have time to get there in time to make the tour. Well, to say the least I was disappointed! I had truly enjoyed my drive thus far... I had seen lots of great sites and had taken lots of pictures ... but I was still disappointed that I wouldn't get to see the caverns that day.

At this point I told her that I was in Texas on a rock trip and that I was a dealer in Georgia and was really looking forward to seeing the wonders of Carlsbad Caverns. If I had not taken so much time stopping along the way checking out the views and taking pictures I would have had plenty of time to get there! That is when the nice young lady said "If it's rock collecting you're interested in, you'll just have to go right on up the highway here and check out a site where lots of people go to pick up rocks." I asked where and what she was talking about and she told me that just on up the highway, a short distance, just across the state line was a place where folks went to collect "large clear quartz crystals".

At this point I became very interested. I said "Quartz crystals?" and she said "Yeah, just on up Hwy 180, across the state line". She told me that you could pick up large, clear quartz crystals right on top of the ground! Lots of 'em! I asked "How big are they?" and she holds out her hands and says "This big" measuring a distance of about a foot. So I said "Tell me again where this place is?" As you might imagine, by this time I am exited. I mean EX-CIT-TED! The nice lady said, "Look, just go back out the highway here, keep going east, and it's just a little ways to the New Mexico/Texas state line. Once you enter New Mexico, you'll see mile marker 1, then 2, then 3. Just as you pass the Mile Marker 3 sign, you will see an opening in the fence on the right. Don't worry, it's BLM property. Turn into the opening on the right and go just a short distance and you'll see a white mound where people have been digging. That's the place. When you get there you'll see the crystals laying all around." By now I'm thinking this is just too good to be true!

So I made sure of the directions again, went out and jumped in my little rental car and took off for this wonderful new place. And in about twenty minutes I had crossed the state line, and began counting, with great anticipation, the mile marker signs. Mile Marker 1. Mile Marker 2. Mile Marker 3. Then, just as the lady had said, I saw an opening in the barb wire fence on the right. I turned in there and in less than a hundred yards I saw this white mound of dirt where it looked as though folks had been digging. My heart was pounding. My breathing quickened. I found it. And, boy, I couldn't wait. I drove up near the mound and got out expecting to see foot long, clear, quartz crystals. And, sure 'nuff, there they were, just like the lady had said... big long crystals all over the place ... except they weren't quartz crystals! It was SELENITE! Big, long, clear, crystals ... of SELENITE! Well, I was only mildly disappointed. This WAS a good collecting site and you could pick up all the SELENITE you had a mind to!

Here's a shot of my rental car near the mound where folks had been digging.

Notice my shoe in the photo. It shows how large the crystals are!

Near the mound of dirt there was a large hole where others had been digging selenite from the ground. I saw six inch thick slabs of selenite, sticking up out of the bottom of the hole, and they were about THREE FEET long! Well, I had not expected to be rock collecting on my trip to Carlsbad Caverns that day and didn't have any buckets or tools with me. So I just start picking up BIG, LONG, CLEAR, CRYSTALS of SELENITE from the ground. I had a couple of newspapers in the back seat of the car so I put a layer of paper in the trunk, then laid a layer of selenite on the paper. Then I put another layer of paper and another layer of the crystals on that, and so on until I had about 50 pounds of the material. And, I didn't find any big quartz crystals on this trip, and I didn't get to see Carlsbad Caverns (Although this collecting site is just a dozen or so miles from the caverns.) Even so, it turned out to be a pretty good day after all. I made it back to El Paso about 9:00 that evening, tired, dirty, and pleased with my day. So, if you're out that way, take a trip over to this great collecting site. You won't find any quartz crystals there, but, you can collect as much selenite as you can say grace over. And, the view of the area is fantastic. You'll enjoy it.

Take your safety glasses, old newspapers, 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! Take your lunch, something to drink and bug spray.

Good collecting to you.

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