A beautiful desert drive.
Getting to the Quartzsite Rock Shows
It seems like forever driving through the desert from Tucson to Quartzsite, but when you crest the hill on I-10 east of Quartzsite Arizona, and look out at a white desert, you know you’re there, and treasures may soon be found. The white I’m referring to are all the RV’s dry camped on the BLM property surrounding Quartzsite. Quartzsite is the January destination for rockhounds, the home of numerous Quartzsite rock shows. The small town is the last vestige of civilization in western Arizona, 20 or so miles from the California Border on I-10.
We do not take our RV, as its easier to rent a Hotel Room in Parker, 35 miles north. Other rockhounds might spend the entire winter in their RV’s in the Quartzsite area.
Not many people out at the Gardens today, but we found some treasures.
A typical tailgate booth at Desert Gardens.
You can never tell what might be in a tub.
You can not attend all the shows at one time in Quartzsite. This year we decided on dates encompassing the Desert Gardens Show, , and the QIA Pow Wow. The Pow Wow began in 1965 and is sponsored by the QIA (Quartzsite Improvement Association). About 500 vendors sell their goods on the QIA Grounds, making it the largest show in Quartzsite. Plenty of rocks, minerals, jewelry, beads, and lapidary things will make a rockhound happy. Some of the other shows in town are more of a flea market with all kinds of stuff, so we are looking forward to this rock-themed show.
The Desert Garden Rock Show
One dealer had plenty of Ocean Jasper left.
Some really fine Chrysocolla cabs.
The Desert Gardens show is far from a garden. This show covers a few acres of flat, barren desert where the vendors’ tailgate or sell from tents located near their RVs. Careful haggling might produce some happy bargains here. I also like to pick the brains of the vendors (often miners that have brought their finds to the desert). We always look for things we’ve not seen, are rare, or no longer being mined.
Bonnie and I are rock pickers and love rooting through other collectors slabs, rocks, and discards, to find those hidden treasures. The time it takes is not important when it comes to rock picking, it is the thrill of the hunt! Sometimes we find a new rock, but more often it is a small piece or cabochon of a familiar rock that we know and our customer like.
What we bought so far…
Today we mostly bought cabochons and just a few slabs. I usually cut my own stones, but malachite is something I don’t like to cut because of the toxic chemicals in it. And small earring sets are tedious and time consuming, so we bought some of those matched sets today. We got some crazy lace, mookaite jasper, and rhodochrosite.
Enjoy our adventures over the next couple days. They’ll be loads of pictures and exciting bits. I ran out of battery on my camera but I’ll do better tomorrow.