Customer Reviews

Desert Gem Trails

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Desert Gem Trails, by Mary Frances Strong, is perhaps the most invaluable guide to rockhounding sites in southern California. Despite having been published over 40 years ago, her maps and illustrations are extremely accurate -- an absolute necessity when venturing out into the California deserts. Her love of the beauty, solace, and wonder to be found in the desert comes through, particularly in the introduction to the book.

I began collecting six years ago, when my kids were 5 and 7 -- old enough to appreciate overnight outings without whining. We wish to open a small natural history museum, but for small kids, the need for finding collecting sites that were "sure things" is obvious. Thanks to the wealth of information in Desert Gem Trails, we've able to find beautiful samples depsite the many decades of collecting at many of these sites.

A danger in desert collecting trips is getting lost. The desert now has such a bewildering mess of unofficial "roads" created by offroad vehicles that routes to sites (the Hauser Bed geodes location comes to mind) can be nearly impossible to find. This book gives extremely accurate distances -- almost always to the tenth of a mile and well within the margin of error for different sized cars -- and helps the collector find the location.

Desert Gem Trails is a must for anyone wishing to explore the many wonderful collecting sites of our desert. Bear in mind, however, that some of the more remote sites may have been subjected to road closures by the BLM in recent years, thus necessitating a hike instead of a drive. Contact the local BLM offices for maps and up-to-date info before embarking on a trip and double-check road locations to ensure a happy and successful trip.