When the monsoon rains start coming, Verde Valley rockhounds come running. And from first rainfall, there is no time for games for rockhounds, or amateur geologists, when it comes to hunting for buried treasure.

Don’t let the arid Verde Valley fool you; there is more to it than meets the eye — nestled underneath layers of basalt, sandstone and other sediment or hiding in plain sight. When the valley receives generous rainfall, treasures, such as geodes and fossils of dimetrodon footprints that are 295 to 272 million years old, begin to wash up. These riches are what many rockhounds are after.

Dimetrodons were mammal-like reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs.

Rockhounding is the recreational study and collection of rocks, gems, minerals or fossils, such as fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation known as petrified wood or geodes, a rock with its cavity lined with crystals or other minerals.

For a rockhound like Mark Moorehead, president of the Sedona Gem and Mineral Club, the hobby can entice the kid inside people.

“It’s treasure hunting. It’s like we’re kids that never grew up. That’s who rockhounders are. We still have that passion for finding that cool thing,” Moorehead said. “[We] are people that get together who like to go out in the great outdoors and find cool rocks.”

The hobby can often require one to get down and dirty and dig beneath the earth for items, but Moorehead also said that one can surface collect — find crystals and minerals above ground — and it doesn’t require a shovel or a pick. Moorehead or any rockhound can just head outdoors and find minerals or crystals like quartz, a hard white or colorless mineral, which he said is common throughout the Verde Valley.

According to Bill Hedglin, a geologist and member of the Sedona Gem and Mineral Club and the Mingus Gem and Mineral Club, what makes Northern Arizona and the state a good destination for rockhounding is the area’s history and geological diversity.

From the Grand Canyon to Humphreys Peak in Flagstaff, which used to be an active volcano, to Jerome, which was once a chain of volcanic islands, the area’s diverse sediment and layers of rock are to thank for the plethora of minerals, crystals and fossils rockhounds collect.

Hedglin said some of the oldest rocks can be found in Jerome, where some have been dated up to 1.7 billion years old. Next oldest are rocks found in Sedona, where the red rocks are dated roughly 280 million years old. The youngest rocks, Hedglin said, are found in the Verde Valley, which are dated 10 to 15 million years old.

When one catches “rockhound fever,” Moorehead said the state can become a gold mine. But before you jump the gun and head off the beaten path to find a jackpot, he said it’s best to know before you go.

He recommends that people go collecting after a rainstorm, possibly near a streambed like the Verde River, and research destinations and what can be found there. He also said to wear gloves, a hat and sunscreen, and to bring a prospectors pick, similar to a chisel, and a squirt bottle because squirting a rock, crystal or mineral will help bring out the colors of an item and help to identify it.

“You go to a streambed anywhere in Northern Arizona after a rainstorm … that creek today is totally different than it was two weeks ago after a rainstorm,” Moorehead said. “It’s new stuff. It’s brand new. It’s like Mother Earth just created a brand-new display for you, and if you’re the first one there you will find lots of quartz.”

Like fishermen may never reveal their favorite fishing spots, Moorehead said some rockhounds are just the same, but he did hint at general areas. Some locations, along with the different minerals, crystals and fossils that can be found at each site, include:

• Gray Mountain: 39 miles north-northeast of Flagstaff. Find jasper, moqui balls and agates by surface collecting.
• Dobell Ranch: A private ranch in Holbrook near the Petrified National Forest. For a nominal fee, people are able to dig for petrified wood.
• Rodeo Flats: Southwest of Sycamore Canyon. Find types of agates.
• Cleator: 70 miles out of Phoenix in Yavapai County between Sedona and Crown King. Cleator is a non-active mine town, and copper oxide minerals such as chrysocolla and azurite can be found.
• Salt mines: South of Camp Verde.

Among all the places the club visits annually, Moorehead said Gray Mountain is a preferred destination. A favorite find, he said, are moqui balls, also called shaman stones.

“They are spherical and they have hollow centers,” Moorehead said. “Basically it is an iron oxide interior and a sandstone core, and they were formed millions of years ago, and the Navajos used them in their rituals.”

So the crystals and minerals have been collected. What’s next? Moorehead noted that many rockhounds either vend their findings or use the items to make jewelry wire wrapping.

“We have a lot of members that [vend]. They cut and polish a lot of agates and make them into jewelry,” he said.

Many bring their jewelry to the annual gem show in Sedona in October.

The club also coordinates field trips and joins coalitions with other clubs in the state to go rockhounding.

For those itching to jump into the hobby, Moorehead and Hedglin said joining a club is the best bet, as members enjoy a wealth of knowledge from others who are geologists and who have been rockhounding for years. As for beginners, the two reminded that rockhounding requires patience and persistence.

“A lot of people go to a site and immediately want to find something really cool instantly,” Moorehead said. “You have to be patient and persistent. I think that is really the big payoff is when you finally find something that is really cool and it’s from that persistence.”

Certain guidelines and ethics are also to be abided by when rockhounding, Moorehead said. Rockhounding regulations can be found by calling the Bureau of Land Management or visiting its website, or by contacting the forest service or local clubs.

“Leave no trace is a Boy Scout motto, but it is also applicable to all gatherings,” he said. “When it comes to rockhounding, you should always leave the site the way you found it. If you dig up something you should recover it, refill the holes. Just being a good custodian of our environment.”