27 mapped spots across 9 counties. Maine pegmatite country is known for tourmaline, beryl, aquamarine, apatite, and smoky quartz. Mount Mica, Mount Apatite, and Newry anchor the state's gem-mining history.
Map showing 27 rockhounding spots in Maine
Counts reflect how many spots in this list mention each mineral.
Notable areas: Mount Mica tourmaline, Mount Apatite pegmatite minerals, Western Maine aquamarine, and morganite are common Maine targets.
Western Maine sits on a belt of granite pegmatites intruded during the Devonian Acadian orogeny. The pegmatites carry gem tourmaline, including green and watermelon tourmaline from Newry, plus beryl, aquamarine, morganite, spodumene, lepidolite, smoky quartz, and apatite. Public collecting is limited on the coast; most gem collecting is inland from Lewiston through Oxford County.
The center of Maine gem country. Mount Mica is the longest continuously worked gem mine in the U.S.; Newry is known for Maine watermelon tourmaline. Most mines are private, with fee digs at Bumpus and a handful of operators.
Mount Apatite Park (a city park in Auburn) is open for hand collecting of pegmatite minerals — purple and pink apatite, smoky quartz, garnet. No digging in walls.
Scattered pegmatite occurrences and the Songo Pond emerald area; mostly private land or club-only access.
May through October. Most fee-dig mines run weekends Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Winter is locked up under snow.
A small hammer, chisels, safety glasses, gloves, a sieve, and a hand lens. Fee-dig mines often pile fresh tailings on dig days — bring a flat-blade for splitting feldspar pockets.
Mount Mica near Paris has produced gem tourmaline since 1820 and is the longest continuously worked gem mine in North America. The 1972 Plumbago/Newry watermelon tourmaline pocket brought new attention to Maine pegmatites and to New England gem hunting.
Day-trip range. Each section lists the closest mapped rockhounding spots within about 150 miles of the city — most are inside a 2 to 3 hour drive.
6 closest spots to Portland (Maine), ME.
Geology rarely respects state borders. These states share mapped rockhounding country with Maine — useful when Maine is the start, not the whole trip. Each card links to the closest county across the line.
County pages are linked once we have at least 3 mapped spots for a focused guide with coordinates, mineral notes, and nearby spots.
Sorted by county. Tap coordinates to open in Google Maps, or open RockHoundR for the full map view with land overlays and weather.
Open the RockHoundR app to see Maine on a real map with public land overlays, weather, geology, and your saved finds.
