Where to Find Beryl in Colorado

Colorado has 6 mapped collecting spots that report beryl, spread across 4 counties. The largest share sits in Chaffee County County with 2 spots. 6 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.

Standout beryl spots in Colorado

Hand-picked from the full list below, with the reason each one earns a trip.

Mount Antero
Chaffee County County
Mount Antero is the highest gem locality in the United States, with aquamarine and beryl occurring in granite cavities above timberline near its 14,269-foot summit. Aquamarine is Colorado's state gemstone, and the peak also yields phenakite, topaz, smoky quartz, and fluorite. The collecting ground lies in San Isabel National Forest, where the Forest Service permits casual hand-tool collecting for personal use on open land.
Quartz Creek (Brown Derby)
Gunnison County County
The Quartz Creek, or Brown Derby, district is Colorado's most fractionated lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite field, mapped by the USGS as more than 1,800 pegmatite bodies. They carry beryl, lepidolite, pink and green tourmaline, and rare columbite-tantalite. The dikes sit on Gunnison National Forest land where personal hobby collecting with hand tools is allowed.
Crystal Mountain
Larimer County County
The Crystal Mountain pegmatite district, mapped in USGS Bulletin 1011, contains beryl in roughly a quarter of its pegmatites, including aquamarine, alongside muscovite, fluorapatite, and bismutite. The district sits on Roosevelt National Forest along upper Buckhorn Creek west of Fort Collins. Garnet and schorl tourmaline occur in the zoned pegmatites.

Best counties for beryl in Colorado

Ranked by the number of mapped beryl spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.

Every beryl spot we track in Colorado

Sorted by county. Coordinates open in Google Maps.

Spot	County	Minerals	Coordinates	Access
Mount AnteroMount Antero Trail	Chaffee County	Aquamarine Beryl Phenakite Smoky Quartz Fluorite	38.6738, -106.2467	Public
Sedalia Copper MineHappy Jack Lane	Chaffee County	Actinolite Almandine Azurite Beryl Chrysocolla	38.6036, -106.0306	Public
Quartz Creek (Brown Derby)CR 44	Gunnison County	Beryl Tourmaline Lepidolite Albite Muscovite	38.5174, -106.6679	Public
Centennial ConeElk Range Trail	Jefferson County	Aquamarine Bertrandite Beryl Smoky Quartz	39.7554, -105.3607	Public
Crystal MountainNorth Crystal Mountain Road	Larimer County	Beryl Aquamarine Fluorapatite Muscovite Bismutite	40.5418, -105.4114	Public
Wisdom RanchParadise Park Road	Larimer County	Beryl Chrysoberyl Garnet Graphic Granite	40.5978, -105.3644	Public

Before you go

Read the beryl identification guide so you know what a keeper looks like in the field: Beryl in the encyclopedia.

Beryl in Colorado FAQ

Where can you find beryl in Colorado?+

The mapped spots concentrate in Chaffee County County, Larimer County County, and Gunnison County County. Every spot on this page appears on the map above with coordinates and access notes.

How many beryl spots are mapped in Colorado?+

6 spots across 4 counties. The RockHoundR app keeps the same spots on an offline map with public land overlays, geology layers, and your saved finds.

Is it legal to collect beryl in Colorado?+

Hand collecting of common rocks and minerals in small amounts for personal use is generally allowed on BLM and U.S. Forest Service land, with limits set by the local field office. National parks, most state parks, and tribal land are closed to collecting. 6 of the 6 mapped spots here sit on land marked public. Always confirm current rules with the managing agency before you dig.

Where else to find beryl

More minerals to hunt in Colorado

Hunt beryl in Colorado with the map in your pocket

RockHoundR puts these spots on an offline map with BLM and Forest Service overlays, geology layers, and a log for your finds.