Colorado Mineral Society Field Trips

Upcoming CMS Field Trips:

Event Name Event Date
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This site can no longer be used to sign up for field trips.  Look for additional emails with instructions for sign-up.

 

CMS Field Trip List (5/5/2026)

 

Date

 

Trip

 

Location

Participant

Limit

May 9, 2026 

Two Creeks – Barite

Northeastern CO

None

May 15, 2026

Yellowcat - Agate, Petrified Wood

Yellowcat, Utah

None

May 16, 2026

Book Cliffs - Barite

Grand Junction, CO

None

May 30, 2026?

Hartsel – Barite

Hartsel, CO

40

May 31, 2026

Butterfield Ranch - Adults Only (Fee) - Quartz

Colorado

12

June 5, 2026

Tarryall Topaz Claim (Fee)

Lake George, CO

30

June 6, 2026

Smoky Hawk – Amazonite, Smoky Quartz (Fee)

Lake George, CO

30

June 13, 2026

Calumet Mine – Epidote

Salida, CO

30

June 14, 2026

Butterfield Ranch – Adults Only (Fee) - Quartz

Colorado

12

June 14, 2026

Butterfield Ranch – Juniors Only (Fee)

Colorado

30

June 20, 2026

Smoky Hawk  Juniors Only (Fee)

Lake George, CO

30

June 27, 2026

Calumet Mine – Epidote

Salida, CO

30

June 27, 2026

Flat Tops -  Psuedomorphs, Fossils

Dotsero, CO

25

June 28, 2026

Hartsel – Barite

Hartsel, CO

40

July 12, 2026

Butterfield Ranch – Adults Only (Fee) - Quartz

Colorado

12

July 17, 2026

Smoky Hawk – Amazonite, Smoky Quartz (Fee)

Lake George, CO

30

July 18, 2026

Tarryall Topaz Claim (Fee)

Lake George, CO

30

July 19, 2026

Harris Park - Quartz

Colorado

22

July 24-25, 2026

Mt Antero – Aquamarine (Fee)

Colorado

30

August 7, 2026

Wolf Creek Pass - Geodes

Colorado

30

August 8, 2026

Last Chance Mine – Sowbelly Agate, Amethyst (Fee)

Creede, CO

30

August 16, 2026

Harris Park - Quartz

Colorado

22

August 29-30, 2026

Grizzly Bear Mine, Sunnyside Mine, and others- Sphalerite, Galena, Rhodochrosite, Quartz

Ouray, Colorado

25

Sept 5, 2026

Big Sandy – Petrified Wood

Wyoming

None

Sept 6, 2026

Blue Forest – Petrified Wood, Blue Chalcedony

Wyoming

None

Sept 10-13, 2026

Denver Gem and Mineral Show / Hardrock Summit

Westminster, CO

N/A

Sept 26-27, 2026

Crawford Agate Trip (Joint Trip with FMC and Littleton) – Fluorescent agate, petrified wood,    

maybe a fairburn agate

 Crawford, NE

25 (CMS)

Sept 27, 2026

Spruce Grove – Topaz, smoky quartz (Adults Only, +18 yrs)

Colorado

20

October 2, 2026

CMS Meeting and 90th Anniversary Party

 

 

October 16-17, 2026   

Book Cliffs - Barite

Grand Junction, CO

None

October 18, 2025

Douglas Pass - Fossils

Grand Junction, CO

None

October 24, 2026

Botryoidal Fluorite Trip

Canon City, CO

30

 

Italics trip dates are still being confirmed.

Yellow highlighted trips are for junior rockhounds and their families.

CMS Field Trip Rules

  • You can sign up online for a field trip. Reconfirm that you will be attending shortly before the trip date. This is good manners as well as good sense!  Trip leaders have the right to      refuse attendance for those not signed up and are not obligated to wait for unconfirmed participants.
  • Some trips are restricted with the number of people that can participate.  If you sign up and then cannot attend, please remove your name off the online sign-up page or notify the trip leader as soon as possible to release the spot being reserved for you.
  • On the day of the trip at the meeting location, the field trip leader will collect the Release and Waiver Liability Form for Field Trips that must be signed by all attendees.  Claim owners and landowners may have additional liability forms that need to be filled out and signed.
  • When you leave the field trip site, be sure to check with the trip leader so they know you and your group are accounted for.
  • You are responsible for the behavior and actions of your guests and minor children. Note that all guests and minor children must be members of CMS to attend club field trips unless we are conducting joint trips with other clubs.
  • At a few locations (for example old mine sites, operating quarries), safety issues or regulations may prevent minor children from attending the trip. Such restrictions will be noted in the trip write-ups.
  • If you dig holes looking for minerals or fossils, please fill it in the holes when you are done.  This is a requirements on all Federal Lands, as well as private lands.
  • Dogs or other pets are not allowed on any field trip.  Please do not leave your dogs in your vehicles during the field trip.
  • Respect private property of all kinds!  Do not disturb or remove claim markers.  Don’t trespass in areas adjacent to the field trip site. Ask permission if you must gain access to private land.

American Federation of Mineralogical Societies "Code of Ethics"

  • I will respect both private and public property and will do no collecting on privately owned land without permission from the owner.
  • I will keep informed on all laws, regulations or rules governing collecting on public lands and will observe them.
  • I will, to the best of my ability, ascertain the boundary lines of property on which I plan to collect.
  • I will use no firearms or blasting material in collecting areas.
  • I will cause no willful damage to property of any kind such as fences, signs, buildings, etc.
  • I will leave all gates as found.
  • I will build fires only in designated or safe places and will be certain they are completely extinguished before leaving the area.
  • I will discard no burning material - matches, cigarettes, etc.
  • I will fill all excavation holes which may be dangerous to livestock.
  • I will not contaminate wells, creeks, or other water supplies.
  • I will cause no willful damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use.
  • I will practice conservation and undertake to utilize fully and well the materials I have collected and will recycle my surplus for the pleasure and benefit of others.
  • I will support the rockhound project H.E.L.P. (Help Eliminate Litter Please) and will leave all collecting areas devoid of litter, regardless of how found.
  • I will cooperate with field-trip leaders and those in designated authority in all collecting areas.
  • I will report to my club or federation officers, Bureau of Land Management or other authorities, any deposit of petrified wood or other materials on public lands which should be protected for the enjoyment of future generations for public educational and scientific purposes.
  • I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources.
  • I will observe the "Golden Rule", will use Good Outdoor Manners and will at all times conduct myself in a manner which will add to the stature and Public Image of Rockhounds everywhere.