Finding Geological Wonders From Utah

Springdale Utah, right next to Zion National Park, is a quaint little town.  There are loads of hotels and restaurants, little shops, and three geology stores.  I love geology stores.  One of the things I wanted to collect on this visit was to find stones that are unique to Utah, and there are a few.  Of the three stores I only visited one, Zion Prospectors, but the others, which I've visited in years past, are also good.

 

The stones I picked up were Utah Opalized Fluorite (Tiffany Stone), Utah Honeycomb Calcite, and Utah Septarian.

Tiffany Stone

The best specimens of Tiffany Stone are a deep purple, and they're expensive.  A few years ago I got a couple Tiffany Stone pendants at the gem faire, but I'm not so clear on their origin, as the booth owner didn't know.  Apparently Tiffany stone only comes from Utah, but the person working at Zion Prospectors said Tiffany Stone is now being found elsewhere, and being passed as from Utah.  Who knows where my pendants are from, but this little stone is positively from Utah.

 

 Tiffany Stone is from Thomas Range, as the mine is closed for safety, which means there will be no more Tiffany Stone's from Utah.  "These nodules consist of flourite, agate, chalcedony, quartz rhodonite, and opal."  It's simply a beautiful stone.

Utah Honeycomb Calcite

This is a beautiful stone which is exclusive to Utah, found in the Uinta Mountains.  This was the first time I've even seen, let alone known about Honeycomb Calcite, and instantly fell in love.  The honey colors are varied and rich, and the way light illuminates the different chambers is mesmerizing.  It's really fun shining a flashlight into the Honeycomb Calcite.

As we were having dinner the last evening I told my Mom that Utah's stone should be the Utah Honeycomb Calcite, because it's perfect.  We're the beehive state after all, and this stone is only found in this state.  While researching after getting home I found an article from St George News, February 9, 2021, about how a Utah lawmaker is working on getting the Utah Honeycomb Calcite to become the Utah official stone.  It's passed the State House and only needs approval from the State Senate.

Heh, on further study it kinda looks like an orange.

Utah Septarian

This stone is 50 million years old, which is a combination of ancient mud balls, shell life from millennia past, and later calcite forming within.  I don't know if it's still open, but Septarian Nodules can be found at Muddy Creek near Orderville Utah off of the 89.

 

It would be really cool to search for nodules, and apparently Orderville has a few rock shops to visit.  So many rock shops.  It would be fun to visit those shops one day, along with the ones in Springdale, and collect more cool specimens.  Orderville is only 30 miles from Springdale, and you have to go through Zion to get there.  That would be such a fun drive, and then continue on to Bryce Canyon, which I still need to see.

Someday.