Hidden Gems of New Hampshire: Wadleigh State Park

I am breaking into my personal vault of treasured memories to share with others to enjoy as well. #TWENTY20

I am breaking into my personal vault of treasured memories to share with others to enjoy as well. #TWENTY20 https://t.co/sTuTknbuQS

— Dave Peatfield (@dpeatfield) June 5, 2016

Between a rock and a hard place #OptOutside

Lazy day by the river

Spending a quiet morning on the edge of the river with some new friends.

A photo posted by Dave Peatfield (@peatfielddave) on May 12, 2016 at 7:21am PDT

Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites

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Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) By Peter Cristofono List Price: $21.95 Price: $17.63 & eligible for FREE Shipping on orders over $35. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 56 new or used available from $13.23 Average customer review:  (28 customer reviews)

Product Description

New England is one of the best regions in the country for rockhounds to hunt for minerals, gems, and fossils. The complex geology of the region hosts a stunning variety of material from gold-bearing placers to fossiliferous limestone; from gem-bearing pegmatites to rocks containing some of the rarest minerals on Earth. This book provides detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the best sites with valuable tips on what tools to bring and how to conduct your search. Comprehensive lists of minerals or fossils for each site and excellent color photos will help you know what to look for and to identify what you've found. Information on clubs, rock shops, museums, and special attractions are provided. Written by a collector with over 35 years of experience, Rockhounding New England is the first comprehensive rock and mineral collecting guide to New England and a must-have for anyone interested in collecting their own minerals, gems, and fossils in the region.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72991 in Books
• Brand: Ntl Book Network
• Published on: 2014-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x .90" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• Rockhounding New England

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Editorial Reviews

Review
Anyone interested in collecting rocks, minerals, fossils, and gold in New England, from beginners to advanced collectors, will find this book an invaluable resource.
About the Author 

Peter Cristofono was born in Massachusetts and has been an avid field collector of New England minerals, gems and fossils for more than 35 years. Beginning with his high school years in New Hampshire and later while majoring in geology at Boston College he assembled a large collection of self-collected specimens from the region. Peter has served as president of the Boston Mineral Club and is currently a director of the Micromounters of New England. He has authored mineralogical articles for various publications and websites. He is well-known for his macro photos of minerals and insects which have appeared in major newspapers, magazines, books, scholarly journals, museum exhibits and various websites including over 3,700 mineral photos on Mindat.org. Peter spends as much time as he can in the field. His home base is Salem, Massachusetts. 

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
The Best Guide to the region I have yet found...A Gem of a Guide!
By Todd
This is a great guide. I have been collecting in the area for over 45 years. Most of the well known sites are included. Caution: one poorly constructed sentence digression ahead. I'm 51 y/o, so I began this lifelong(so far) adventure at a very tender age.

So are lesser known sites. Almost every locale in my collecting area(central New Hampshire) has hidden gems that are only known to a few people.

These simply cannot all be sourced. A good USGS map is of little help. You have to find out where they are. As the author emphasizes: join a club.

This book is great for that purpose. I have wasted countless hours trying to find a particular spot to no avail. If an area sports a mine, chances are extremely good that good collecting opportunities exist just outside of said mine. Just be aware as to land ownership issues. The author gets into the nuts and bolts of field work, so I'll just state that he does an outstanding job in laying out the do's and don'ts of prepping for field work, and its subsequent execution.

The writing style is really well-suited to the subject matter. The information is--in many cases--more up to date than my own. I haven't found bad data in the book to this point. Of course I'll never make it to all the locales illustrated. His writing style is generally of a 'just the facts' variety. He also displays a great love of scenic vistas and other delights to the senses one expeiences in the field.

Speaking of illustrations, the images are smashing. Mr. Cristofono is a celebrated mineral specimen photographer. The book certainly does nothing to tarnish that reputation. The maps are great, and if you follow the author's simple collecting rules, you are certain to find specimens worthy of any collection.

That's high praise indeed. One day spent at the right site will pay for the book. It just may pay many times over.

I go to both of the Palermo mines(Groton, NH) on a regular basis. Knowing the mine owner greatly assists in access.

I have seen so many changes in my collecting career that what were once freely open sources are now--almost without exception--of limited access. Again, knowing the right people can get you into ostensibly prohibited areas. Join a club. Our club dues are 10 USD per annum. For this token sum you receive enormous benefits.

The author's suggestion of joining a club cannot be overstated. This can open many of those closed collecting to general public access sites in the book. In today's collecting environment this is of paramount importance. Have I mentioned that one should join a club?

I would probably recognize the author if I saw him. For all its myriad charms, and undeniable sense of awe the hobby instills, the number of serious collectors--in northern New England at any rate--remains small.

So, this bloke recommends the book. Who is he anyway? Can I trust him?

In the vein(pun intended) of establishing 'street cred' I submit the following:

At the age of eleven, I co-discovered the source of arsenic in local well water. I was the first to chip off a specimen of arsenopyrite from a local granitic pegmatite outcrop. I also assisted with species identification. My 'almost famous' geological moment.

When you give new data to the state geologist, you're in pretty deep. I was thrilled to have been involved in what was to become, a subject of much speculation once local well water was found to be loaded with arsenic. I had a moment of precocious fame once I laid out by far the most likely source of well water contamination. My well founded hypothesis was subsequently confirmed.

As a collector, I'm semi-serious. I have been at it for a good long while, but I learned much from the book that I will be putting to the test in the upcoming season. If you're a collector in New England, or are considering a collecting trip to New England, this book should be on your EXTREMELY short list.

I can think of no better textual resource for the mineral collector in the New England states.

If you're out and about collecting in an exposed granitic pegmatite formation in central New Hampshire this spring/summer/autumn, and you see a short, devastatingly young looking collector in a 'dirty mac,' stop and say hello. My collecting outer garment will be drab green in color..hey, at least it was when new! That will most likely be your humble reviewer. I may not be able to show you they are, but I will almost assuredly be able to show where they 'ain't.' See, rockhounds(a misnomer if ever there was) can have a sense of humor. Then there are collectors like me. In all seriousness, I have found that nearly everyone in the field--from professional geologists to the most neophyte of amateur collectors--to be among the most giving groups you'll likely find. We're geo-geeks, and enjoy sharing our arcane knowledge with others. Honest! Those that are in it for the money, well, they're in it for the money.

The book is a fabulous resource. Buy it. The images are breathtaking, the info is as current as today, the 'pre-field' instructions are spot-on, and yes, even the writing is excellent! I see no caveats to a purchase.

Join a club. Collect. Be safe. Keep at it.

See you in the field!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A great guide of the New England states
By Barbara E. Wagner
A great guide of the New England states! I have visited several of the sites and the informationis right on target.

For collectors that are new, I would suggest joining a mineral club (inexpensive) in your area to get access to many of the sites
that require permission.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Great timing, shipped in record time
By Elise
Book is great on details of mining and rockhounding places, although not comprehensive as far as covering all the places one can go, it is a great starter book for nebbies like me.
See all 28 customer reviews...