Mud Springs

Mud Springs Rd gives access to the hills north of Tepee canyon that all have potential for producing agate. With endless hillsides to explore you may find a new agate hot spot.

When to visit: Spring, Summer, Fall.

What you can find: Tepee Canyon style agate, hills fairburn, jasper

What to bring: Rock hammer, chisels, pick axe, buckets, backpack, water, snacks.

Where to stay: The area north of US HWY 16 is off limits to camping. The area South of the highway is open to dispersed camping. The town of Custer is 25 minutes West on HWY 16 and has many hotels and campgrounds.

Getting there: From Custer, South Dakota travel west on HWY. 16 / Mt. Rushmore Rd. approximately 15.1 miles. Turn right onto Mud Springs Rd and drive 1/2 mile until you see a semi trailer off to your left. This is a good place to park and is marked as Site A. From where you park you will need to hike approximately 1/4 mile through scattered pines to reach Site B.

(Site A: 43°44’04.9″N 103°51’22.7″W)
(Site B: 43°44’08.2″N 103°51’39.5″W)

Rockhounding

After a fairly easy hike through the woods you will hit an old burn zone and will begin to see signs of older and more recent surface diggings in the area. Site B is at the top of a hillside that had several small chips with tepee canyon style agate. Higher above where more recent and deeper digger has been done seemed to produce a different style agate with less color that was not in a chert host. This area appears to have been heavily worked on the surface but definitely deserves to be explored more as I have found a couple nice agates here on only a couple visits.

Gallery

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