2 legal places to look for quartz crystals in New Hampshire — fees, seasons, and official sources below. The historic record adds the underground story: 1 entries.
Hours, fees, and access rules change. Verify with the operator or land agency before you go.
Moat Mountain Mineral Collecting Site
Conway, NH
smoky quartzamazonitemicrocline
Forest Service collecting area · Free with permit · free; a mineral collecting permit is required and is self-issued at the trailhead, valid for one day at one site. Collecting limits and tool restrictions are stated on the permit
Checked against its source August 16, 2026
Grafton, NH
muscovite micaberylblack tourmaline
Fee dig · Fee, seasonal · $30 per person; kids under 10 free. Each paid admission covers up to one 5-gallon bucket of rocks and minerals
Checked against its source August 16, 2026
Mineral history, not an invitation. This mineral history comes from a federal record of historic mines, prospects, and occurrences. It is not a list of places to collect. Historic mine sites are usually on private land, under active mining claims, or unsafe to enter — and often all three. The places you can actually collect are in the legal-access directory below.
The federal record lists 1 historic entries involving quartz crystals in New Hampshire , clustered in Grafton county. That geography is the honest clue about which corners of the state carry the right rocks — read it as geology, then pick a legal place to test it.
Records from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System, a legacy federal database last revised August 2022 and no longer updated.
Start with the 2 legal places listed on this page — each shows what you can find, its fees, and its season, with a link to the official source. Hours, fees, and access rules change. Verify with the operator or land agency before you go.
Treat New Hampshire's historic mines as history, not destinations. Most sit on private land or active mining claims, and old workings are dangerous even to walk. The mineral record on this page tells you what the ground holds — the directory tells you where you are welcome to look for it.