These volcanic rocks were part of a very active ancient volcano. The minerals at this location formed at the contact between the Conway granite and the Moat Mountain volcanics. This locality occurs in miarolitic granite and these crystals are over 200 million years old. Nearly the entire mountain has various mineral locations for smoky quartz, amethyst, microcline, and fluorite, but please respect where the parks service allows and doesn’t allow digging. ![]() The severe winter weather in the area makes collecting during that time impossible. One of the few if only free, open to the public dig sites in New England where pocket smoky quartz crystals can be found, this location is maintained by the National Parks Service and is accessible from mid spring to early autumn. More about how exactly these crystals form later. The association of smoky quartz and feldspar is very typical in a miarolitic granite. In many ways, these specimens bear resemblance to other granitic quartz and feldspars from throughout the US, such as those from Colorado and Montana. New Hampshire is known as “The Granite State” so it is fitting that specimens at its signature locality occur in a granite. ![]() ![]() The iconic New Hampshire locality, Moat Mountain has been popular for its gorgeous smoky quartz and microcline specimens for decades. Welcome to Moat Mountain! Here is beautiful example of the typical smoky quartz and microcline combo found at this locality.įor more info and directions, Nat’l Forest Service page:
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