FOR ROCK-OBSESSED HOUSEHOLDS
Ontario rock guide for families
Your kid's pockets are full of gravel and the washing machine is starting to complain. Good news: Ontario is a great place to have this problem.
Rock hunting in Ontario with kids is one of the best cheap obsessions going. The province is built on very old rock. Amethyst is its official mineral emblem. And there are places where a child can leave with a real purple crystal they dug up.
Here's how we'd plan it, from the backyard to the big road trip. We're a crystal shop, not a tour company, so think of this as a starting list. Sites change owners, seasons and prices, so check with a place before you drive.
Where to go rock hunting in Ontario
How far are you willing to go?
Close to home
Start with what's around you. Gravel, creek edges with permission, and your own garden all count. Southern Ontario limestone often holds small fossils, so look closely.
In Waterloo, the University of Waterloo Earth Sciences Museum is a great look-but-don't-keep stop. The Peter Russell Rock Garden on campus is outdoors, with big rocks, mostly from Ontario. See the museum's site for current hours and admission.
The Bancroft area
Bancroft is a few hours from Kitchener and a long-time rock hound's town. The Princess Sodalite Mine rock shop lists collecting in its rock farm. The local star is deep blue sodalite. Lakeside Gems runs geologist-led collecting trips, and there's a mineral museum in town.
The Bancroft Gemboree is an annual summer event with dealers and field trips. A guided trip is the best way in with kids. Old mines and quarries around there are deep in the woods and can be dangerous.
Thunder Bay amethyst
This is the one for the kid who wants purple. Amethyst Mine Panorama is about 60 km east of Thunder Bay. It has a public digging area where you pay for what you keep. Diamond Willow Amethyst Mine is another option in the area.
From southern Ontario this is a real road trip, so build a holiday around it. Both are seasonal and neither is a place to arrive on a guess. Call or check their sites first.
For more ideas, Destination Ontario's rockhounding guide covers the whole province, including mining history stops up north.
The rules, in plain words
Ontario has a hobby mineral collecting policy. Read the current version, because the province says it's under review. These are the parts families trip on:
- Private land means asking first. Get the owner's permission, even if it looks empty.
- Parks are off the list. Collecting generally isn't allowed in provincial parks, conservation reserves or other protected areas. The same goes for national parks.
- Crown land isn't a free-for-all. Whether you can collect depends on the mining rights, and someone may hold a claim. The province's MLAS Map Viewer shows land status, and checking is on you.
- Hand tools only. Hammers, chisels and shovels are fine. Machines aren't.
- Take what you can carry. The policy limits you to what one person can dig by hand and carry alone.
The easy way around all of this is a pay-to-dig site or a guided trip. Someone else has done the land homework, and your kid gets a better haul.
What to pack for a rock day
Rock day packing list
- Safety glasses for anyone near a hammer, kids first
- Work gloves and closed-toe shoes
- A small rock hammer and a chisel, if the site allows them
- A bucket and newspaper or egg cartons for wrapping finds
- Masking tape and a pen, to label each find on the spot
- Water, snacks, sunscreen and bug spray
- A magnifier and your phone for photos
- Cash, in case the site doesn't take cards
- The site's phone number, since cell service can drop in the bush
One firm rule: stay out of old shafts and away from quarry walls. No rock is worth that.
A first rock collection for a kid
You don't need to spend much. The fun is in sorting and arguing about it.
- Get a home for it. An egg carton is the classic. Each rock gets a cup and a number.
- Keep a logbook. Write the number, where it was found and the date. Collectors care about that information as much as the rock.
- Do a scratch test. Try a fingernail, then an old copper penny, then a steel nail with a grown-up. Harder rocks shrug them off. That's the idea behind the Mohs scale.
- Sort by how rocks form. Igneous cooled from melted rock, sedimentary settled in layers, and metamorphic got squeezed and heated.
- Add a few stars. Some minerals are hard to find in a local gravel pile. A few polished tumbles or a piece from our geodes and clusters give a collection something to show off.
When a mystery rock turns up, run it through our free Crystal Identifier. It's a good guess, not the final word, which gives you a nice excuse to keep investigating.
Then come see us
When it's February and nobody's digging anything, a break-your-own geode is the indoor version. A soapstone kit is good for kids who like to make things.
We run free geode cracking days from time to time. Keep an eye on our events page. Your kid picks a geode, watches it crack and gets to see what's inside. In the shop, they can hold what they've read about. They can also ask someone who won't tire of the question.
Questions people ask
My kid is obsessed with rocks. What's a good first rock collection and how do we start?
Start with an egg carton and rocks you find yourselves. Label each one with where and when you found it. Then add a few polished stones for contrast. The labels turn a pile of rocks into a collection.
Where can I go rock hounding or pick amethyst in Ontario?
For amethyst, look east of Thunder Bay at visitor digs like Amethyst Mine Panorama and Diamond Willow. For sodalite and other minerals, Bancroft has the Princess Sodalite Mine rock shop and geologist-led field trips. All of them are seasonal, so confirm before you travel.
Can I just take rocks I find in Ontario?
It depends on the land. Get permission on private land, stay out of provincial parks and protected areas, and respect mining claims. Ontario's hobby mineral collecting policy has the details, including hand tools only and what you can carry.
What's the biggest crystal or rock shop in Ontario worth driving to?
We can't tell you who's biggest, since nobody keeps an honest list. A better test is whether you can touch things and ask questions. You can do both at our shop in Kitchener, and Bancroft is a great trip for rock shops too.
We found a rock and have no idea what it is. Can you help?
Try our free Crystal Identifier first, then bring it in if you're nearby. Staff love a mystery, though we can't promise an answer for every rock. Tell us where you found it, since location is half the clue.
Where to next
Where the curious become connected.
Bring your best find
Bring the rock, the kid and the theory about what it is. We're at 396-B Victoria Street North in Kitchener, and you can hold everything here.