Road Trip around Montana – Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine
 | Author:
Brenda Phillips
Brenda Phillips: MT43 News Office Administrator |
Road Trip around Montana – Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine
Brenda Phillips
My dad owned an excavation company when I was growing up. When we would go on trips he always commented on the piles of dirt and gravel alongside the highway – and there are lots of gravel pits in Montana. Anywhere we stopped we would all look for pretty rocks or weird-shaped rocks, especially heart-shaped rocks! This rock collecting has carried on in our family.
We were looking for interesting things to do with our 2 tween-age grandsons. I remembered going to the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine with a group of friends so we decided to take the boys to check out sapphire mining. It is not far from Helena, just off the York Road. (5360 Castle Rd, Helena) They are open 7 days a week 9:00-5:00. They have the cutest modern Outhouse!!!! In the store they have very interesting rocks, some are native to MT and others come from other places. They have cut gemstones & jewelry that you can buy. One grandson is really interested in geodes. The friendly gal behind the counter, Crystal, explained to him we don’t get geodes in MT but some can be found in Idaho. They have bags of gravel that you can buy and sift through for gemstones and gold. If you are really ambitious, you can choose to go up to the mine area and dig your own bucket of gravel with a pick and shovel ($10.00 for a 5-gallon bucket). Their gravel bags range from $10 to $100. We opted for 2 of the small kids' $10 (@Qtr size) bags. Crystal outfitted us with sifter screens and tweezers and took us to a table to start our search. It was a very sunny warm day and it would have been nice to have shade but you need the sunlight to help you find the gems. Be sure you take sunscreen, a hat and water! Crystal showed us how to put the gravel on the screen and shake it in a tub of water, which causes the heavier gemstones to move to the center. We used the tweezers to pick out the red Garnets, sapphires of varying colors, and other pretty rocks and put them in a small zippered plastic bag. The 4 of us spent about 2 hours sorting through the two small bags of gravel. They have larger bags that would take a lot longer to look through. Closing time was nearing so we put our gravel back into the bags to take home and look through another day. Crystal and her co-worker took us back into the store and viewed the treasures we found on a lighted glass plate. We each had a good collection of garnet, sapphires, quarts and agates. Crystal said I had found a Moonstone, about the size of the tip of my pinky finger, which would be worth about $20 ( and it is heart-shaped!). Both of the ladies were very knowledgeable & informative about the gems that we found. Most of the gemstones are too small to cut (and cutting is costly) but the ladies gave us some other options of what to do with our gemstones. This probably wouldn’t be a good activity for small children (that get bored easily) but it’s interesting for teens to adults that enjoy pretty rocks. Crystal said they have people tell them that this is a very therapeutic calming activity for Veterans and those needing to unwind and forget the world, while they look for gems. They try to make this an educational and geological experience rather than a tourist activity. Crystal told us that there are lots of opportunities to find gemstones around Townsend and Canyon Ferry – along the Missouri River.
Brenda and Kurt Phillips are from Townsend and enjoy visiting Montana's scenic and historic sites.
Written by Brenda Phillips
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits Brenda Phillips
Image 1 Caption: Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine Store
Photo Credits Brenda Phillips
Image 2 Caption: My family looking for sapphires
Photo Credits Brenda Phillips
Image 3 Caption: Garnets, Sapphires and Moon Stone (upper left center)
Photo Credits Brenda Phillips
