Geode hunting in Kentucky
Collecting geodes requires a few tools, generally a carpenter's hammer or
a small hand-size sledge, a Kentucky roadmap, and a stout pair of safety
goggles which are an absolute necessity. Don't forget a cardboard box or
some plastic shopping bags. Most geodes feel lighter than they look and
after you have broken a few open you will develop a sense for which ones
have the best crystals. If they don't break open after one or two healthy
whacks with a hammer, then they are probably filled in completely with quartz
and won't be worth the extra effort. These directions will take you to
an area in south central Kentucky where geodes weather out of a formation
of Mississippian age called the New Providence siltstone.
1. Take I-75 south to Lexington. Get off at exit 115 and go west on the
ring road. You won't be on it immediately, so you will have to watch for
signs pointing to Rt. 4.
2. Follow the ring road around to Rt. 68 and exit, heading southwest. You
are in the so-called inner bluegrass region of Kentucky. The Ordovician
limestone formations here contain some natural phosphate, which makes an
excellent soil fertilizer. So this is prime agricultural land, for crops
and horses.
3. Follow Rt. 68 across the Kentucky River (notice its meandering pattern
on the map, but yet its steep sides and narrow floodplain. How do you explain
this?). Continue to the intersection with Ky Rt. 33.
4. Turn left (south) on Rt. 33 and go through Burgin to Danville in Boyle
County, home of Center College (Presbyterian) which defeated Harvard in
1921, 6 to 0. At Danville, continue south on Rt. 127 4.6 miles to the intersection
with Ky Rt. 300. Turn right (west) and go 1 mile to Junction City.
5. In Junction City go left on Ky Rt. 37 (southwest) and continue 5 miles
to a large outcrop along the roadside of the New Providence siltstone with
geodes lying around. If collecting is good you may want to spend some time
here. A half mile further down the road there is another long outcrop with
more geodes.
6. A little further west on Rt. 37 there is a turnoff north to Parksville.
1/4 mile before you get to this turnoff there is a large pile of "stones"
on the right dumped there by local people. These are mostly geodes and
generally considered a nuisance by gardeners and home builders. Help yourself.
7. Finally, if you take the turnoff north to Parksville (Ky Rt. 1822) you
can find several places with a deep reddish soil (terra rosa - how does
it form?) that also contains geodes.