The gravels of the Rock Creek district near Philipsburg hold sapphires in an extraordinary spread of pastel colours, and Gem Mountain has sold buckets of the concentrate to wash for generations. You sit at a screen with running water and sort the heavy gravel for the stones, then have the promising ones cut. Montana sapphire is a genuine American gem story, from the Missouri River bars to Yogo Gulch’s famous cornflower blue. PUBLIC fee dig (bucket wash), Granite County.
Sapphire (every colour)
See it on the map
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
