Mount Ida quartz

One man reckoned that only about four per cent of the crystals in these mountains had ever been taken out.

That was Ocus Stanley, who began the modern mining of quartz at Mount Ida in Montgomery County in 1930, though quartz had been worked in the region since the early 1800s. He held the longest mining lease in the Ouachita National Forest, opened Mount Ida's first rock shop, and is credited with helping launch the other quartz dealerships that followed. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas calls him the undisputed grand old man of quartz in Arkansas.

The ground he was working is enormous. A quartz belt between thirty and forty miles wide runs through the core of the Ouachita Mountains and on into Oklahoma. Montgomery County is one of the principal locations along with Garland, Perry and Saline, and crystal turns up in Hot Spring, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Sevier and Yell counties too.

It has not all been souvenirs. During the Second World War there was military demand for Arkansas quartz to make radio oscillators, and the Blocker Lead No. 4 mine, now called the Old Coleman Mine at Jessieville in Garland County, came under federal control.

For collecting without a fee, the Forest Service runs Crystal Vista. It sits high on Gardner Mountain among the trees, and quartz crystals can be picked up straight off the ground surface of what is a four-acre former commercial crystal mine.

Getting there takes a little care. From Mount Ida, drive south on Highway 27 for 3.8 miles, turn left, east, onto county road 2237, which is Owley Road, and follow it 4.1 miles to the Crystal Vista trailhead. There is no water available at the site, so carry your own. The Caddo Womble Ranger District office is at 1523 Highway 270 East in Mount Ida and its visitor centre opens Monday to Friday, 8am to 4.30pm, closed on federal holidays. Ring ahead on 870 867 2101 if the weather has been bad.