Gem Trails of Southern California

This book is packed full of good useful information. We enjoy looking for rocks and gems and this book has a lot of good areas that we need to explore.

Good book for where to find rocks, but maps are kind of wierd.

This book is a good resource to get you in the right areas and gives useful tips for finding what you are looking for. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of pictures and poor quality of the pictures included. I wish the book talked more about the surrounding geology more, things to look for that indicate minerals may be near. That kind of thing.

I purchased this one along with the one with the same title authored by James R Mitchell. I thought it might provide some additional information, particularly since the status of locations change (usually due to ownership changes). What I discovered is that it is the EXACT same book as the one with Mitchell's name on it. So - different cover, different author, different ISBN ... same exact book. I ended up returning it.As an aside, the content isn't in dispute. I used Mitchell's book for many years before giving it away to a pair of aspiring rockhounds in my son's 3rd grade class and decided to purchase another one. The content is fine. Directions generally good. The material has not been updated since at least 2003 so be aware that locations which were public and open to collecting may have changed hands or otherwise been closed to the public in the years since. Either book will work. Just don't expect different or updated content.

This book of copyright 2016, first edition was 1996 and second edition was 2003. For the places that this book covers it does a good job. I am surprised that it is missing so many places in San Diego County, especially for rose quartz and more though. The paper in the book is nice quality and there is a mixture of black and white and colour pictures as well as maps for each location. The book also offers good general information as well.

Like the book. Use it often. Mileage markers aren’t alway 100% accurate. But that is not really a huge issue, with a little common sense you can make it to your location. Found some really nice stuff using this book.

I bought both North and South. Haven't been to any sites yet but I'm expecting them to be picked over fairly good. Still worth a look.

I love these books by gem trails. Great maps and they even give you mileage to the sights. Lots of information on the sites.