Learn to read the rocks, soil, gravels, and disturbed ground beneath your feet.
Start Module 1An eight-module beginner course built for Colorado prospectors and rockhounds. Learn field identification, Colorado geology, glacial and stream deposits, placer clues, disturbed ground, sampling, maps, and legal access.
Build a practical field vocabulary and learn the tests that separate look-alike rocks and minerals.
Understand the basement rocks, uplifts, volcanic centers, batholiths, and mineral belt that control Colorado deposits.
Read soil horizons, residual ground, colluvium, saprolite, oxidation, and transported cover before you dig.
Learn how ice moved Colorado rock, how till differs from outwash, and why sorting and rounding matter.
Read alluvium, point bars, terraces, bedrock traps, false bedrock, and pay streaks using stream energy.
Separate natural deposits from dredge tailings, mine waste, road fill, hydraulic cuts, reclaimed land, and old workings.
Use a simple field kit, test pans, classification, notes, photos, and repeatable samples without fooling yourself.
Combine topographic and geologic maps with land ownership and current claim records before entering the field.
