North Dakota Books

This book covers only very well known locations and only of rocks and minerals suitable for lapidary. This book is a good 30 years out of date. In my own state, I have been to every location listed and 90% of them do not exist anymore or are no longer accessible. In addition, I know of several other areas that are well known but not listed. Don't waste your time with this book.

The other reviewers are exactly right; use Eckert's information as a basic starter only. Speaking for the Oregon, Washington, and Idaho locales, I have had to use a lot of imagination to figure out where Eckert was trying to point me. There just isn't enough specific information for some listings, and for others, "current events" (i.e., development) have long since overtaken the rockhounding locales.

One thing that would have helped when marketing this book would have been a little explanation of what is different from the last volume. I patiently counted up all the sites listed for Oregon in the new guide, then counted the ones in my old book, and there was no change! In fact, I don't think a single site in the book was updated, added, or removed for Oregon. I suspect very few locales were updated, period.

There are no pictures, and the maps are only very vague; many times, a rockhound locale will be referred to as near a city, and the map will just point to that city. If the books weren't so expensive, they would be at least useful if you were trying to put together a complete picture for a state that you intended to rockhound to 100%. But I spent $20 on a used copy of an old edition and still felt a little gypped.

Where the book does help is in pointing you to a series of gravel bars on a river or major creek. For example, the Oregon section pointed me toward Vinemaple on the Nehalem River, and I used Google Earth to pinpoint some likely gravel bars. It turned out, however, that there were barbed wire fences and No Trespassing signs everywhere; I would have had to put in a canoe or kayak to get to his suggested spot. However, knowing that Vinemaple was good once, way back when, was useful, and when I got access to the river way above the Eckert site, I found what I was looking for.

This series is one of the most poorly conceived mineral guides I have ever seen. The author obviously knows very little about minerals e.g. "quartz rock crystal" and his maps are so poor you would be lucky to find anything using them. I agree with a previous reviewer who said "do not waste your time with these books." L. Dee, Geologist

Just finished hiking the Centennial Trail. Found this map to be more frustrating than helpful. The elevation countours are in metric! That wouldn't be so bad, but the interval is so large that the countours are really not that helpful in describing the topography. Also, the Centennial Trail has been rerouted in some areas, so this map wasn't current. I'm not sure what the alternative is, but just be aware that this map is very frustrating.

Definately not a book for serious travelers of Chanka Luta.

it is stupid , crazy , wild ,ect..