By editor
Lewis and Clark County
Further down the Missouri River, American Bar offers one of the most mineralogically diverse gravel deposits in the state. The river acts as a natural sluice box, concentrating heavy minerals transported from upstream metamorphic and igneous sources.
Visitor Access
This is public BLM land, open and free for recreational collecting. Rockhounds working the gravels can find gem-quality sapphires alongside garnet, gold, kyanite, topaz, and chalcedony. It is a place where the geology of the entire upstream watershed is sorted, polished, and laid out on the riverbank for anyone willing to sift through it.