Confession:

[glatt]

Tribly,
if you go back to Maine next summer, you need to go to Mount Apatite. It's in Auburn, not too far from the little airport there.

It's a free public park where you are allowed to go and collect as many rocks as you want, as long as you only use hand tools. Lots of minerals and quartz. Mica, garnet. It used to be a mine. There is supposedly some apatite there too, but I haven't found any.

There are a couple spots with hillsides of pretty quartz rocks.


Last time we went, we allowed the kids to fill a small tupperware container each. Didn't want to be driving around with a trunk full of rocks. This is what my daughter got. You can see some quartz and several little rocks with veins of garnet in them. The kids had fun with a hammer and cold chisel, smashing rocks looking for gems. Safety glasses recommended.