Welcome to our rock club
If you are a member, you can go to our claim/dig location page… Dig Locations
The Idaho Rocks & Gems "Idaho Rockhounders Club"
Join our Rockhounding Club:
From Craig Branham the owner…
I am a resource for how and where to hound. You don’t have to just participate with our club. I encourage y’all to do this with your family & friends on your own time. If you join the club you can hit me up any time for spots and find out how & where to get material.
Some spots I won’t divulge information on per the request of other hounds that gave me the info.
- You will want to consider joining our rock club
- Idaho Rockhounders and sign up at our rock shop Idaho Rocks & Gems.
- The address is 1150 North Orchard Street Boise Idaho 83706 we are open 11-7 Monday thru Sunday. Or you can call and we can get you signed up over the phone 208 488 9609.
- It’s $30 for the year for a family membership or $20 for a single year’s membership. We have 8 claims you can use freely with your membership. 4 of them produce opal Thundereggs including Blue Opal & every other color.
- Three of them are Jasper claims in succor creek, (Owhyee Picture Jasper, 3 blue opal thunder egg claims, one big egg claim and a fire opal claim)
- All members that have taken their one time $35 Cab Class get 1 hr a week on the machines with their membership. There’s no need to schedule your cab class. We take walk ins and any day of the week. We don’t start classes after 5pm though.
- Typically we have one members dig per weekend. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Welcome to our group we are better for having y’all with us! - We do not allow edited pictures of rocks and gems as far as color saturation goes. The intention is to share pictures of specimens in their raw and natural state.
- Anyone caught promoting sales, pay digs, anything pertaining to profit from hounding or spam will be banned immediately.
- We do reclamation projects annually to better the land and require all members to follow BLM law and leave no trace when hounding.
- Love, Respect, Contribution, Fun & Joy are allowed in this space.
Anything that doesn’t fit these themes isn’t allowed in this Group, Club or Rock Shop2
- You must take a cab class for $35 where we teach you how to use the equipment and how to “cab”.
- Cabbing means to shape & polish a stone on a 6 wheel “cab machine”. A cabochon is a flat bottom convex obverse with a flat bottom. These are what’s traditionally used in jewelry.
- All club members get 1 hour per week on the cab machines with your IRG rock club membership.
- Hours don’t accrue, which means if you don’t use your hour that week you only have 1 hour the following week. The week begins on Monday and ends Sunday. Additional hours are $8 per hour or $50 for a 10 hour card.
- Cab classes are first come first serve. We do schedule Cab classes for folks that are 1 hour or more away. Class takes approximately 2 hours, we do classes every day and any time. We can’t start classes any later than 5pm because we close at 7pm daily. We can teach up to 4 classes at once.
- All cabbers are responsible for dumping their waste water bucket in the back alley when finished cabbing. The exception being on cab classes & for folks that can’t physically carry the bucket.
- For every $20 spent on slabs at the shop you get 1 free hour of cab time if you’ve taken your cab class & are a member. These hours do accrue in this case.
- We can teach kids as young as 7 years of age.
If you have an online website account and have your account updated as a club member, you can go to our “claim/dig location page” and view the information.
You can join (or renew) the Club Membership anytime thru our new website.
Note: If you are a current active member under the old offline/paper file system, you can register and pick one of the “free” family or individual choices so you don’t have to pay again and you will be registered!!! Just email us your original join date (approximate OK) to support@idahorocksngems.com and we will update your record to track future renewal dates.
A good resource concerning rock hounding on public land/abandoned mines in Southeast Idaho: The Diggings
This app is free and is a must when hounding. It shows you what land is State, BLM & or private: Outly
Idaho Rockhounders Club Rules and Liability Waiver
It is our goal to bring the joys of rockhounding , cutting , polishing of lapidary rocks , crystals and minerals to young and old. Our club does not do meetings. We just do outings.
Membership for one year is $20 per individual , or $30 per couple or family. One year is from the day you sign up to the same day next year. You will need to renew on or before this date.
Trips are listed under the “Events” tab on the Idaho Rocks & Gems Facebook page or scroll down to find recently posted trips. Membership perks include guided rockhounding trips on at least a monthly basis, when possible, weather permitting. Free use of one of our cabochon/polishing machines for 1 hr one day per week after you have taken our cabochon/polishing class for $35. Extra hours are $8 or $50 for a prepaid 10 hr punch card.
As a new member of Idaho Rockhounders club, I agree to hold harmless Idaho Rocks & Gems LLC and any of their employees, friends or family from any type of injury or death to myself or members of my family. I further agree to be responsible to follow all BLM and Forest Service rules including on private property when doing rockhounding or gold mining activities. One rule is to fill in any holes I or a family member digs, not leave trash lying anywhere about and not take more than is permitted for personal use. And not driving in areas that are not already a road or specified trail for driving on.
You can cut your rocks at Idaho Rocks & Gems 1150 North Orchard in Boise Idaho 83706. $1 an inch for anything small up to 4 inches on our tile saws and $2 an inch for bigger rocks for our oil saw. Hours of Operation: Monday – Sunday 11-7