Most tigers eye on the market comes from South Africa and east Asia, you can also find this stone domestically in the United States. Here are some of the best places to look for tigers eye gemstones across the US.
California
California has a diversity of geological environments which produce a wide variety of gemstones. Tigers eye can be found in a few different parts of the state.
Southern California – Small amounts of banded tigers eye are found in San Diego County. Look in the Pala Chief mine dumps near the town of Pala. The Victorine mine in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is another spot where collectors have found some tigers eye specimens.
Northern California – Clear Creek in Siskiyou County produces tigers eye, often in nugget form. The stones here have vibrant banding in shades of red, yellow and brown. The nearby town of Happy Camp is located along the banks of the Klamath River and is known as the "heart of the Klamath Mountains gemstone belt." The local geology yields various semiprecious stones including tigers eye.
The Sacramento River also yields rolled tigers eye pebbles. Search along its banks and gravel beds downstream of Mount Shasta where the river passes through Siskiyou County.
Arizona
Arizona is rich with diverse gemstone deposits. Several sites around the state produce tigers eye.
Central Arizona – The famous copper mines around Globe and Miami in Gila County can produce tigers eye. Look for pieces mixed in with the copper ore dumps and gravels around these historic mining towns.
Northwest Arizona – The Bill Williams River south of Lake Havasu City in La Paz County yields rounded pebbles of red-banded tigers eye. Pan for the stones along the riverbed where it passes through the Buckskin Mountains.
Southeast Arizona – Search the gulches cutting through the pediment gravel beds around Sierra Vista in Cochise County. Tiger eye crystals occasionally erode out of the lithified sediments. The coloring is often light yellow and brown.
Utah
Utah has limited tigers eye deposits but a few areas contain the stone.
Southwest Utah – The Thomas Range near Delta in Juab County is one of the few places in Utah where banded brown tigers eye is found. Look for fragments of the stone eroding out in the foothills surrounding Topaz Mountain.
Southeast Utah – Cutting through San Juan and Wayne Counties, the San Juan River yields light-colored tigers eye pebbles in its gravel beds. Search for the stones downstream from Bluff near the river's confluence with the Colorado River.
Wyoming
A few sites in Wyoming produce tigers eye, most often as pebbles and cobbles eroded from host rock formations.
Central Wyoming – Along the Sweetwater River between Jeffrey City and Sweetwater Station in Fremont County, the river gravels contain tigers eye pebbles. Look for red, gold and brown banded stones.
Western Wyoming – The Gros Ventre River east of Jackson in Teton County also carries tigers eye eroded from upstream source rocks. Search the cobbled river banks where the main fork and north fork converge.
South Dakota
The Black Hills of South Dakota are famous for minerals like rose quartz, agates and pegmatite crystals. Occasionally collectors also find pieces of tigers eye within the Black Hills.
The area around Custer produces tigers eye, often as brown and red fortification agate incorrectly called "tigers eye quartz." True tigers eye can sometimes be found mixed within pegmatite float rocks around Custer and Harney Peak.
Near Rapid City, dig sites around Rockerville have yielded tigers eye crystals. While not abundant, small yellow-golden tigers eye specimens can be unearthed here.
Other Western States
A few additional western states contain minor deposits of tigers eye, usually as scattered specimens. These include:
- Northeast Oregon – small banded tigers eye crystals found rarely in the Ochoco Mountains around Prineville.
- Western Colorado – pebbles and cobbles of red tigers eye eroded from sedimentary formations near Grand Junction.
- North Texas – rolled pebbles of light yellow tigers eye found along Limestone Creek in Hill County northwest of Dallas.
- Southwest New Mexico – occasional tigers eye crystals found in quartz veins in the Cookes Range south of Deming in Luna County.
East Coast
While less well-known, a few eastern and southern states also see tigers eye turn up occasionally.
In gold placers of the Piedmont region from Alabama through Virginia, reddish-brown tigers eye pebbles erode out of deeply weathered overburden. Rare crystals are found still embedded in quartz veins in the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia through Pennsylvania.
Tigers eye also appears rarely in Missouri in Washington, Madison and Bollinger Counties. Red and golden brown specimens are found weathering out of riparian gravels along the Big River and St. Francis River.
For rockhounds and gem collectors, looking for tigers eye can be an enjoyable excuse to explore the diverse geology across the United States. From California to the Carolinas, keep an eye out for this striking mineral on your future explorations.
