ARE Library
Field Guides
Practical guides for reading the land, collecting responsibly, and recording what Rockies find in the field.
Featured materials
Common member references
- Field Guide to Common Minerals
- Fossils in Public Lands: Member Brief
- Map Reading for Weekend Field Teams
Pocket references
Mohs hardness, streak, cleavage, luster, crystal habit, and locality notes in field-friendly formats.
Educator packets
Classroom-ready activities for rock cycles, mineral properties, and local geology walks.
Stewardship notes
Plain-language guidance for permissions, site etiquette, and leave-no-trace collecting.
In this section
Crystal Systems and Crystal Habits
A pocket reference to the seven crystal systems and the everyday habits—cubic, prismatic, botryoidal, bladed—you actually see on specimens.
Desert Evaporites: Halite, Gypsum, and Playa Minerals
A pocket reference to the minerals of dry lakes and salt flats: halite, gypsum, and the borates, and how playa crusts form.
Field Guide to Common Minerals
A pocket reference to the rock-forming and collectible minerals Rockies meet most often, organized by the properties you can test in the …
Five-Minute Field Tests: Streak, Magnetism, and Heft
An educator packet of fast, cheap, decisive identification tests — streak plate, pocket magnet, and hand-weighing — with classroom demos.
Fluorescent Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light
How and why some minerals glow under UV, with a safe workflow for using shortwave and longwave lamps in the field and at displays.
Gemstone Identification at Rock and Gem Shows
A practical guide to not getting taken — and finding the real deals — at gem and mineral shows.
Map Reading for Weekend Field Teams
How to read topographic and geologic maps well enough to plan a safe, productive day in the field.
Pegmatite Prospecting: Where the Big Crystals Hide
How to recognize pegmatite bodies in the field and read their zones for topaz, beryl, tourmaline, and giant micas.
Peridot and Olivine in Volcanic Terrain
How to find gem-quality peridot and fresh olivine in basaltic volcanic landscapes.
Reading Rocky Mountain Geology in the Field
A regional primer on the rock units, structures, and collecting settings members encounter across the Mountain West.
Reading Sedimentary Rock Sequences in Road Cuts
How to read a road cut like a geologic timeline — and what to look for before you pull over.
Responsible Collecting on Public Lands
Plain-language guidance on permissions, site etiquette, and leave-no-trace collecting across public land jurisdictions.
Sugar Crystal Formation: Crystallography You Can Eat
A hands-on introduction to nucleation, supersaturation, and crystal habit — using sugar, water, a stick, and about a week of patience.
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