Geode Prospecting in Missouri

Geodes are ordinary-looking rocks formed by organic deposits within 300 million-year-old mud which, when split apart, reveal a gem-like treasure of sparkling quartz hidden inside.   Geodes occur naturally in Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky and one of the best geode areas is located near Keokuk, Iowa,  just north of the Missouri border.  Up until the spring of 2006, you could even "dig your own" geodes at the Sheffler Rock Shop property along Highway 61 in Alexandria, Missouri (just south of Keokuk, IA).  There is a great article in the February 2002 Rural Missouri Magazine (Cuivre River Electric Coop) about the Sheffler Rock Shop and its founder Betty Sheffler,

In the Spring of 2006, Construction of an expanded Highway 61 thru the Sheffler property forced closure of both the rock shop and the digging mines. In case you missed it, there was a good article about this in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on March 27, 2006.

During our normal berry and pumpkin hours of operation, children are given the opportunity to prospect for cut geodes in our gravel creek bed -- there are no guarantees as to the origin of the geodes, however.