Wonderstone Quarry

We aren’t big rock collectors. In fact, we have tried really hard to keep our boys from collecting anything from nature, but to leave it as they found it. However, we make a few exceptions, like the Dugway Geode beds and the Wonderstone Quarry, both located in Utah’s West Desert.

The Wonderstone Quarry is a few miles south of Vernon. It is a small open quarry, but does receive a lot of visitors. We told our boys that they could each take their three favorite pieces away, but other people had buckets of wonderstone that they were harvesting. Again, we do our best to leave things so that others can enjoy them.

Wonderstone is beautiful. It is layered red and white stone that has many rings that are highly contrasted. I’m not sure why anyone would like a lot of it, but a few small stones do look nice. Our boys mostly enjoyed looking at all the different wonderstone rocks. It was exciting to find a prettier piece than your last one!

Things to know

• Wear jeans, sturdy shoes, and gloves. This is a rock quarry, not the beach.
• The last mile of driving is on rough dirt road. We saw cars that had made the trek, but be careful with clearance and go slow.
• There is a small store in Vernon called the Silver Sage that sells dozens of rare bottles of soda. It is worth a look. If they have the coconut soda, buy it. You won’t regret it!

Directions

Wonderstone Quarry is south of Tooele. These are the directions from Tooele. We used Google Maps and typed it right in and found our way.

• Head south on UT 36 for 37 miles. Turn left on FR630 which is right before some train tracks and is an unmarked dirt road.
• Follow for one mile until you dead end at the quarry.