Note: Clark Hill is on State property, and consequently certain rules apply. In summary: Respect the property and don’t destroy anything (plant, vegetable or mineral). Proper safety equipment should be used. Only hand tools are allowed (no power tools). If you make a hole, fill it before you leave. Take only small samples (multiple trips to your car to unload is not allowed). Samples collected are for educational and scientific purposes and may not be sold. Remember, we are collectors, not miners.

Both shovel & screening equipment and hammer & chisels will be useful depending on your style and interests. There are lots of rocks to crack open with surprises inside, and beryl, garnet, etc, found digging and screening through the dumps. One area was found to be rich with phosphate minerals and ferrocolumbite, but nothing well crystallized (except for micro-sized columbite).

Reported Minerals:
Albite, allanite, almandine (which can be fairly large – just ask Dick Morgan), anglesite, annabergite, arsenolite, arsenopyrite, autunite (plus various other uranium minerals not officially reported like uraninite, uranophane, torbernite, etc.), beryl, biotite, breithauptite, chalcopyrite, chloanthite, erythrite, gahnite, galena, gersdorffite, goethite, hematite, hornblende, ilmenite, limonite, loellingite, melanterite, microcline, muscovite, niccolite, oligoclase, orthoclase, pickeringite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, quartz, scheelite, scorodite, siderite, sillimanite, smaltite, sphalerite, staurolite, tourmaline, zoisite.

Directions: Follow Rte. 66 East (Rte. 66E) through Middletown, over the bridge to Portland. Just over the bridge, Rte. 66E and 17N branch to the right at the stoplight. Take this right, and follow Rte. 66E for 8.0 miles into East Hampton. The second stoplight in East Hampton is North Main Street (there’s a large church on the left-hand corner). Turn left (north) onto North Main Street. Follow North Main for 1.05 miles (you’ll soon see Lake Pocotopaug on the right) until Clark Hill Road (a “Hampton Homes” sign should be on the far left-hand corner of Clark Hill Road and North Main). Turn left onto Clark Hill Road. Follow Clark Hill Road over the crest of the hill. Soon you will see a very sharp (90 degree) left-hand bend in Clark Hill Road; check your odometer at this point. About 0.45 miles after this bend (about 1.60 miles from the turn off onto Clark Hill Road from North Main) on the right will be a dirt road leading off into the forest. (There used to be a sign, but it vanished.) This is the entrance into Meshomasic State Forest. Follow this dirt road for 0.55 miles to the point where the “Blue Trail” crosses the road. There are several, large boulders on each side of the road blocking the trail, and some parking areas; park here. Follow the Blue Trail to the right (east), over the first, small ridge. On the other side of the ridge when you cross the creek, the trail turns left and very shortly thereafter passes between the Clark Hill Quarry on the right and the tailings on the left. Just south of here along the old mine road on the right is another small quarry with interesting dumps where we have had good luck in the past.