Who can teach me, and how do I get on club field trips?

Join a local rock and mineral club. Clubs are where beginners learn to collect, identify and label, and they run the field trips that reach private ground and quarries the public cannot enter. Most U.S. clubs belong to one of the seven regional federations of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS), so the federation for your state is the quickest way to find one [1]. Field trips are usually for members only, and club membership often brings liability insurance on those trips [2]. Beyond clubs, specialist societies, state geological surveys, museums and Mindat each teach something a club may not. This page lists them, with where to find each.

The federations, and how to find a club through them

The AFMS describes itself as a federation of earth science societies whose purpose is to "promote popular interest and education in the various Earth Sciences," including geology, mineralogy, paleontology and lapidary [1]. Clubs join a regional federation, and the federations make up the AFMS. Each federation's page on the AFMS site links to a map of its clubs [3].

Full addresses for these sites are in the references. A directory of clubs by state is on rock and mineral clubs. The AFMS also runs a program for young collectors and a scholarship foundation [1].

How club field trips work

Clubs earn access to private land, quarries and claims by being reliable guests, and they protect that access. The Georgia Mineral Society is a typical example of the rules [2]:

• Members only. "Every field trip participant must be a member of the Georgia Mineral Society (or an invited club)."
• Locations stay private. The club does not publish trip locations or directions online, out of respect for the owners; members get details by newsletter and email.
• Insurance. Members follow the AFMS code of ethics and "are covered by liability insurance; the general public is not."

Club rules elsewhere follow the same pattern. The Rochester Academy of Science's Mineral Section, a charter member of the Eastern Federation, has a field trip committee that will "investigate localities, determine and schedule field trips," teaches safety, enforces anti-litter rules, and makes sure "certificates of liability insurance" are issued before each scheduled trip [10]. Expect to sign in, follow the trip leader, wear the safety gear the site requires (often a hard hat, eye protection and boots at a quarry), and keep to the area the owner allowed.

What you take home from a club trip onto private ground follows the owner's terms, which the trip leader will explain. If you might ever sell what you collect, ask before the trip whether the owner allows it, and keep that answer with your records. The general rules for private land are on collecting on private land.

The code clubs expect you to follow

The AFMS publishes a code of ethics that member clubs adopt [1]. A widely reproduced version, the Rockhound's Code of Ethics credited to the Washington State Mineral Council, includes points such as "I will leave all gates as found," "I will fill all excavation holes which may be dangerous to livestock," and "I will cause no damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use" [11]. The full code, and what it means in practice, is on the rockhound's code of ethics.

Specialist societies

• Micromount societies. Collectors of specimens that need a microscope have their own groups; the Boston Mineral Club, for example, lists the Micromounters of New England among regional clubs [12]. How micromounts are mounted and viewed is on micromounts.
• The Mineralogical Society of America. A professional society that also hosts a Collectors Corner, including a step-by-step mineral identification key arranged by luster, streak and hardness [13].
• Faceters and lapidaries. Gem cutters have their own guilds, some of which belong to a regional federation; the United States Faceters Guild, for example, joined the Rocky Mountain Federation [14].

State geological surveys and museums

State geological surveys answer questions from the public and publish geological maps. The Utah Geological Survey's "Glad You Asked" series is one example, with articles on questions such as how to tell whether a rock is a meteorite [15]. For identifying a specimen, the U.S. Geological Survey recommends taking it in person to a state geological survey, a natural science museum or a university geology department, where it "can be handled and examined closely" [16]. Some university collections offer testing services with published terms; the University of Alberta, for instance, publishes its terms for classifying meteorites [17].

Mindat and online communities

Mindat is an online database of mineral species and localities, listed by clubs such as the Boston Mineral Club among their mineral information sources [12]. Its pages list the species reported from each locality, and its articles include practical advice written by experienced collectors, such as a piece on sorting and selling a collection [18]. Treat any single entry as a lead to check, not a final answer; how to read Mindat and the RRUFF reference database is on using Mindat and RRUFF.

From club meeting to first trip

Once you have joined, the club's trip calendar will set much of your first year, and a club trip is the easiest way onto good ground. For trips you plan yourself, the steps from choosing a target to checking land status are on planning a collecting trip.

References

1. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, About, read October 22, 2026. https://www.amfed.org/about
2. Georgia Mineral Society, Field Trips, undated, read October 22, 2026. https://gamineral.org/ftcurrent.html
3. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Northwest (NFMS), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site http://northwestfederation.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/northwest-nfms
4. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, California (CFMS), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site http://www.cfmsinc.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/california-cfms
5. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Eastern (EFMLS), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site https://efmls.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/eastern-efmls
6. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Midwest (MWF), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site https://www.mwfed.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/midwest-mwf
7. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Rocky Mountain (RMFMS), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site http://www.rmfms.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/rocky-mountain-rmfms
8. South Central Federation of Mineral Societies, About SCFMS, read October 22, 2026. https://www.scfms.net/about_scfms.html
9. American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Southeast (SFMS), regional federation page, read October 22, 2026 (federation site https://www.southeastfed.org/). https://www.amfed.org/regional-federations/southeast-sfms
10. Rochester Academy of Science, Mineral Section Bylaws, amended 2011 and June 12, 2012. https://rasny.org/mineral-bylaws
11. Washington State Mineral Council, The Rockhound's Code of Ethics, as reproduced by GeoNord, undated, read October 22, 2026. https://geonord.org/ethics/rockhound.shtml
12. Boston Mineral Club, Links, read October 22, 2026. https://bostonmineralclub.org/links/
13. Mineralogical Society of America, Collectors Corner, The Mineral Identification Key, Table IIA, read October 22, 2026. https://msaweb.org/msa/Collectors_Corner/id/mineral_id_keytiia.htm
14. United States Faceters Guild, RMFMS/AFMS Membership, read October 22, 2026. https://usfacetersguild.org/rmfms-afms-membership/
15. Utah Geological Survey, William Case, "Glad You Asked: So you think you have found a meteorite! Now, how can you verify your find?", Survey Notes v. 40 no. 2, May 2008, page modified November 25, 2024. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/meteorite-or-meteorwrong
16. U.S. Geological Survey, "I think I found a meteorite. How can I tell for sure?", FAQ, read October 22, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/index.php/faqs/i-think-i-found-meteorite-how-can-i-tell-sure
17. University of Alberta, Faculty of Science, Meteorites (and meteowrongs), read October 22, 2026. https://www.ualberta.ca/en/science/meteorites/index.html
18. Bri Dragonne, Advice for people selling and sorting a mineral collection, Mindat.org article 836, last updated November 19, 2009. https://www.mindat.org/article.php/836/Advice+for+people+selling+and+sorting+a+mineral+collection.