Minerals

Community Pits & Common Use Areas for Landscape Rock, Gravel and other Mineral Materials

Area Map

The Owyhee Field Office has a wide variety of salable minerals available to the public including sand and gravel, building stone, clay, cinders, decorative rock, limestone, and petrified wood. The public can access these resources through purchase of a BLM permit. Although the majority of sand and gravel is used by the Idaho Department of Transportation and the Owyhee County Highway District, there is increasing public demand for decorative and landscaping rock form public lands. BLM staff can help you select rock that meets your needs and they’ll provide a map to the site where you can collect the material.

The following table describes Owyhee mineral materials sites. The site names link to photos of the rocks and materials available at each site. Please contact the Owyhee Field Office for more information about obtaining a permit for these mineral resources.
 

Bold type indicates landscape/decorative rock; regular type indicates gravel pits. Links provide maps and photos of the rock available at each site.
Community Pit	Description	Location	Price	Permitted Amounts
Flat Top Butte	Sandstone; used for decorative purposes.	Owyhee County	$30/ton; reclamation fee $0.90/ton.	Minimum: 1 ton Maximum: 5 tons/year
Miracle	Sandstone; used for decorative purposes.	Owyhee County	$20/ton; reclamation fee $0.80/ton	Minimum: 1 ton Maximum: 5 tons/year
Marsing	Sand and gravel	Owyhee County	$1/cubic yard; reclamation fee $0.30/cubic yard	Minimum: 15 cubic yards Maximum: No limit
Murphy 2	Sand and gravel	Owyhee County	$1/cubic yard; reclamation fee $0.20/cubic yard	Minimum: 15 cubic yards Maximum: No limit
New York Summit	Sand and gravel	Owyhee County	$1/cubic yard; reclamation fee $0.20/cubic yard	Minimum: 15 cubic yards Maximum: No limit
Wood Canyon	Rhyolite; used for decorative purposes	Owyhee County	$1/ton; reclamation fee $0.30/cubic yard	No established minimum or maximum