Did you know that Topaz is the state gem of Texas? The only place to find topaz in the state is Mason County, located between San Angelo and San Antonio. The county offers public and private hunts where you can find your own piece of topaz. This literally is a Hidden Gem of Texas.Topaz is usually found in streambeds and ravines and ranges in color from clear to yellow to a beautiful blue or even a dark brown. Most of the land that the topaz is located on privately owned ranches. Those ranches are closed from November-January for deer season.

There are 3 ranches that offer folks to come out and mine for topaz and they charge a per day fee to do so. The Bar M Ranch, Garner Seaquist Ranch and the Lindsay Ranch all allow you to hunt and keep your finds; it's generally is $15 - $20 a day to hunt but each ranch has it's own fees, rules and requests of their guests.

The Lindsay Ranch for example only allows hunts for guests that stay on their property. They require a 2 day minimum stay plus, the daily hunting fee. However, if you are looking for a quite getaway this is the place. Their cabins are surrounded by beautiful countryside where you can hike, explore the grounds, hunt topaz, or just kick back and relax.

If you are lucky enough to find a piece of topaz you can have it cut and mounted for jewelry. Most of the ranches can point you in the right direction to find someone with the skills to help you do so.

This is a great little adventure for yourself or for the family. For more information visit the ranch websites listed above or contact the Mason County Chamber of Commerce at 325/347-5758 .

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