Juab County
Thomas Range and Topaz Mountain
The Thomas Range, northwest of Delta, is the classic Utah topaz trip. The BLM calls out the Topaz Mountain Rockhounding Area. People have dug the rhyolite there for decades. That history is not a change in the owner, and it is not permission to tunnel.
Status
The named collecting area is BLM, managed by the Fillmore Field Office in the West Desert District. Ordinary casual-use rules are the starting point: personal use, no sale, hand tools, and the commonly applied 25 lb/day plus one piece, 250 lb/year cap. BLM recreation notes for this site have long said to collect from existing workings and not to tunnel. Read the current field-office page before you go — site rules are tighter than the statewide cap when they conflict.
What still closes a hole
- SITLA next door. The drive crosses trust sections. BLM rules stop at the line.
- Claims. A named gem area attracts paper. Check MLRS for the section you will work.
- Wilderness and ACEC overlays if you wander off the named area. Overlay page.
- Dugway and military ground to the north and west. A geode trip and a topaz trip are not the same gate. Dugway land status.
Field habits that match the rule
- Pick and hammer, not a jackhammer. What counts as hand tools.
- Backfill the hole you opened. Existing pits are not a landfill.
- One good crystal can be the “one piece.” A sack of rhyolite is still weight.
- Leave worked prehistoric material and any artifact. Artifacts are not specimens.
Office
Fillmore Field Office for this range. Cedar City is the wrong desk. Phone list and the split: Utah BLM field offices.
Informational only — not legal advice. Confirm current site rules with the Fillmore Field Office. Closures for fire, military activity, or resource protection override a webpage.