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The Thomas Range and Topaz Mountain are located about 30 miles northwest of Delta, Utah. Most of the area is federal land, used for some cattle grazing, but little else. It is a very arid region, hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The video shown above was photographed from the center of the cove in the heart of Topaz Valley. Most of the rock you see in this image is a white to gray-colored rhyolite. It is this rock that contains the lithophysae (small gass pockets) in which small gemmy topaz crystals were able to form. Most of this area is reserved from mineral claim and is open to rockhounds for collecting. If you come to this area to collect, be prepared for primitive camping; no water, firewood, or toilet facilites are available. The nearest civilization is nearly 20 miles away. The small juniper trees you see provide some relief from the hot summer sun, but no relief from the pesky flies. Although not one of the ecological "garden spots" of the American West, it is here that some fo the most beautiful little topaz crystals in the world are found; a mineralologist's dreamland.
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