Fossil and gemstone hunting in Washington

Does anyone know of a good day trip from the Seattle are for gemstone or fossil hunting?

Try Mt St Helen's area, as long as it is not moving and shaking.

You could visit Stonerose. They are a local commercial fossil site.

Here's a link and bit from their website:

Stonerose is the name of a fossil site, a place where impressions of plants, insects and fish that lived millions of years ago can be found in shale. These fossils are the result of events that happened long before there were people to observe them.

By the time the Stonerose fossils were laid down, the great age of the dinosaurs was long past. The giant reptiles had been extinct for fifteen million years. The Pacific Northwest was very different from the region we know today. The Cascade Mountains were not there to block the flow of warm, moist air from the Pacific, so the climate was warmer and wetter than today's. The ancestors of our familiar temperate forest trees intermingled with broad-leaved trees which are now native to the southeastern states and to plants that today grow only in the Far East. Some of the Stonerose plants are now extinct; all we will ever see of them are fossils.

The Stonerose Interpretive Center is in Republic, Washington, across from the park. If you wish to find fossils (at a small fee) at the Boot Hill Fossil Site you can bring a hammer and cold chisel or rent them at the Center. All finds must be shown to the Curator as the Center reserves the right to retain any fossils that are of scientific value or significant to the Stonerose collection; and you may take home three fossil pieces per person per day.

Additional information may be found on their website:
Stone Fossil.Org
Klondike Motel, 509-775-3555 509-775-3555
There are also other motels, RV and camping close to Republic.

The fossil site is open 10am - 4pm
The daily cost is:
• per person $5.00
• 6 - 18 yrs. of age $3.00
• senior citizens (62+) $3.00