Guide to Digging Crystals at Great Salt Plains | Get Tips on How to Dig Crystals & Directions to Selenite Crystal Digging Area
- Korina Dove
- Apr 10
- 12 min read
Grab a shovel and bucket, and get ready to learn how to mine the jewels of Alfalfa County! Crystal digging at Great Salt Plains is one of the most unique adventures travelers will find — not just in Oklahoma, but in the whole world! Just ask the more than 100,000 visitors who visit the Selenite Crystal Digging Area every year. You might not strike it rich mining these jewels, but you will feel like you're on a different planet. And you're guaranteed to value a trip to Great Salt Plains for a lifetime. Use this guide for crystal digging tips, to get directions to the Selenite Crystal Digging Area, and to help plan that trip of a lifetime!
Quick Info
Visitor Information
Selenite Crystal Digging Area
Open: April 1 to October 15
Hours: Sunrise to sunset
Cost: Free
On-Site Amenities
Restrooms: Available near entrance gate
Parking: Free near entryway and digging areas
Best Time for Digging Crystals at Great Salt Plains
Spring: Anytime of day
Summer: Early morning
Fall: Anytime of day
Observation Deck at Selenite Crystal Digging Area
Open: 24 hours, 365 days a year
Location: Entryway to salt flats
Cost: Free
Crystal Digging Supply List
Being well prepared before your crystal dig will help you extract the biggest and prettiest selenite crystals. Besides basic supplies, you might want to take a few extra items, like sunscreen and snacks.
Absolute Necessities
Small shovel
Empty container (flipped-over box lids work great!)
Good to Have
Drinking water
Sunscreen
Hat
Sunglasses
Bottle or travel cup full of tap water (not for drinking)
Long-sleeved shirt and pants
Wet wipes
Snacks or picnic lunch
Nice to Have for a Long Day at the Salt Flats
Cooler packed with drinks and food
Portable shelter or umbrella
Lawn chairs
Friends or family members
Remember: You're going to be digging crystals on a reflective plain of white salt with no shade and few wind barriers, possibly for several hours. It's true! Some visitors say digging crystals is addictive, and we while love those types of reviews, we also love happy campers, figuratively and literally speaking. Temperatures can reach well over 100°F (37.8°C) on the salt flats, and Oklahoma is "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain" after all. It's always good to go a little extra prepaired anytime you're spending an extended amount of time outdoors.
Need crystal digging supplies? Get everything you need locally from Alfalfa County businesses. You might even find the last item on the list. 💖
How To Dig Crystals
Once you get out to the digging area (see directions below), you'll want to look for a spot that is flat, rather than use another digger's hole. Then follow these steps to have the best mining experience at the Selenite Crystal Digging Area.
Use your shovel to dig a small hole about 12 inches (30.5 cm) in diameter and no more than 2 feet (60 cm) deep.
Slowly pour a small amount of tap water around the inner edges of the hole to start gently washing away sand and clay from the inner walls. This is where the crystals form.
After a short time, water from the saline water that flows beneath the surface of the salt flats will begin to rise from the bottom of the hole. Use an empty bottle or small bucket (or your hands) to collect the water from the bottom of the hole and continue washing away the sand and clay from the inner walls.
After several rinses, you will start to see tiny crystals poking out from the inner walls of the hole. Once you see one large enough to collect, you can begin extracting it.
Grasp the crystal lightly and continue washing it with water until all of it is completely free from the soil. Be extra gentle. Wet crystals are brittle. And any crystal could be attached to a cluster, the most coveted prize of all!
Rinse the crystal or cluster with water, and lay it on a flat surface in the sun to dry and harden. This is where those box lids come in handy!
Repeat the process until your crystal mining curiosities are satisfied - or until you collect 10 pounds of hourglass selenite crystals and one large cluster, which is the limit per day.
No Need to Fill Your Holes! It's a Wildlife Thing
It might seem instinctual and mannerly to fill your crystal digging holes after you're finished mining the jewels of Alfalfa County, but the salt flats serve a greater purpose than just creating crystals. Leaving your crystal digging holes unfilled is actually good for native wildlife and highly encouraged by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff members. The holes are used by migratory birds as nesting sites after the dig areas are closed for the season.
Why the Salt Flats are Closed for Winter
Dig areas close from October 16 to March 31 each year to protect birds as they nest and hatch eggs. The salt flats of the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge are major nesting sites for several endangered species of birds. Whooping cranes hide from predators where the salt flats meet the banks of the Great Salt Plains Lake, and some species lay their eggs on top of the soil and in empty crystal digging holes.
Rotation of Dig Areas
The Great Salt Plains have been producing hourglass selenite crystals for as long as anyone can remember, and tourism has not deterred the production. To ensure dig areas are always chock-full of prize-winning crystals, dig areas are rotated each year to allow for bigger crystals to form in dormant areas.
Not interested in getting covered in salt and mud that can go along with digging crystals at Great Salt Plains?
That's fair. After years of cleaning salt off our rugs and car mats, we totally understand. Fortunately for visitors who want a souvenir crystal from Great Salt Plains but don't want the laundry afterwards, there is a solution: Just have a walk around. A lot of crystals form right on the surface of the salt flats, and you can just pick one up and go home.
Getting to Great Salt Plains
The Selenite Crystal Digging Area in Alfalfa County is easy to find with well-marked signs on U.S. 64 near Jet and along SH 8 near Cherokee. Just look for Selenite Sam! He'll point ya in the right direction. Siri knows the way, too, on both Google and iPhone Maps.
From Jet: Drive 7 miles west on US 64, then go 3 miles north and 2 miles east.
From Cherokee: Drive 2 miles south and 5 miles east.
Prepare for a true backroad experience! The final 5 miles of the journey to the salt flats from the Jet side are dirt and gravel roads. From the Cherokee side, the final road is paved for 2 miles and gravel and dirt the last 3 miles. Travelers should drive slowly, take some pics along the way, and approach with caution after heavy rains.
Directions to Selenite Crystal Digging Area
Address: 66003 Garvin Road, Cherokee, OK 73728
Finding Dig Areas
Once inside the gate of the Selenite Crystal Digging Area, you'll see the main road laid out between post markers. The main road runs through the middle of the digging areas, and the post markers serve as barriers to areas where visitors are not allowed to drive. Follow the main road until you see the area marked for digging. Sometimes, it can feel like you're going quite a ways out there! But look for a bright orange sign and generally other cars. You can park near the orange dig sign for free and walk into the digging area.
Please Pack-In, Pack-Out: Feel free to take your cooler and snacks to your digging area, but remember to pack everything up before you leave. Please do not leave trash or food on the salt flats.
Weather at Great Salt Plains
Conditions on the salt flats are normally breezy, but because the area is so flat, the wind can get very strong. Additionally, with no shade available, summer months on the Great Salt Plains can be brutally hot. The white layer of salt on the surface magnitudes the force of the sun's rays, so preparing for weather on the salt flats is always important. Take sunscreen, and wear a hat and sunglasses, when possible. It's best to avoid the salt flats after a hard rain.
Contact Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge
Have a question about digging crystals or need to report something from the dig site? Get a hold of refuge staff from sunrise to sunset.
Visitor Center and Headquarters
Address: 71189 Harper Road, Jet, OK 73749
Phone: (580) 626-4794 or (580) 596-6454
History of Great Salt Plains
The Great Salt Plains are one of Oklahoma's most fascinating natural wonders. Visitors to the salt flats often compare the landscape to that of a snow-covered plain, but the vast mass of white-layered land in Alfalfa County never melts. In fact, it stays salty and white year-round. The salt flats cover more than 11,000 acres (45 square kilometers) of land, most of which is managed by Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge.
How Great Salt Plains Got Its Name
The Great Salt Plains were named after the layer of salt that formed on its surface thousands of years ago following what scientists believe was the evaporation of an inland sea. Through the years, the area has been called the Grand Saline, Salt Flats, Great Salt Plains, and the Selenite Crystal Digging Area.
Earlier Uses
Members of the Osage, Kiowa, and Wichita Native American tribes used the Great Salt Plains area as hunting grounds. The salt on the surface drew large numbers of animals, like bison, deer, and elk. They also collected salt for food preservation and other domestic purposes. In the early 1800s and early 1900s, after the area was discovered by white settlers, pioneers and ranchers began collecting salt by the wagonload full for both household uses and for trade. Many settlers hauled salt to Kansas and Texas, as it was a valuable commodity.
Role in Securing Louisiana Purchase
As American colonies were being settled and lands west of the original United States were being explored, word of a "salt mountain" traveled to President Thomas Jefferson, who used the unproven claims to bolster his expansion of North America. The interior of the continent was largely unexplored, with reports of mammoths and volcanoes ravaging the lands. So, Jefferson sent out what he called credible pioneers to survey the new region. Through those expeditions, Jefferson received reports of a great salt mountain.
Jefferson's claim was followed by ridicule from fellow politicians and newspapers, but the prospect of Louisiana Territory having such a valuable piece of land helped secure the 1803 purchase of 530,000,000 acres of North American territory from France for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase resulted in the formation of 15 new U.S. states.
Resource: 405 Magazine
Discovery by White Settlers
The first white man to see the Great Salt Plains was Indian Agent George Champlin Sibley. He and members of his group were sent out in 1811 to find Jefferson's salt mountain and survey Osage hunting grounds. Led to the Great Salt Plains by a group of Osage scouts during their two-month expedition, Sibley and his men discovered the Great Salt Plains wasn't a mountain after all. Still, they deemed it an important geographical landmark, and Sibley named the area the Grand Saline.
Visitors can see how Sibley and his men might have first viewed the area with a stop at Sibley Monument on State Highway 11. Part of Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, the monument commemorates Sibley's expedition and offers an unhindered panoramic view of the region with the salt flats in the background.
Recognition as National Wildlife Refuge
Recognizing the Great Salt Plains' importance to wildlife and migratory waterfowl migration, President Herbert Hoover designated the area a national wildlife refuge in 1930. Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge has since identified more than 300 species of birds that live on the salt flats and use the area to nest and shelter during migrations. Due to its importance to protecting endangered species, the refuge is considered an Important Bird Area. It also has earned a spot on the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and is a designated critical habitat for Whooping Cranes.
Great Salt Plains Lake & Dam
As the newly formed State of Oklahoma developed and settlers made permanent homesteads around the Great Salt Plains Area, the Army Corps of Engineers recognized the region's susceptibility to flooding. In 1931, the corps conducted a flood control study, which included initial plans to build a dam to control the flooding.
Congress authorized the study in 1936, and construction of the lake began in 1938, with the dam being completed in 1941. Today, visitors can kayak along red bluff cliffs that surround the lake, get a closer view of Ralston Island, and soak up amazing sunset views over the lake from the top of the dam on the North Spillway.
Military Use During WW II
Between 1942 and 1946, the U.S. Army Air Corps used the Selenite Crystal Digging Area of Great Salt Plains as a practice bombing and gunnery range. Bombers from Army bases in Enid and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as from Pratt and Dodge City, Kansas, used the area for target practice. Much of the military history was unknown about the salt flats until 2007, when a teenage Boy Scout digging crystals found several glass vials in the digging area. The sets were identified as Chemical Agent Identification Sets (CAIS) and ruled as non-lethal, but the Selenite Crystal Digging Area was closed for nearly two years for a deeper inspection. The inspection resulted in the removal of 171 chemical vials, and the crystal digging area was reopened in April 2009, much to Alfalfa County locals' delight.
Current Status and Today's Popularity
Today, more than 100,000 tourists visit the Great Salt Plains each year to dig crystals, go birdwatching, and fish and hunt native wildlife. With convenient camping at Salt Plains State Park and tons of free outdoor activities at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, a getaway to Alfalfa County is a popular choice for birdwatchers, rockhounds, fishing and hunting enthusiasts, and slow travelers who enjoy backroad adventures and getaways in peaceful rural settings.
FAQs
Can I keep the selenite crystals I find?
You may keep up to 10 pounds of hourglass selenite crystals and one large cluster per day from digs at the Selenite Crystal Area.
Are hourglass selenite crystals valuable?
It depends on who you ask, but technically, hourglass selenite crystals have no monetary value.
Can I sell selenite crystals for profit?
Selling hourglass selenite crystals from the Selenite Crystal Digging Area of the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge is prohibited.
Will the salt from the flats ruin my vehicle?
The salt from the salt flats will more than likely not "ruin" your vehicle, but it is salt, and salt can cause damage to about any kind of material, especially after prolonged exposure. You should always wash the salt off your car, especially the bottom, after leaving the Selenite Crystal Digging Area. Get related tips about Preparing Your Vehicle for a Trip to the Selenite Crystal Digging Area.
Will selenite dissolve in water?
Yes, actually, selenite will dissolve in water if left for a long time. Hourglass selenite crystals are no exception. It's fine to rinse your crystals after you find them, but once you've washed the dirt away, you should lay them in the sun or open air to dry. Once dry, hourglass selenite crystals become hard, but they can be brittle, particularly on the edges.
Is selenite crystal dangerous?
Absolutely not. In fact, selenite crystals are thought to have healing properties when touched, worn, and handled regularly. Healers often place selenite at the center of crystal collections to amplify beneficial energies and to purify and recharge surrounding crystals.
Are selenite crystals rare?
No. Selenite crystals are not rare, but hourglass selenite crystals are considered more rare, as they form in fewer places around the world. All selenite crystals are formed by gypsum, a common mineral.
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