UPDATED - Late Summer & Fall Geology Trips

Hi Everyone!!

We hope you will join us starting in September for more geo-adventures!! Over the summer, we were able to reschedule the Knightdale quarry trip for September. This is a fantastic trip and we are very pleased to be able to offer it again for you!!

To register for any trip, or if you'd like more information, please contact rgreengeology@gmail.com. We accept PayPal or pay by check.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 – Knightdale Quarry and outcrops along Falls Lake 

Meeting Time: 10:00 am

Meeting Place: To Be Announced, we will send you directions to our meeting place.

$35/student; no charge for parents or drivers. Email us to find out about multiple sibling or scout group discounts

We will visit an operating granite quarry at Wake Stone's Knightdale quarry, where there will a chance to collect all-you-can-carry, specimens including feldspar, graphic granite, mica and amethyst.  On this trip, we will explore the fascinating geology of eastern Wake County and learn more about how geology influences human activity. We'll follow with a stop to see the unique Raleigh gneiss at Fall's Lake Dam. We will eat lunch there at a site with a fantastic overview of the lake. For those interested, Rob will lead a hike to further explore the geology exposed along the lake shore.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 – Gold Country!

Meeting Time: 11:00 am (to allow travel time for Triangle folks)

Meeting Place: To Be Announced, we will send you directions to our meeting place.

$50/student; no charge for parents or drivers. Email us to find out about multiple sibling or scout group discounts.

The geology, archaeology and precious metal resources of the Uwharrie Mountains are truly unique. We invite you to join us for our Fall adventure to Morrow Mountain State Park to be followed by trying your hand at gold panning in the adjacent Uwharrie National Forest, an area rich in cultural and natural history. You may be one of lucky ones bringing home a gold specimen!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 - Mitchell Mill State Natural Area & Raleigh Gneiss 

Meeting Time:  10:00 am.

Meeting Place: To Be Announced, we will send you directions and coordinates to our meeting place.

$35/student; no charge for parents or drivers. Email us to find out about multiple sibling or scout group discounts

At our first stop, we will be having a special program at Mitchell Mill State Natural Area, a granite 'flatrock' area, courtesy of the B. W. Wells Association.  An expert naturalist will present a program about the unique ecosystem.  This is a great place to enjoy a picnic lunch. At our next stop, we will be visiting and collecting Raleigh Gneiss, a beautiful metamorphic rock that not only records an episode of high heat and pressure during mountain building associated with continental collision but is also treasured as a building stone. Our historic state capitol building is constructed of this attractive and durable stone.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 - Geology of the Prairie Ridge Ecostation

Meeting Time:  10:00 am.

Meeting Place: To Be Announced, we will send you directions to our meeting place.

$35/student; no charge for parents or drivers. Email us to find out about multiple sibling or scout group discounts

The geologic story of the rock types and their geologic history was determined through many years of research by many investigators in the Piedmont of North Carolina and the immediate area surrounding Prairie Ridge.  This story combines many geologic investigations conducted within the Raleigh area and from other locations throughout the Southeast. The rocks visible in the creek at Prairie Ridge can be generally separated into three rock types: 1) muscovite schist, 2) graphite-bearing schist, and 3) granitic gneiss. To a geologist these rock types help tell the story of how a major portion of North Carolina formed.  The rock that underlie Prairie Ridge and the surrounding areas of Wake County record a long and sometimes violent geologic past of over a half billion years of Earth history.