Kamloops area rockhounds have uncovered many locations where agates can be found.  Agates have been used for ornamental purposes, carving, and display since ancient times.   Agates are formed through volcanic processes when crystalline silicas bond into layers within a pocket in the lava.   Quartz layers may also be present in the nodules,   Our area is well-know for its chalcedonies.   Chalcedony has a waxy semi-transparent or even translucent quality.   The Shuswap people people used it for decoration and trade.   

Wherever we have had  volcanic activity, we can keep our eyes open for agates.    Most of the best samples have been picked clean near established trails, so going off trail is the best way to search for agates.  A number of sites are well-know by rockhounds, but we have also seen samples in our explorations::

• The cliffs of Mount Buse have both nodules and seam agate.    Moss agate, blue agate and pin agate have been found in the cliffs and rock slide.
• The area just above Buse Lake has yielded both blue agate nodules and seam agate.  
• The steep hills between Barnhartvale Road and Robbins Range Road have seams of red agate.
• Mount Savona has both agate and jasper.   Some cinnabar colors the agate with red.
• Agates can be found on the Douglas Lake Road just west of Westwold .
• The cliffs area on the east side of Monte Lake is a well-known site.
• Banded agate and jasper can be found in the Charcoal Creek area (off the Pillar Lake Road).
• Banded agate and amethyst are found on the higher slopes of Squilax Mountain.
• Nodules, geodes, and chalcedony can be found on rocks slopes in various places in Tranquille Canyon, Red Plateau, Mount Mara, and locations of volcanic flows in the western end of Lac du Bois Park and beyond,  along the north shore slopes of Kamloops Lake.