Summer means road trips, which is how I came to be mining for diamonds in the middle of central New York on a hot, sunny day in mid-July. Under the scorching heat imparted on a nearly cloudless day, I found myself pounding my way—hammer and chisel (and sometimes sledgehammer and pure aggression)—through piles of ordinary-looking dolomite and mundane-looking dirt searching for diamonds. Yes, that’s right, I was mining for my very own diamonds in New York State, probably not the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the Empire State, but I beg to differ.

Herkimer Diamond Mines lie in the center of central New York in the town of Herkimer, but just a short drive down the swerving and steep country backgrounds finds you in the town of Middleville, where you’ll find the Ace of Diamonds campground and mines. For just ten dollars a person—even less if you’ve got kids under 12—and a few bucks for rental tools, you can spend all day going and in and out of the various mines in search of your very own diamond in the rough.

After a half an hour or so of fruitless efforts, my family and I stumbled upon a promising “pocket” of rocks. Among the dull or calcite-covered rocks ranging in size from as small as your fist to as large as a big cooler, we spotted a sparkle. With hopeful hearts, we rinsed a dusty layer of caked on dirt off the football sized rock we had found, and sure enough, we had struck diamonds! Or at least one diamond, which jutted out from the side of the rock and sparkled in the sun. Charged with excitement, we set to work smashing at the rock with a sledgehammer as we attempted to get it to split open. Several minutes of cathartic bashing and the rock finally gave, busting open like an egg. As we gathered the pieces and turned them over in our hands, huge grins spread across our faces.

Herkimer “diamonds” aren’t actual diamonds at all, they’re extremely clear, double-terminated quartz crystals. However, Herkimer diamonds have earned their name due to the almost perfect nature in which they are found in the dolomite that they are embedded in. The 18-sided crystals have been untouched by humankind until someone comes along to break them out of the rock. Many crystals have reflective inclusions or black charcoal deposits, but some are crystal clear (pun intended), sometimes so clear that they appear to be invisible and see-through when embedded in the dolomite. Keep in mind that these crystals have never met a jeweler, in fact, when you break a rock open and find it filled with Herkimer diamonds, you’re probably the first person to see them in millions of years!

That’s exactly what we were experiencing as we realized that the rock we had split open was filled with Herkimer diamonds, varying in size from smaller than a piece of rice to larger than a peanut. Taking to our chisels and hammers, we sat crouched over at the base of a pile of dolomite stones that were just waiting to be cracked open and started to work on chipping away at our crystal treasures. Sweat dripped down our arms and legs, attracting pesky gnats and adhering a thin layer of dust to our skin, but we showed no care—how could we when were too busy oohing and ahhing at our rapidly growing collection of radiant diamonds!

Herkimer diamonds are revered for more than just their polished look and exact facets; in the metaphysical community Herkimer diamonds are considered to be an extremely vibrational stone, meaning they are exceptionally powerful in aiding with energy healing. Like regular quartz crystals, Herkimer diamonds are amplifying and cleansing stones, they promote the effectiveness of other gemstone energies and purify the spaces they occupy of negative energies and blockages. Harder than ordinary quartz, yet softer than actual diamonds, Herkimer diamonds are particularly suited for withstanding spiritual turmoil and guiding those who possess them through times of spiritual hardship, making them very attractive to alternative healers and Wiccans who use them regularly in rituals.

After four hours of scaling rock piles, smashing dolomite, and sifting dirt, it was time to call it a day and start the three-hour drive back to western New York. It took some resituating of the contents of the trunk in order to accommodate the several armfuls of rocks containing crystals that we were unable to extract on site, and we all needed to hit up the bathrooms to rinse off layers of dirt, sweat, and sunscreen, but we eventually started the trek home, achy muscles and all. Was it worth it? Hours in the sun, bothered by bugs, praying for an occasional breeze, and licking dirt from our lips? Absolutely.

There’s really nothing like breaking open rocks to discover your very own “diamonds,” even if they aren’t real diamonds, and the feeling when you realize that you just found a diamond as big as your thumb in a pile of dirt is something you’ll just have to experience first-hand. Take my word for it—the diamonds are there, and they’re waiting for you to find them.