Dig for rare black opals in Virgin Valley, where geology and adventure meet in the high desert. Outdoor Nevada host John Burke visits Royal Peacock Opal Mines in Nevada’s Virgin Valley to dig for rare ...

Few realize that the world’s most famous black fire opal – the official Nevada State Gem – was discovered in Nevada’s remote Virgin Valley in 1918. Col. W.A. Roebling, a civil engineer who helped ...

What is now desert was once under water, back when giant marine reptiles swam freely in a shallow sea that would later become Nevada’s Great Basin. Major geological activity happened, making way for ...

This is an aerial view of Black Opal Pool, Black Diamond Pool, and part of Wall Pool, all in Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, taken in 1959 sometime after the Hebgen Lake earthquake (which ...