Petoskey Stone Hunting

Petoskey stones are fossilized coral fragments found along the shoreline of Little Traverse Bay. The stones are grey and fairly unremarkable when dry, but hold one under water — or sand it and polish it — and the hexagonal pattern of the original coral polyps appears clearly. Finding your own on the beach is a ritual for many summer visitors. The best hunting spots are on the rocky stretches of shore north of the city, particularly at Petoskey State Park and Magnus Park.

You do not need any equipment to look, just patience. The stones range in size from a thumbnail to a fist. Larger, well-patterned specimens are sold polished at shops throughout the Gaslight District and at the state park. If you want to polish your own finds, rock-tumbling services are available locally, or small tumbling kits can be bought at the hobby shops.

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A story
Petoskey stones are the fossilized remains of Hexagonaria percarinata, a coral that lived in the warm shallow sea that covered Michigan some 350 million years ago. The stones are found nowhere else in such abundance. Michigan named the Petoskey stone its state stone in 1965. The characteristic hexagonal pattern — like a turtle's shell or a honeycomb — only becomes fully visible when the stone is wet, which is why the best time to look is at the water's edge.