# Travel >> Types of Travel >> Other Types of Travel

Treasure Hunt Vacations

Treasure hunting vacations allow travelers to do more than the standard sightseeing. These vacations allow travelers to dig for gemstones, look for dinosaur bones and fossils or even pan for gold. These vacations are perfect for families with younger children, for whom standard tours would not be as entertaining. While some of these hunts can take place on public lands, most take place on private lands and all require a fee.

Dinosaur Fossils
- The Badlands region, especially Devil Hills, S. D., is a popular place to find fossils since this was once a waterway, where many animals came to drink and where some eventually died. Most of the fossils date back to the Jurassic period, approximately 145 million years ago. Scientists and amateurs alike have been finding fossils here for years. Families can go walking up and down the cliffs and valleys searching for these relics from the past. Or, they can head to the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research to view their collections of everything from plants to vertebrates to meteorites. If you happen to find a large dinosaur bone, you should not try to remove it. You will end up destroying the specimen if you have no knowledge of dinosaur removal.
  
  Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc.
  117 Main Street
  Hill City, SD 57745
  605-574-4289
  bhigr.com
Diamonds
- Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is the only place in the world where the public can go searching for diamonds and visitors can keep anything that they find while digging. While you may bring your own tools to dig deeper, many diamonds have been found just sitting on the soil. If you do not have your own tools, you may rent them at the facility and these tools include shovels, knee padding, buckets or a box screen to sift through dirt. Other activities include a water park, barbecue pits, hiking and other camping areas. Wildlife, including deer and turkeys, can be seen on the trails in the park.
  
  Crater of Diamonds State Park
  209 State Park Road
  Murfreesboro, AR 71958
  870-285-3113
  craterofdiamondsstatepark.com
Gold
- Phoenix Gold Mine offers tours of the mine and provides information on its history; this tour ranges from 45 minutes to 75 minutes. After the tour visitors are welcome to pan for gold and guides will teach visitors how it is done. Once they learn, visitors can go along the streams in the area or Clear Creek, which runs near the mine and search for gold. Once you're finished, hike along the many trails in the area and or bring a bag lunch and eat at one of the local picnic areas. The company does not accept credit cards, only cash, checks or traveler's checks.
  
  Phoenix Gold Mine
  800 Trail Creek Road
  Idaho Springs, CO 80452
  303-567-0422
  phoenixgoldmine.com