Ginkgo Gem Shop

This is a great rock shop just outside the Gingko Petrified Forest state park. In fact, if you’re short on time and/​or don’t want to pay the $ 10 parking fee to get into the park, I’d say you can get the gist of the petrified-​forest experience here. Plus, you can buy some to take home!
Out front, there are some goofy-​looking fake dinosaurs that are good for photo opps, but don’t overlook the large petrified wood logs surrounding the sign and the dinos. The owner supplied the state park visitor center with some of their larger pieces, and he has equally big and impressive pieces outside his shop.
Inside, there are some display cases against the walls with fossils, seashells, locally found arrowheads, and polished petrified-​wood pieces. Those aren’t for sale, but the rest of the store is filled with BIG geodes, slabs of petrified wood, thunder eggs, and other mineral specimens. There are bins and bins of crack-​your-​own geodes sold by the pound, as well as geode halves and thunder egg halves. They have some beginner’s rock-​collecting kits for kids and many inexpensive specimens under $ 5 for young rockhounds.
In addition to the mineral specimens, they carry semi-​precious stone jewelry, clocks, trinket boxes, and other gift items. They also have some preserved butterfly shadowboxes on the back wall. Prices are reasonable, ranging from individual specimens for just a couple of bucks all the way up to huge display pieces for hundreds of dollars. Petrified wood chunks are $ 5 each from the pick-​your-​own bin, so it’s affordable to grab a souvenir here.
The owner was very friendly and chatty, and happy to talk rocks all day long. He identified the pieces of petrified wood that I had picked out and even brought out a chunk of monkey tree wood to show me what my piece had originally looked like (200 million years ago!). His shop is right there at the back of the store and he polishes the pieces himself. So if you have questions about minerals and petrified wood, don’t be shy about asking! I had to be dragged out of here by my boyfriend and will definitely be back next time we’re driving past.

LOVE this place!!! Lots of awesome fossils, rocks and minerals! We stop by once a year just to see what’s new. Staff helpful and very well informed. Can’t wait to visit again.

I went here with my family and looked around because my dad and I love rocks! :) we were disappointed because the lady who was working was not welcoming. She was very rude and should not be working with the public, because apparently she doesn’t know how to treat others nicely and smile. Rocks weren’t too expensive though.

This place is fine but they have the word gem in their name but I didn’t see any gems. The name is misleading. According to Webster’s dictionary a gem is a precious or sometimes semiprecious stone cut and polished for ornamental use. I didn’t see any of these, only lots of polished rocks and petrified wood, which was cool but not what I was interested in.

Funny quirky place worth the stop just to see the dinosaur sculpture outside.

if you stop in this area then this is a must visit! the wife and i were on an epic road trip during the government shutdown (which means all of the national parks were closed). we decided to check out this state park while on our way from seattle to kalispell. the disappointing thing about the state park is that you are a few miles from the park visitor center before you find out that you need to pay to see the sights. on our way back to the visitors center we spotted this little gem. there is not much around here so you cant miss it. inside there are plenty of gems to look at. the shop owner was friendly (after turning on the lights for us) and the kitty was more friendly. the wife showed the cat attention and it followed her around the store. the shop owner gave us a brief history lesson and told us a few things we could do near kalispell with glacier national park closed. so, if you pull off this exit and visit the state park then place is a must stop. you can’t miss it… it’s the place with all the dinosaurs out front!

Great place to browse through if you’re in the area. I found some really neat gifts here. A little on the pricey side, but you’ll probably find something you won’t find anywhere else. Worth the stop.

The dino in front of the shop cracked me. LOL!